Day to day inspiration

Over the weekend I was accused of being ‘in a bubble’ based on my lack of observation of the world around me. The reasoning being apparently I always answer a question that starts with ‘did you see’ with ‘No’. It is true, I don’t notice much when I am rushing around trying to fit everything into my days but that’s life isn’t it?

Not for E.Lawrenson, our most recent artist collaboration who gets so much of her inspiration from the day to day observations she’s makes. Manmade and natural form, she looks for inspiration for her two styles of art as part of her daily life. Her styles are irregular drawn shapes, usually taken from the rural landscape near her home in Holmfirth, or the more hard edged geometric images which stem from her manmade observations. 

She was born in Yorkshire where she continues to live and work as a printmaker from her home studio near Holmfirth. 

Gaining a MA in Printmaking from the Royal College of Art in 1998 and winning several awards for her work, she has now been a printmaker for over ten years. 

Using the screen printing process, the artist achieves smooth, flat and crisp images, exploring shape and form through the layering of colours, textures and painterly marks.

Her works is based around repetition, forming patterns, and using lines, stripes and hand drawn textures to add interest. 

Below is an extract from an Interview with E. Lawrenson from last year which illustrates beautifully the importance of observation in her life for the pieces she creates. 

“I am a printmaker, using only the screen printing process at the moment. I make abstract prints inspired by anything and everything around me. I notice unusual shapes, patterns and colours then try to make some sort of order out of them back in my studio. I can take shapes and images from almost anywhere and am constantly scanning as I go about my day. Deciding what is worthy of noting, or drawing is sometimes a struggle. If I’m lacking stimulus or feel overwhelmed by all the stuff in my sketchbooks I’ll go out for a walk with my dog in the hills or by the river and absorb colours, textures and clear my head. 

I have two main styles of working; one is the more hard edged geometric or linear style and the other, the more fluid abstract shapes and organic work. 

I tend to focus back to nature and the rural landscape when I find myself going off on tangents. It makes me channel into an area I find calming and makes me work at a slower pace. I find the organic prints are the most beautiful. They have softer lines and curves. These also tend to be the prints with the least colours, so never seem to go wrong.” 

View her work online

I am pleased to be able to give you some snippets about this new addition to TROWBRIDGE and I am sure that most of you, either our well established clients or those of you new to our Blog and our website are now able to see why we are so glad to be able to offer these pieces. 

After seeing her work and where the ideas come from, I am going to make a much more conscious effort to keep my eyes peeled, clearly I have been missing things! 

Charlee