Gill Thornton is a linocut artist based in Garboldisham, Norfolk. Here, she explains how the first Lockdown of 2020, when she was forced to spent time in her home studio, was a turning point in her art journey.
I am a linocut artist by default. At school the only subject I enjoyed was art, but it took another 40 years for me to rediscover that joy. I became hooked on printmaking after receiving a basic linocut kit for Christmas in 2013, although only as a hobby. I started experimenting with different techniques and attended a number of workshops with various printmakers. The most significant was with Ian Philips, whose influence developed my focus on landscapes and reflections. He was also the first to fire my interest in using the reduction method to create multi-coloured prints from a single piece of lino.
What I love about lino cutting and particularly the reduction technique is the unpredictability of the result. The lino is gradually cut away as each layer is printed, and the image emerges and only when the final layer is revealed is it apparent whether a print is a success or not. Sometimes, only a very small printable area remains for the final, darkest tone. As the block is essentially destroyed during the process, a reduction print can never be reprinted.
The turning point in my printmaking journey was the first lockdown when suddenly I had enforced time to spend in my home studio and for the first time ever, I was able to concentrate full time on printmaking. I also started posting daily on Instagram, mainly to relieve my own feelings of isolation. So many people were feeling the same and those online connections became a lifeline for so many of us. Within a short space of time my Instagram followers trebled and just kept growing and sales from my website, which previously had been few and far between, blossomed. I know how lucky I was and how awful the pandemic was for so many people, but without it I would never have made the transition to having my own printmaking business. If only I’d had the confidence to do it sooner.
I am particularly inspired by the big open skies and the light reflecting on the water in the East Anglian landscapes. I also like to capture wildlife, particularly birds within their natural environment, with herons being a common feature in my prints.
A number of local galleries stock my work, including Gallery Ten at Alby Crafts and Gardens, Harrods of Hingham, Octagon Contemporary Crafts at 35e Mere Street. Diss and Lottie Emporium in Stanton. I also take part in Norfolk Open Studies each year – and welcome visitors to my studio at various dates throughout the years or by prior appointment; just get in touch via my website.
My hope and dreams for 2023 are to continue to develop my printmaking by studying with other printmakers. I’ve also got my fingers crossed that I’ll be accepted on a two-week art residency in Wales.
Visit gill-thornton.co.uk and @gill.thornton.art on Instagram
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