AN exhibition of prints by Neil Bousfield can be seen at Tinsmiths in Ledbury until April 24. The series of wood engravings on display are entitled Living in Norfolk, among them his current favourite, above, which he says “represents a sense of home I feel in this place”.
Wood-engraving, perhaps more than any other print-discipline, requires great powers of concentration and forethought to cut the “negative” without slip-up: “The process of making feels rooted or grounded. It is a feeling that focuses on the physicality of making combined with the conceptualisation of thinking and ideas. It’s like two sides coming together or solidified in to a perfect form”, Neil, who grew up in the north-east of England, explained.
He is an elected member of The Society of Wood Engravers and the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers.
"When I first saw Neil Bousfield’s prints they gave me such a strong impression of place," said Claire de la Torre of Tinsmiths. "The wide skies, a salty breeze, the sounds of the shore, sharp shadows – the whipping of sailcloth and crunch of dried seaweed."
The exhibition runs from Saturday until Saturday, April 25 at Tinsmiths, an independent shop, run by partners Alex and Phoebe Clive, in which limited edition artists’ prints; artist-designed, world and UK-made textiles and lighting are all housed in two extraordinary buildings.
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