Eileen St Julian Bown    

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1977-1978           Farnham College of Art and Design – Foundation Course

1978-1981           Byam Shaw School – Diploma in Art and Design

2010 – present  Screenprinting Putney School of Art

 

I began my art career as a painter and ten years ago I took a course in screenprinting at Putney School of Art where I continue to print.

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I am a member of Richmond Printmakers and Southbank Printmakers and have exhibited in galleries in London and Suffolk.

I consider my work to be autobiographical and ideas may reflect a day while on standing on a train platform or on a  journey by train here or abroad.  Commuters have always held my interest going about their day in an automatic way up and down escalators with a sense of urgency. 

 

Sometimes a colour or a shape may catch my imagination and it gives me a beginning from which to “grow” a piece of work.  Other times amusing and enjoyable ideas come to mind.

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Screenprinting offers me the opportunity to experiment with a variety of techniques for example CMYK and Bitmap which I take an interest in and enjoy my work to reflect. It is a medium which has seen many alternative ways of arriving at an image.  

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Moving to Putney provided a whole new stretch of the Thames to add to my sources of inspiration, whilst a painting of Putney Bridge by a Polish artist, triggered my interest in the shapes a river can offer. Bridges, flowing water, rowers, the diverse shapes of boats from skiffs and rowing club 8s to barges. The frozen stance of moving people, whether rowers in action or promenading couples on the banks, each has a unique set of characteristic body movements. The bridges may also suggest some symbolic relevance underlying their graphically pleasing form.  

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I tend to montage drawings, photographs and painting, to the original scene, combining them using Photoshop to merge and finesse the composition, usually producing many drafts before I arrive at a basic composition that works.

Often, I select an image based on a particular viewpoint which I frequently pass by, seeing it in different light, weather and moods. This influences me to explore variations in colour from more natural hues to fauve-like vibrant colours and variations in composition which can be montaged in various ways sometimes adding objects, people, or textures.

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The final stage is hand printed silkscreening in limited editions, usually 8-10 prints. It is a very physical process which somehow adds to the satisfaction in bringing the image to life and even allows final subtle variation through applying degrees of physical pressure. This usually results in each of the eight prints being slightly different - effectively each one is unique.

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