This month, we’re delighted to feature Heather Ellis, a Digswell printmaker whose work captures the delicate balance between structure and spontaneity. Combining drypoint etching and monoprint techniques, Heather explores themes of landscape, memory, and movement—often inspired by the rugged beauty of places like the Isle of Skye and the Outer Hebrides. Her practice reflects both technical skill and a sensitivity to nature’s fleeting rhythms, expressed through flowing marks and subtle tonal shifts. Whether depicting sweeping coastal vistas or the intricate forms of bracket fungi, Heather’s prints invite us to pause and reconnect with the natural world.

How would you describe your current practice (e.g. materials, techniques, themes, key questions, approach)?

As an artist printmaker my current practice involves experimenting with combining printing techniques; predominantly drypoint etching with monoprint.  This allows me some freedom of expression and mark making and usually results in the creation of a variable edition. The monoprint element is more unpredictable and creates a slight difference of dynamics and atmosphere. I use Cranfield Calligo safe wash etching inks as I am trying to keep my process as non-toxic as possible.  My plates are usually repurposed acetate although I sometimes work on Drypoint plastic. I have worked on copper, zinc and steel plates in the past but am moving away from using a chemical etching process. This approach fits in nicely with the chemical free ethos in the Digswell Print Room.   Much of my work is monochrome although I steer away from pure black and like to mix up my own either adding process blue, pthalo green or sepia. 

I am currently working on a series of landscapes inspired by recent travels to the Isle of Skye and the Western Isles in the Outer Hebrides. I have always been interested in remote dramatic landscapes in the UK probably as a result of studying Art at UCW Aberystwyth and being immersed in the Cambrian mountains of mid Wales. I hope that my work evokes a sense of being out in nature and the elements; the weight of the monumental with the fleeting nature of the fluid. There can be an ambiguity in my mark making suggesting movement and flowing water or layers of strata and geology. In selecting my viewpoint, I find that a landscape has to ‘speak’ to me and the composition and angle of view is crucial to this dialogue. The starting point may be a sketch or a photograph which is then worked up on to the plate with drypoint. I use traditional etching tools and some handmade tools to work directly into the plate creating a range of tones with burnishing and sanding.  The landscapes are definitely not static.  I hope to have created movement and breath, capturing a snapshot in time, creating a landscape with a bit of mystery and something to cause the viewer to question what is happening. Hopefully those who love being in nature will sense a connection with my work.

In addition to the theme of landscapes I have a love of vintage china and keep returning to an old dresser full of jugs, pots and plates for inspiration. I inherited some Yuan ware from my mother and have been including some of her favourite pieces in a new set of work, personal memories play an important part of these prints. Again combining two printing techniques – monoprint and drypoint on tetrapak (the inside of drinks cartons) and linking the themes with more flowing mark making. I love the flexibility of tetrapak and the fact that you can easily cut out a shape and use more than one shape on a print. Although tetrapak is not as durable I can still print an edition of 10 before it starts to wear out. The fact that it has been recycled and repurposed adds to its importance.  

I have an old and much loved working cocker spaniel and use our daily walks together out and about in the woods to observe nature and the changing seasons. A chance find in a suburban garden on my road of a tree stump infested with bracket fungus has led to a whole new theme for my work. Turkey tail fungus is a very colourful bracket fungus with circular caps that grow in tiers resembling the feathers in the tail of a turkey.  Extending my flowing mark making I have really enjoyed monoprinting and working directly on to the plate with coloured inks to recreate this sense of layered tiers.  

What are you working on at the moment (forthcoming exhibitions, events, workshops)?

I have work in a couple of exhibitions this month. Three of my jug series are currently showing at the Southbank Miniprint exhibition at Gabriel’s Wharf until the end of November and online until January. Four of my bracket fungus prints are currently part of the ‘Print to Impress’ group show at the Courtyard Arts Gallery in Hertford along with some other Digswell Print members until the end of November.

What are your plans for the coming year?

Next year in June, I will be having a joint show with my eldest daughter who is also an artist. We have titled the exhibition ‘Between Us’ and will be exploring the links in our work and how our distinct practices are united by a shared preoccupation with land, water and materiality. We are both drawn to the thresholds where land and sea blur and to the poetic questions of where one ends and the other begins. Together we hope that our work speaks to what is inherited, what is nurtured and how practices can unconsciously inform one another. As much about the ties of family as it is about the edges of land and sea. ‘Between Us’ will hopefully invite viewers to reflect on belonging, influence and the landscapes, both physical and emotional that shape who we are. We will be exhibiting at Lauderdale House in Highgate.

What is the question you get asked about your work and how do you answer it? 

I get asked about print process constantly and how I create the distinctive flowing marks in my work. In my studio at home I have an antique bookbinding press and a ‘Pooki Press’ for relief printmaking. I use the large AO size etching press at The Forge, Digswell for my etchings and monoprints.  It is one of the largest flatbed printing presses in the country and I love the magic of the reveal at the end of the rolling. I use a variety of adapted tools to make my flowing marks and combing effects and am constantly experimenting with new ways of conveying movement light and water.

What or who inspired you to be an artist and why?

I have always loved drawing, painting and making and I kept a portfolio of my very best creations since childhood.  It is interesting looking back at old work and seeing influences, developments and understanding my own art education. After completing my art degree, I worked as a community artist in a London Borough before training to be a secondary school art teacher. Leaving the teaching profession in 2021 it has been a joy to return to my own practice, almost like starting over again in a very different world with different expectations. Being an artist has given me a greater sense of personal fulfilment and satisfaction than anything else I have done.

Which artist has inspired you the most?

One of my favourite artists is Paula Modersohn Becker, a German Expressionist painter of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  I love her self portraits and figure drawings and as a student made a sketch of her Mother and Child painting 1904 in the Gemeentemuseum in The Hague. Life drawing has been a big part of my practice and she was certainly an early influence. Printwise I love the work of Norman Ackroyd with his aquatints of remote British islands. Also Emma Stibbon who depicts environments being changed by human activity and climate change.

How has your relationship with Digswell Arts strengthened your practice as an artist?

I love my Tuesday printing day at The Forge, Digswell. It’s a gentle combination of having space and quiet to immerse myself in my work and process whilst working alongside one or two other printmakers.  Getting back into a rhythm of working regularly each week, seeing where a process will take me and setting goals as a result has helped me take my practice forward. It has been great being part of a community, getting to know the other Digswell members, chatting about art and exhibitions and being involved in Open Studios.