To start off the 2019 creative year, our Featured artist for the January is Forge’s Print member and workshop tutor Sally Tyrie. Sally has had busy year and lot more exciting plans for 2019. To find out more about the upcoming workshops at the Forge have a look here: https://digswellarts.org/print-workshops/

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

I am a Fine Artist who works mainly with mixed media and I especially like working with the more ‘painterly’ approaches within printmaking painting and photography.

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

Last year was quite a busy year with exhibitions plus a trip to Australia to run a series of Print and Stitch workshops. Since then I’ve been more interested to ‘mix things up’ a bit and it’s been very satisfying immersing myself in my practice over the past few months.

I felt very intrigued by some processes and imagery that I started to work with during a project last year based on Wicken Fen Nature Reserve. This project was a collaborative residency and culminated in an exhibition with artist Helen Terry. We were both immensely pleased with the work we completed for this project but we also felt that there were areas of interest that could be taken further. With that thought in mind we have been undertaking a series of joint studio days to reflect on and develop these ideas further into new work.

• What are your plans for the coming year?

In order to illustrate our ongoing project we ( Helen Terry and myself) are going to publish another catalogue that documents our work and approaches. We really enjoyed making the project catalogue for ‘Reflections and Revelations’, produced in 2018, and were astonished with the positive reaction https://digswellarts.org/reflections-and-revelations-an-exhibition-and-art-trail-by-sally-tyrie-and-helen-terry/ We also plan to show our work in another joint exhibition and are currently investigating venues.

What is the question you get asked most about your work and how do you answer it? Most of the time I get asked how I make my work. This is quite tricky to go into as my work often goes through many transformations. However I’m always very happy to talk about my work especially when I’m asked about what I am exploring and trying to convey. Open Studios events are a great way to meet other artists and find out about their work and I plan to take part in our Spring Open Studios event.

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

Family life was always very creative and as kids we were all very much encouraged to draw and paint. My dad was also a very keen photographer and It’s no coincidence that most of my siblings have ended up in a creative industry.

• Which artist do you most admire and why? 

I love the work of Robert Rauschenburg and went to see the retrospective at the Tate Modern in 2016 several times.

Anselm Kiefer is another artist whose work I find very moving. There are also several photographers whose work I have recently discovered.

I loved the Shape of Light Exhibition at the Tate Modern which I ended up going to see about six times.

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

I’ve met a lot of very interesting artists since starting to work at Digswell Arts as a Print Member. The ‘community’ that exists at the studios has been invaluable and has helped ‘shape’ the work I have produced.

For instance formal and more informal artist crits can help you reflect and question what you are doing. Being an artist can be quite an isolating experience so being around other artists can strengthen and reinforce what you do.

Sally will be running print workshops at The Forge and to find out more have a look at Sally’s website and read her blog at http://sallytyrie.com