I have always lived, as have my family for many generations, close to the Suffolk coast and it is the unique character and history of the area which continues to be a constant source of inspiration to me.I intend in my work to celebrate every aspect of this landscape...to communicate an atmosphere of place and the feelings of folk...a story of magical ordinariness!
Narrative has become of great importance in my work, both in composition but also in the ever increasing passages of text which accompany each image. I am not concerned with portraying an exact realistic copy of a particular place, person,or animal but rather its essence by using a distortion of scale, perspective, or a patchwork of unconnected parts of a landscape.
I am essentially self taught and have over the years become fascinated by the incidental and textural marks that occur in printmaking.Each print will vary in colour and tone and is hand coloured in a variety of media to the extent that although each print is part of an edition it is very much an individual piece of art.
I also produce a series of art cards which are designed from the collagraph images and serve to make my work accessible to a wider audience . The use of my work as illustration is something I am keen to develop along side the print editions. My images have been used as the cover of Birding World and as greeting cards for the Green Pebble art publishing company.I am at the moment part way through writing and illustrating a story for both children and adults based on the Walberswick ferryman and will be developing a series of images as visual footpath maps.
My work is always available from a core of galleries who have been very supportive over the years and ,indeed, have provided the opportunity to exhibit in such places as The Affordable Art Fair in London and New York.I have also exhibited in The Mall and Bankside Galleries ,London.
I am part of the Norwich Print Fair group who are a very inspiring and supportive group and who exhibit annually in Norwich.!
MANDY WALDEN 2011