Sue Welfare
Sue Welfare is a self-taught artist & printmaker.
Born and living in Norfolk, Sue both loves and is inspired Norfolk’s diverse landscapes and wildlife, from the great open skies of the fens, to the glorious reaches of the north Norfolk Coast , from the bustle and busy-ness of Wells-Next-the-Sea, Sheringham and Cromer through to the wild, open, windy solitude of time spent in the salt marshes and wetlands. It feels like there is something for everyone in Norfolk, and for every mood and moment.
Sue began printmaking in 2018, and uses old fashioned battleship grey lino for her work, a traditional material that is both robust and composed of natural ingredients that will break down over time. Using a method called ‘ Reduction printing,’ Sue carves her image and subsequent layers away from a single block, rather than using multiple blocks to create her prints.
A reduction Lino cut is a method of printing in which each layer of colour is hand printed from a single block. As each print is built up, and each colour added, more and more of the Lino is cut away, and as each colour is printed on top of the previous one, the printable area of the block is reduced, destroying the plate in the process.
It takes some planning to work out the sequence of colours and cutting, as once you have cut a section away there is no going back! At the outset you have to decide how many prints you’re going to aim for, plus a few spares to use as test prints and to compensate for any errors - the edition size being absolutely limited - as by the end of the process only the very darkest areas remain on the block.
Sue’s works is all hand printed; each print is a unique piece of art, and the prints – because each colour is hand rolled onto the block and then printed – have subtle differences.
She works using water-based inks which give a fabulous depth of colour and also means that cleaning up her tools and blocks can be done without using harmful solvents.
In this general catalogue we publish just a few examples of Sue's work, with most of the exhibits currently available being shown in our website shop.
Error
