Elaine Turnbull, Upland Cottage, Mixed-media on Board 38 x 30cm

Elaine Turnbull’s work usually begins whilst out walking, making sketches or jotting down notes and thoughts. In the studio, her starting point is intuitive, spontaneous and experimental and she will work on several images at once, happy to let the painting develop in its own way, returning to it many times, often over months, adjusting, adding, taking away, layering, searching for a pivotal moment when the painting takes on its own voice.

Her combinations of media and processes convey a genuine enjoyment and confidence in the use of materials, combined with a buoyancy and conviction in drawing.

Plein Air drawing (drawing outdoors) is a major part of Elaine’s printmaking practice. She often draws and paints directly onto the printing plate while she is outdoors. The plate is then taken into the printing studio to be processed. The resulting print has a fresh and lively quality, whether it be an etching or a screenprint.

Her recent work has involved drawing people in the landscape when they are unaware of being observed. She often has only a few seconds to try and capture their movement, which she finds both exciting and challenging. In her landscape work, she is drawn to the evidence of a human presence there, e.g. paths, gates, buildings etc.

Elaine always strives for an economy of line in her drawings and prints – a paring down, an apparent simplicity – which can often take days, even weeks to achieve.