Art / Artist of the Month
Artist of the month: Amy Hutchings
This month’s featured artist is Amy Hutchings, whose work Bristol Harbour is exclusively available through our online shop. Limited edition prints of one of her other works, King of the Wye, are also available.
Amy Hutchings is a multi-disciplinary artist with over 25 years of experience.
Having developed an interest in print from the age of just 12, Amy now specialises in print-making, designing and creating murals. Amy has recently completed a scholarship between UWE and Spike Island which has helped her to experiment with new methods and techniques.
is needed now More than ever
Colour is a central feature in all of Amy’s work. Living in Hotwells, Amy has been involved an ongoing regeneration project in the area, creating several large-scale colourful murals. She is currently working on a mural commission at Bristol Eye Hospital. “The vibrant and positive design will brighten the environment, engaging adults and children who access the facilities, improve patient well-being and make the space feel welcoming,” Amy says.
Amy also helps to brighten the environment of the city of Bristol through her work with refugees. In conjunction with Spike Print Studio, Amy is involved with creative workshops for refugees, giving them something fun and engaging to look forward to as they settle into their new lives.
For her collaboration with Bristol24/7, Amy’s work Bristol Harbour features some of Bristol’s most recognisable landmarks, including the Create Centre, Underfall Yard, Clifton Suspension Bridge, Cabot Tower and Brandon Hill. Initially intended as a drawing for a mural, the work has evolved into a colourway comprised of 75 limited edition prints, each signed by Amy.
To produce the work, Amy initially used pen and ink to create an expressive line drawing. She then reproduced the drawing onto mark-resist film which allowed her to create a screen. Paper stencils were then deployed for the background colours, with the stencils representing the sky and the water. For Amy, working on a screen is much more expressive than working solely on paper. “I like to do much of my design and experimentation once I have the key elements on screen and rarely complete a design on paper,” she says. “This allows me to work quite freely – it all comes together on the print bed.”
For Amy, Bristol is her home but also the source of her artistic inspiration: “I am always inspired as I walk around the city. It can be as simple as the way shadows fall across the path, the interplay of colours in my immediate environment or the contrast between the natural and manmade. Walking home one day on my way back from printing at Spike Print Studio, I just had to capture this view.
“The whole of Bristol is pretty special,” Amy says of the creative spirit that the city has to offer. “There is something about the size and creativity of Bristol that just works.”
Profits from artwork sold through Bristol24/7 will be donated to homelessness charity St Mungo’s. Keep up to date with Amy’s work at www.amyhutchings.co.uk
Buy work from all of our featured artists at b247.staging.proword.press/shop
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