A selection of prints by Ingrid Bell are available in the shop.
I joined Edinburgh Printmakers about twenty years ago after arriving in Edinburgh to pursue a postgraduate course in art therapy. I became a member as it allowed me immediate access to facilities and a thriving artist community. I was able to re-engage with the various printmaking techniques I had learnt from art college and further develop my knowledge of new and innovative printmaking techniques through short courses.
From a young age art making has held great significance in managing the world around me. I have ensured that it remains a consistent presence throughout my life. In a shifting world art gives me a sense of groundedness and connection. In the process of creating images/objects I find myself between two worlds. I am absorbed and intrigued by the interplay of the unseen internal dynamic and the tangible external outcome. Because I can never be totally sure, I'm always excited to see the end result. Sometimes I'm disappointed but sometimes I'm pleased. And of course it is the pieces I'm pleased with that I share in the hope that others will also find something they connect with.
Within my practice I traverse various medias as this plays an important role in the concept and design of each envisioned piece, determining the completed work. However I find my principal choice of media lies predominantly within printmaking techniques.
I have tried many forms of printmaking and over the past few years am really drawn to working with collographs and a combination of collograph and screen print. A collograph is made up of various thin textures, like a collage where shapes are cut and glued and gouged, placed next to each other or on top of each other. I enjoy the physicality of constructing the plates and the richness of texture and embedded contact within the paper that this process caters for.
As an artist my subject matter has been influenced by living with and in different cultures. Recently I have been exploring an idea around Scottish Grasses connecting to the land I live on alongside traditional East European folk art which is part of my cultural heritage. I have reinterpreted some of the flower designs to make them my own. These images look both traditional and due to high colouring also slightly pop arty.
