Member Spotlight: Clare Grossman

 

I had always wanted to visit Edinburgh as a destination and together with this, I have had a great respect for Scottish artists and Scotland's reputation for its artistic training. I wanted to take some time out of London where I currently live and work and upon arriving at EP was actually astounded to experience the world class facilities available to the membership and so, after my residency last year, I decided to join as a member.

 

 

I focus on the search for an essential energy, the 'essence' of a chosen subject encapsulated in an emotional response.

 

How did your residency at Edinburgh Printmakers develop your work? 

 

It gave me both the physical space and time to reflect. It enabled me to have the quiet facilities to work comfortably at scale and in an atmosphere which is both welcoming and supportive.

 

In your work you create only unique prints- what inspired you to make this choice? 

 

I began this way of working, back at postgraduate level when I was studying at Camberwell School of Arts during my Masters Degree in Fine Art Print. I have always seen myself as a Painter Printmaker which meant that unlike many artists who turn their focus to printmaking with the interest being the ability to create multiples, I on the other hand saw the opportunity of the various and many print processes as a vehicle to achieve one off works on paper. By combining more than one process in the resulting works, I enjoyed the concept of creating a composition on a chosen plate and then the subsequent opportunity of taking it further with every new print I began. I did not, and still do not see the etching plate as a vehicle to perfect but see the plate as just the beginning of my journey into making work which I endeavour to be ultimately better and more exciting than the plate itself.

 

When you create work under a commission, does your process change? 

 

No, not really. Unless it is a very large scale work, I tend to create more than one artwork even if only one is needed. This way of working enables me to retain some bravery within the finished work. Knowing that I can remain experimental and not precious during the making means I can permit myself to push the image further, as I will have another artwork to fall back on should things not go to plan. Ultimately the interaction between the artworks is a means to warrant the harnessing of chance, which is very important to my practice.

 

What printmaking techniques are you most drawn to? 

 

I am drawn to printmaking primarily because it enables me to work with both the drawn line and the painted brushstroke. This interplay between intaglio techniques such as dry point or polymer gravure and monotype painterly printmaking is most interesting. It is the sensitivity of etched lines and tone against the unrepeatable mark making of monotype painting which appeals to me so much.

 

You often create figurative and portraiture work. What research do you carry out to capture the human form? 

 

I have worked with only a handful of life models even though I have tutored life drawing workshops for many years. So when I have found a model that inspires me, I usually work with them for quite a long time. I take my own studio photographs of them, make very rough quick line sketches directly from the model and then choose certain poses that inspire and evoke some kind of personal emotional response. I then use both photography and drawing as the catalyst to begin the prints.

 

 

Yes I have. It's extremely hard work though! I set up a gallery called Arc Fine Arts some years ago with fellow printmaker and friend Tim Southall, with the primary intention of enabling us to show our work together. This has led to us exhibiting at various art fairs and other venues in the UK and to also exhibit with a handful of other artists. Showing at art fairs is not for the faint hearted, as not only are there all the extensive set up costs of applying and exhibiting at this professional platform level but you are in fact doing both jobs. That of the creative and that of the gallerist, with all the time consuming practicalities involved in marketing, pricing, labelling, exhibition design, client lists, invitation mailing, publicity, social media etc... and that's before you actually get to the art fair and then there's the face to face interaction with the potential buying public and all that this entails... I do though find it fascinating to speak with the visitors and it is an invaluable insight into how the general public interact with your art.

 

 

That's an interesting question. I don't like talking about future plans. I am a little superstitious and feel that until you have done something concrete, your plans may not materialise. Saying that, I returned from my last visit to EP in February 2025 with a collection of pure monotypes based on the female form. For the very first time I have chosen to turn some of these into polymer gravure etchings which are to be made into limited edition prints. This is a new way of working for me which I intend to do more of, I hope.