Jess Davies is an artist printmaker living in rural Devon. She makes small limited editions, usually of multi-colour ‘reduction’ linocut prints: cutting away parts of each colour layer before laying in the next one.
Jess has a growing popularity as a printmaker, and is particularly known for her colour relationships and textures of ink.
Many of her prints are landscape images inspired by real places, mostly in Devon, and often on Dartmoor. What she aims to do is capture a sense of the place, using very simple but evocative elements in the compositions. So although each piece appears to be quite simple, this is a result of many decisions, stripping back preparatory drawings several times, to find the right composition, and also the right marriage of colours to complete the story. She works from initial sketches in situ, and also uses a tablet.
Although some pieces are quite literal, she is moving into a more abstracted style in others, simplifying even further.
Jess Davies originally trained in Theatre Design at Nottingham Trent University, which led to her working as an actor role-player, and workshop leader. After living in Brighton for many years, she moved to Devon in 2008 and decided to return to her long-neglected art practice, which led her into printmaking. She exhibits with several galleries and is a member of MAKE SouthWest (formerly the Devon Guild of Craftsmen).
