I am an artist working in Lino printmaking, pen and ink, painting and writing after changing direction from 30 years as a professional mosaic artist, having made many mural mosaics and sculptures based on stories, histories and mythologies. (I have left one of my mosaic sculptures on the site for a memory!)
Walking and sketching on Dartmoor and the coast of Devon and Cornwall have become not only inspiration but a quest for the sublime, historical and the mythical, and my sketches and photos become references for Lino cuts I make in my studio. Sometimes when the weather is calm and I find a quiet spot I carve and print the Lino on the moors.
Without a press in the studio I began by using my feet to press my prints (also very useful on the moors). Recently I acquired a small hand press however I have returned to using my feet with the addition of a baren worked by hand as I find they are the best way for me to get a good print. Using my feet to print somehow feels poignant, analogous to the relationship with my feet walking the land, which in turn echoes and conjures a spiritual connection with our ancestors who have walked and danced on Dartmoor from 10,000 years BC onwards.
I am also exploring making paper and inks from plants and stones foraged around the area. These experiments further enhance the interconnectedness of my quest.
In 2024 I gained a Post Graduate Certificate in Education in Poetics of Imagination at Dartington Schumacher college . I had enrolled for an MA , however the course was unfortunately cancelled after my 2 modules so I was not able to complete. Nevertheless I learnt a lot from my studies and research in magic and mythology, folklore, Shakespeare, animism and the ancestral knowledge of deep time. On the course I wrote stories, songs and essays, performed dances, made videos and my first woodcut prints all squeezed into 14 weeks.
As I learn and weave all the threads of knowledge together I hope to make interesting and inspiring art works that reflect my quest.
This year (2025) I’ll be selling my work with Moorland Makers at Ullacombe barn gallery.
https://devonartistnetwork.co.uk/studio/the-dreaming-lark-kate-rattray/
