Julie Orpen
Julie Orpen is a printmaker who studied Graphic Design at Norwich School of Art (1983–1986) and began printmaking at the Gainsborough’s House Print Workshop in Sudbury. She is a member of Colchester Art Society and an elected member of the Society of Wood Engravers, whose annual exhibition opens in London before touring to galleries around the country. She has also exhibited at the Norwich Print Fair and with the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA) at the Mall Galleries, London.
Artist Statement
I produce Lino prints and Engravings that are often inspired by the natural world around me, usually in landscape form, and I try to convey the movement in nature when I design my work, as well as a sense of depth. I often ‘break out’ from the rectangular frame of my images with blades of grass or a bird’s wing, as I think this helps to draw the viewer’s eye into the image and creates more interest.
My studies in Graphic Design (Norwich School of Art 1983-86) have influenced the way that I have developed as a printmaker over the past few years. The flat colour produced when printing with a piece of Lino or an Engraving block can achieve either a simple ‘graphic’ image or a more complex, subtly coloured multi layered print. I use both of these techniques, depending on the subject matter and intended use, and I often use softer colours in my Linoprints. I have also incorporated the use of letterpress type in some of my prints, when illustrating the different collective nouns for birds.
I’m very inspired by the early pioneers of Lino printing, such as the Grosvenor school of artists, including Cyril Power, and Sybil Andrews, as well as Eric Ravilious and Edward Bawden. Indeed the beautiful designs that Ravilious and Bawden designed for Wedgewood have featured in several of my prints.