PRINTS SALE 2018

PROMOTION – SELECTED PRINTS SALE 2018

For the first time the Trust is holding a sale of selected screenprints by Willie Barns-Graham. Some of these editions have not been widely presented previously so this is a great opportunity to get one. Buy these wonderful late prints with a 35% discount. It’s a limited time offer, so don’t wait – get yours now at our web shop here.

NOTE First five buyers will receive a FREE copy of Ann Gunn’s The prints of Wilhelmina Barns-Graham; a complete catalogue (Lund Humphries 2007, RRP £47.50).

These twelve screenprints were produced in collaboration with Carol Robertson of Graal Press, Roslin, Midlothian. Willie started to make prints with Carol in 1998, at the age of 86, in somewhat tentative manner. At the time Carol was trialling water based screenprint inks which she suggested to Willie were best suited to reflect her work in acrylic paints. Having had some not very satisfactory experiences with printmakers previously Willie was unsure about any new publications. However in making the first handful of editions she fully realised the opportunities which Carol provided were quite different. During the next years, until she died in January 2004, Willie went on to make sixty five prints – quite a production!

Willie appreciated that the water based inks work similarly to water based paints – watercolour, gouache and acrylic – where each layer of colour influences, and is influenced by the layer of colour below and by the application of a new colour on top. Understanding this process is vital in achieving the desired effect. A second benefit in Carol’s working method was to have Willie apply each individual mark to a separate sheet of acetate which allowed for the creation of new images by ‘playing’ with these sheets. That Willie did not have to keep making the same marks for a series of prints allowed her to conserve her energies and focus exclusively on the design. You can see this with the Sunghrie Series and Earth Series offered here.