A BRADFORD gallery is staging an exhibition by three local printmakers.
Annie Fforde, Janine Denby and Patrick Whitehead share their passion for different techniques including collagraph, drypoint, etching, monotype and woodcut, in ‘Odyssey a Journey through Print.’
Their inspiration stems from personal travels, Greek mythologies and Bradford Textile Archive. Follow them on their journey through the gallery from black and white to colour and from graphics images to the imagined.
Annie Fforde has been printmaking for more than 25 years. She has a background in constructed textile design and is an alumni of Bradford College, specialising in printmaking. As a freelance printmaking tutor, she encourages an experimental approach across all techniques, leading workshops from her studio in Thornton’s South Square and for West Yorkshire art organisations, with an emphasis on inclusiveness for all ages and abilities. Annie has recently been selected to join the Bradford 2025 Visual Art Steering Group where she hopes to raise the level and understanding of printmaking as a fine art practice in Bradford and West Yorkshire.
Annie has prints in international and national private collections and artists' books in the Perpignan médiathèque, France, and has had several solo and group shows abroad. Since returning to the UK from Catalonia where she was running a contemporary printmaking centre in Céret, Annie has had several solo and group shows with Inkers and other printmaking fine artists mainly in Yorkshire
The exhibition showcases Annie's wide range of printmaking knowledge from etching, drypoint, woodcut and a combination of these techniques.
The etchings of the Odyssey series are imagined journeys and Labyrinth series; intaglio prints are inspired by the Greek mythological stories of Theseus and the Minotaur and refer to the subterranean labyrinth created by Daedalus.
Ariadne's Threads drypoint series was inspired by the Greek mythological story of Ariadne and her part in organising Theseus' escape from the Labyrinth and include the Minotaur and the Labyrinth drypoints.
The woodcut group Crossings are inspired by the extensive Bradford textile archive based on mid-century, North American, surface pattern and printed with translucent lithography inks. The prints were deconstructed and woven together as a reference to the weaving industry which underpins the rich cultural development and the long historical textile odyssey of Bradford and West Yorkshire.*annie.fforde@gmail.com; @annieffordeartist; annieffordeinkinspiredworkshops.com
Patrick was born in Bradford in 1957 where he spent his formative years. He trained at Lincoln College of Art and Norwich School of Art where he gained a BA (Hons) in fine art. He specialised in printmaking, acquiring the skills of etching and lithography at Norwich School of Art. In recent years he has extended his repertoire by exploring other printmaking techniques including mezzotints, solar etching, collagraphs, lino-cuts and new forms of lithography.
Patrick’s inclusion in the exhibition has inspired a new body of work and a departure from the usual genres that inspire him. He has long held an interest in classical architecture, sculptures and the Greco- Roman civilisations which form the basis of modern day Western culture. He has interpreted the title literally and explored Homer’s Odyssey and developed it further by incorporating Greco-Roman inspired imagery with ruined temples, gods and goddesses. Within the theme of Homer’s Odyssey he has taken six key events from the epic poem that charts Odysseus’s voyage home and illustrated them on six different shaped Grecian vases - krater, amphora, psykter, volute krater, loutrophoros and oinochoe - using a combination of collagraphs and drypoints.
Alongside the decorated vases he has depicted dilapidated and eroded temples, sculptures and friezes which act as a metaphor for the fall and destruction of the Greco-Roman civilisations. These prints incorporate the use of etching, collagraphs and gelli printing. Some of the prints explore pattern and employ the colours yellow, green, blue and purple, which were used in the fabrics for making the basic tunic worn by men and women in Ancient Greece called the chiton.
Patrick is a member of the Printmakers Council and Yorkshire Art. He exhibits his work frequently in group and solo shows. He has work in personal collections around the world plus in the printmaking collection at the V&A in London.
He owns and manages The Apothecary Gallery in Thornton.
*patrickwhitehead.co.uk; instagram.com/theapothecarygallerythornton;
facebook.com/theapothecarygallerythornton
Janine says: ‘I am not a traveller by nature but I have been privileged to experience a number of significant adventures throughout my life and it is two of these that stand apart and formed the inspiration for the work created for the exhibition.
The first was a journey I made with my partner in 2014 in New Zealand's South Island. It was a road trip starting from Christchurch, a city that was still recovering and rebuilding after the earthquake in 2011, and ending in Picton, the ferry terminal connecting the north and south islands of New Zealand. In between was a stay in a youth hostel in the seaside town of Kiakoura. The journey took us through the Christchurch Mountains, the Kiakoura Ranges then further on to the coastal route famous for its seals and sperm whale watching.
I was immensely inspired by the unending mountain ranges, the spectacle of vista upon vista and the plethora of peaks and valleys fleetingly glimpsed and ever-changing. Throughout the journey most of the mountain roads were narrow with frequent precipitous gorges only feet away which meant that primary reference material for the Odyssey work was quick sketches and photographs, mainly made with my eyes closed.
The second adventure has been a lifelong passion for exploring, walking and sketching in the Yorkshire Dales. I have a particular interest in the well-walked Three Peaks - Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside and Ingleborough - and also the surrounding valleys and lowlands with the endless dry stone walls and fascinating viaducts. I was taken there frequently as a small child by my parents who were part of a group called The Yorkshire Tent Group. We were a small group of 'tenters' and went out in all weathers and seasons. It was the adventures on these trips that sparked my love of the Dales and also where I was first taught to paint by an elderly member of the group. I have never ceased to be fascinated by the light and how it constantly changes the look of the landscape in this region. No matter how many times I return it always looks different, particularly when the sun is rising then setting at the end of the day.
The works for Odyssey are multicoloured, multi-layered collagraphs, a process I chose for its textured surface quality, potential for vigorous mark making and ability to create expressive colour combinations. I mainly produce prints in small editions of between five and 20. Each print I make is unique depending on the colours and wiping techniques used and often the differences are quite dramatic. I embrace this as a positive and exciting aspect of the collagraph process and have exploited its potential within this series of works.
*janinedenby.co.uk; email janineldenby@gmail.com; Instagram: @janinedenbyprintmaker; Facebook: Janine Denby Art
*Odyssey - a Journey through print is at Dye House Gallery, Bradford College of Art Lister Building until Friday October 18, weekdays from 11am to 4pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here