Printmaker, Mary Campbell is a member of the highly talented group of artists New Longton Artists. After a career as an architect Mary decided to concentrate more on her art and was made a member of the prestigious MAFA (Manchester Academy of Fine Artists) in 2004.
Printmaking is the mainstay of my work and collagraphy is my favoured method. Drawing is crucial for the design, mainly taken from my own sketchbooks, sometimes supplemented by other visual material. These elements are mixed and rescaled to express my ideas for content and composition. From the drawing I construct a low relief sculpture on mountboard using a variety of card and paper, odds and ends, glue and gesso. This printing plate is inked up in both intaglio and relief, using the viscosity process to layer the colours and play with darkness and light. It is tricky to replicate so I never print editions but only three or four from each plate. The finished collagraph is simply an arrangement of figures and places in colour which conjures up stories and memories from my mind's eye.