I’m Carolyn Murphy, a Manchester-based artist and printmaker. My first passion is linocut printmaking and more recently I’ve been exploring collagraphs, etchings, monoprints and printing onto fabric. I am in my final year of a part-time MA in Fine Art Printmaking at Middlesex University. I’m also a member of the Printmakers Council, Hot Bed Press in Salford and Prospect Printmakers in Rossendale.
I’m proud to have work in the RA Summer Exhibition 2023 and to sold work in galleries, exhibitions and privately to art buyers across the UK and internationally. I have completed a commission for Macmillan Cancer Support.
My ‘Barn Owl’ linocut, which I created for my niece, features in a fabulous book called ‘The Elegant Fowl’, a parliament of printmakers’ owls. My etching ‘Bridgewater Canal’ will feature in an art book coming out in 2024 – more news on this next year.
What drives me as a printmaker?
I’m interested in human landscapes and our relationship with the environments we share. I’m drawn to beautiful, wild and wilderness landscapes, and also hidden, atmospheric and industrial places. I aim to capture a sense of place and often of escape.
My practice incorporates a range of printmaking techniques, as I experiment with texture, pattern and space. My work is primarily concerned with our interventions in the world around us and its interconnection with us. Themes include fragility, decay, renewal and resilience.
I love to experiment and I am happiest when my work captures the essence of a location close to my heart, including Manchester. I enjoy walking in remote hills, on the coastline and in the city. It gives me a chance to reflect and ponder, to re-balance, step off the busy world for a moment and hold onto a simpler life.
Why a passion for printmaking?
So many reasons… I find the physical process of cutting lino and woodblock plates satisfying and absorbing. I’m excited by the way small choices and decisions I make at every stage have an impact. Printmaking processes can be complex and take time and care, which I love. Then of course, printmaking studios make for a great learning environment and joyful interaction with other artists. And the process of transfer from plate to surface never loses its magical appeal!
Where I work
Most of the time I work from my home studio in Manchester and the Print Room at Middlesex University in Hendon, London. I print some work at Hot Bed Press, an open access printmaking workshop in Salford, where I’ve been a member since 2011. I can use their relief and etching presses for larger work.
I regularly print at Alan Birch’s print workshop at Prospect Studio in Rossendale, Lancashire and exhibit with other Prospect Printmakers.
Training
I am currently in my final year of the MA Fine Art Printmaking programme at Middlesex University. Prior to this I completed a Printmaking L3 programme at the regional Print Centre in Wrexham and a range of workshops with established printmakers. In 2012 I was part of the first ‘Complete Printmaker’ course, run by Hot Bed Press.
Find out more
- For information on past exhibitions, print fairs and more click here
- Visit my Gallery to see my work – or check out my SHOP
- Greetings cards of some of my linocuts are now for sale on the ‘Love From The Artist’ website
- See latest News and events coming up
- Find more ‘behind the scenes’ stuff, work in progress projects and broader printmaking topics on my Blog
Please don’t hesitate to contact me about my work.