Art / Artist of the Month
Artist of the Month: Kelly Stewart
This month’s artist is Kelly Stewart, whose limited edition work is available through our online shop.
Kelly is an award-winning artist who works predominately in printmaking, depicting cities such as London, Edinburgh and Sydney.
Kelly traces her interest in art back to her childhood. “As a child growing up in Australia I liked to draw lots of things but in high school it was architecture that took my focus,” she says.
But it wasn’t until she started studying design at university that she became passionate about screenprinting, a form of printmaking. “It was here that I was introduced to the medium of screenprinting as well as the beauty of traditional European architecture,” she says.
In 2000, Kelly left her home country for London. “I packed up my life in Australia and bought a one-way ticket to London to be immersed in it, to travel and draw,” she says. A few months later, she found herself in Edinburgh, attracted to the city by the festival.
Reflecting on her time in Edinburgh, Kelly says: “I naturally began to draw Edinburgh cityscapes and in 2001 I joined Edinburgh Printmakers Workshop where I began to translate the drawings into the screenprint process.”
Kelly’s screenprinting work depicts buildings and landmarks in cities across the globe, but she also paints animals. At the moment, she’s working on an illustrated dog book called Wanted: Dogs with Personality – a collection of commissioned drawings of 101 dogs.
Her work has been exhibited in venues all over the world in places such as the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts and the Royal Scottish Academy in Edinburgh. In 2012, she was awarded Printfest’s Printmaker of the Year Award.
Bristol is another city that Kelly regularly draws. “I have been drawing Bristol on my visits to the city for many years. I first visited about ten years ago when invited to participate in a printmaking exhibition and have kept returning ever since,” she says.
It is therefore not surprising that the work Kelly is selling through Bristol 24/7 is a screenprint of the Clifton Suspension Bridge, inspired by a visit to the local landmark. “One very sunny, slightly misty winter morning. I stood drawing on location to capture the essence of my initial collage idea,” she says.
“All the layers of the screenprint are drawn individually and transferred onto the screen via light-sensitive emulsion. Starting with the first layer, then the second, I work up all the layers like a painting until I’m happy with the result. Screenprinting offers endless possibilities.”
Kelly has chosen the Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary as the charity to receive any profits from her art. “I know how dedicated and committed they are to find homes for ex-racing greyhounds,” she says, having been in touch with them for her dog book.
See more of Kelly’s artwork by visiting her website: www.skellydesigns.com
To buy exclusive work from Kelly and all of our previous featured artists, visit www.bristol247.com/shop
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