Sally Spens is a wonderful painter and printmaker with a background in textile design, having worked in London and Japan.
Her etchings are delicate and detailed, recalling many motifs from her experience in textiles. She is chiefly inspired by natural forms: mountains, oceans, and trees. Her prints have been exhibited in Hong Kong and Singapore.
'Drawing has always been central to my practice,' says Sally, 'both as a textile designer and as a painter/printmaker. It is important to me that the images are handmade, and originate from my drawings and experience. Working with a Japanese company for seven years on designs for summer kimonos, which are so much a part of Japanese culture, has also been a major influence, particularly in the compositional botanical works. The etchings of imagined pots link to another discipline of the applied arts – ceramics. Images drawn from memory and observation combine with that of vessels, linking associations with both'.
