I studied BA (hons) Printmaking with Illustration and MA Printmaking at the University for Creative Arts at Maidstone. My own work involves a plethora of relief printing as well as hand drawing, and I believe these methods dovetail into one another nicely. I am so attached to lino cutting; perhaps it has something to do with the drawing element that is infused with the intricate carving of the material, or the way that I delight in the linear boldness and the little specks that are left behind during the cutting process. I prefer to hand-colour the images with water colours because of the fluidity effect; I like a contrast in the art between the intense bold lines and a colourful but softer filling.

I gather inspiration from various sources. I spent all of my childhood and adolescent summers in Malta, which gave me a deep fascination with the sea and its mysteries. I am somewhat obsessed with the actor Harvey Keitel and he seems to pop up quite a lot in my images. He is always getting up to hijinks in my world; it is a personal salute to his wonderfully diverse acting skills. Fairy tales, folk tales, mythology and music play an important part in my artwork, as does the natural world.  

Marisa Cherry Saunders

Links