A light beyond these woods

About the artist

My art practice frequently brings me into the landscape and particularly trees within the landscape. The life-force emanating from trees energise me to generate images that often reflect emotions felt at a particular moment in time.I like to explore ways we are all rooted to the earth and how we communicate with it. The man-made ravages we now often see inflicted upon the earth channel their way through to us in a very direct way, touching emotions that affect how we experience our natural environment.Printmaking and particularly woodcuts have helped me to carve out a physical link to my subject. Recently I have been able to translate my woodcuts into screen prints which has allowed me to introduce other physical elements into my prints such as found objects that can be either natural or man made and help to bring in another dimension.My drive is to convey the various aspects of nature%u2019s strength and it%u2019s quiet persistence.

Gerry King was born and educated in Derry and later studied Fine-art printmaking during the 1980%u2019s at the National College of Art and Design, Dublin. A brief return to Derry after graduating from NCAD, saw him explore his printmaking further within his own art practice and also at a commercial level for 3 years. During the 1990%u2019s he became employed in third level education in Letterkenny, County Donegal and remained there for more than 30 years. Taking early retirement, he co-founded the Cló & Co Printmaking Studio in Ramelton, Co Donegal.Since building the studio in Ramelton, he has immersed himself in promoting the joys of printmaking and it%u2019s benefits for wellness and education, as well as providing support to local artists/designersThroughout his career, he has taken part in various group shows within Ireland and has had one solo exhibition.His recent print work is viewable at gerardking.com

More about Gerry King

About the artwork

Since graduating in Fine Art Printmaking, I have been involved in printmaking professionally, commercially, and educationally. In recent years, along with a fellow printmaker, I have spent my time building an open-access print studio in the North West of Ireland. In my own practice, I like to explore a variety of print processes. Woodland is often a subject that creeps into my work %u2014 magical places that evoke otherworldly sensations of the %u201Cunknown%u201D, discovery, and struggle. My print, *A Light Beyond These Woods*, is a screen print that explores these themes. This particular print started life as a woodcut, which was then made into a stencil and combined with a leaf impression from a soft-ground plate run through an etching press. From these two stencils, four colour separations were produced, creating a play of light depicted in the resulting print.