Interview with artist Laine Tompkinson – January 2018
“Laine’s printmaking practice deserves wider acclaim. Her painterly approach and unerring sense of colour produce prints that are both dynamic and beautiful. She is becoming hot property in printmaking circles- a true printmaker’s printmaker”
Lucy Philips, Director, Leicester Print Workshop
I caught up with Laine over a cup of fruit tea in her homely studio in Olknows factory today. I first met her when she arrived to share a space in 5B in the same building around 4 years ago where I also had a studio. Laine was at that time using screen print as her main medium of choice for her work. She now uses paint, screenprint, collage and monoprint in her multi-layered works. We spoke about her background, influences, exhibitions and working methods. I showed her my current sketchbook too; apologizing for the state of it (she confided she doesn’t use sketchbooks!).
Laine showed me how she works and reworks her prints, adding layer upon layer of marks and colours. She takes old prints and cuts them up for collage, she puts them away and then revives them with blocks of print.
She has never been busier, preparing for exhibitions and print fairs, using social media to try and sell more work (being an artist is a pretty precarious business). Last year her highlights were ‘Re-Making Nature’ a solo show Nottingham Lakeside Arts Wallner Gallery and RECALL a group show & reunion with selected graduates from her fine art course at UCL (her peers include the not so unknown Andy Goldsworthy!)This year looks set to equal it with the Hepworth Print Fair, Lady Bay Arts fair and her second curated show at the Nottingham Society of Artists this May.
Background: After graduating in 1979 Laine moved to Manchester where she took part in ‘New Art for Manchester’. Following her heart to Barcelona she spent 12 years there soaking in the sunshine colours, which still now flow through her juicy, coloured prints and paintings. She settled later in Nottingham and worked with young people with challenging behaviour and raised her family. Sometime in 1996/7 she took a part time print course at NCN with Mark Bevan so began her love of printmaking. The plan was to learn etching as she was mainly working figuratively at this point, however, she fell in love with mono printing and dropped to working 4 days a week to give her time to make work. She has been an artist in residence at LPW , an experience she described as ‘amazing’ but she really describes herself as ‘painterly printmaker’ or mixed media artist.
Laine loves anything bold with colour. Her idols are mostly abstract painters Matisse, Patrick Heron, Terry Green, Gillian Ayres and some artists that were new to me Wilema Barnes-Norris and Vincent Hawkins.
Laine is currently represented by Tarpey Gallery, Nottingham and Staithes Gallery.
“I’m always representing a specific experience when painting or printing, orchestrating my personal array of shapes and marks, then building up layers of colours to develop an image that is both true to the initial sensation and which – hopefully- quickens the pulse.
Recently I’ve been experimenting adding layers of paint over an already colour saturated print- producing a one off mixed media work. Working like this- trying out shapes and forms with immediacy keeps my work fresh.” from Laine’s artist statement
Bibliography
https://gallerytop.co.uk/product-category/prints/laine-tomkinson/
http://staithesstudios.com/laine-tomkinson/
https://www.lakesidearts.org.uk/exhibitions/event/3417/laine-tomkinson-re-making-nature.html
Becki P Printmaker 