Tower and Town, March 2023 (view the full edition)From DrawingJuliet and Simon write about their forthcoming exhibition at the White Horse gallery March 3rd to April 2nd Preparing our first joint exhibition is highlighting our differences, despite nearly fifty years together. What we do share is a commitment to drawing as the foundation of our work. However, for Simon, drawing is an in-depth study for an engraving, while for Juliet it is a rapid response to a human, changing situation, so usually incomplete. Juliet: I love to draw a chance discovery or, in contrast, return to a well loved theme such as Cromer pier or the Brilliant Young Musicians recitals in St Peter's. The Underground theme in the show grew from secret London sketches, 'stealing' the movement of passengers, stilling them into traditional compositions. Teaching led to sketching in Swindon, towards a series of pictures about the townspeople. An exhibition, launched by a public drawing event in central Swindon to raise interest in visual art, then toured for about a year. I painted the children of Marlborough College Master, Roger Ellis, in the 1980's and the later Master, Edward Gould. From local portrait commissions I developed a nation-wide portrait career - intimate heads and large public commissions were equally interesting to me. Currently I work from drawings closer to home. Simon: Recently I discovered the whereabouts in New Mexico of a portrait painting I had thought lost. Making a print version of it led to the engraved portraits in the show. Juliet Wood and Simon Brett |
My wood engravings are black and white, mainly illustration for literature and poetry: Norse mythology, the Bible and Shakespeare, 19th century novels, the Romantic poets and modern poetry. The work which has meant most to me was The Play of Pericles, a fascinatingly close artist/printer/publisher collaboration with Barbarian Press in Canada, involving one hundred and forty blocks. So I have played a part in the modern revival of wood engraving, have written widely on it, including Wood Engraving: How to do it and The Life and Art of Clifford Webb.