Carol Pairaudeau

My work reflects my experience of the world whether that is riding my bike, walking through the Leicestershire countryside, or exploring further afield. It is often a detail that captures my attention: patterns created by grasses, reeds or leaves; a weathered surface; dappled light; a shadow. I enjoy wandering with a camera, using it not to capture a single shot but as a tool for really looking, exploring and later recalling the memory and the sense of the experience.
I am a painter and a printmaker and I enjoy working across these different media so that one technique can inform the other and elements can come together in new ways.
To create a collagraph print different materials are collaged onto a printing plate and this variety in surface texture and absorbency produces the variety of tones and textures seen in the finished print. Each print is inked and printed by hand using the intaglio method and only a relatively small number of images can be made before the plate starts to deteriorate. Collage finds its way into some of my paintings too and paint may well be applied with printmaking tools in addition to brushes.
You can see further examples of my work at www.carolartgallery.com as well as read more about the printmaking techniques I use and workshops that I teach. You can also follow me on Instagram @cpairaudeau