I have been working as a printmaker for the past 20 years, and have found that the process of printmaking itself, especially the endless possibilities in mark-making, in etching and the unique properties of print, a joy and inspiration. I have always wanted to express the form, structure, colour and textures of the world we live in, and have an abiding interest in the primeval, essential structure of the earth and its elements.

As a drawer I was first attracted to etching by the range of line possible with the technique, from the finest line to heavy, rough, deeply-etched marks. In particular I have developed and exploited the embossing characteristics of etching and collograph, which has suited my interests over the years. While my primary aim is developing abstract images in my studio, my work is rooted in the landscape, and I often find it necessary to return to the literal. This enables me to build up a vocabulary of forms which I can use in my more abstract pieces, while escaping from the illustrative and the constraints of faithfully rendering what one sees. Drawing from life, be it a nude model, New Zealand bush landscape, or gritty London images, are often deeply satisfying in themselves, but I then find it necessary to break away and use these forms more freely.

Alongside the printmaking, I also find a more direct painterly approach refreshing, and have recently rediscovered the clear colour and overlaying possibilities of watercolour in my abstract works which serve to extend the vocabulary I use. In addition the three dimensional has always interested me. My more sculptural embossed etchings and collographs have led to a breaking away from print on a single piece of paper to mixed media compilations - the "floating landscapes".

Brenda Hartill