Richard Shimell
Richard Shimell | Printmaking | Devon
Richard is drawn to landscapes and complexity, and trees in particular.
He makes intricately detailed prints from offcuts pieces of vinyl flooring. He draws directly on to the flooring then carves away the background.
He joined a printmaking workshop in 2010 with no art background or experience. It was a steep learning curve. He knew very little, but did have an eye for what pleased him, a love of landscape and an interest in art.
He now has a studio with a press at his home near Ashburton and sells his work directly and in galleries.
What inspired him, then and now, is the landscape around the edge of Dartmoor, the big woods, old fields and the trees in them.
Each plate of vinyl flooring can take weeks to carve. He uses lino or wood-cutting tools, and sometimes also wood engraving tools.
He often uses several plates to build up the image - a sky, a background landscape, then the trees.