Grace Edkins is an artist printmaker from the fishing town of Leigh-on-Sea on the Essex coastline. A self taught printmaker working in the relief methods of woodcut and linocut, and often combining the two. Living close to the water and marshes of the Thames Estuary, the beautiful landscape is a constant source of inspiration for her work.
Grace graduated from the University of Essex in 2007 with a BA in Graphic Design but it wasn’t until the change of pace in life during the first lockdown that led her to discover printmaking and dedicate herself to her own creative practice, around raising a young family.
Grace is inspired by the flora and fauna of her local area and her work is deeply rooted in seasonal changes and cycles, exploring elements in detail and the beauty of the sometimes overlooked familiar.
All her prints start off life as a drawing, usually from a sketch whilst out walking. The drawing is then developed back in her studio and transferred onto a block, or drawn straight onto a block to then be carved. Grace’s prints are created without a press, printed by hand in small limited editions, enjoying the slowing down of the process and the opportunity to have control over the variation in hand burnishing.
Grace was selected to take part in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2022 creating a reduction woodcut print of Whitstable Harbour. She has had various solo local exhibitions, was invited to exhibit at the Great Print 8 exhibition 2023 in Cumbria, and selected to exhibit in the 59th Essex Open 2023 at the Beecroft Art Gallery. She will be opening up her studio as part of the Leigh Art Trail in the summer of 2024.
Events/Exhibitions
2024
The 60th Essex Open Art Exhibition - 16th Nov 2024- 9th Feb 2025, Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 6EX
Open Studio - 15th & 16th Nov 2024, Studio 19 Leighcliff Buildings, Leigh Cliff Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1PR
Leigh Art Trail 2024 - 6th-14th July 2024, Studio 19 Leighcliff Buildings, Leigh Cliff Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1PR
Old Leigh Artists’ Market - Saturday 25th May 2024, Strand Wharf, High Street, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 2EN
2023
Open Studio - 10th & 11th Nov 2023, Studio 19 Leighcliff Buildings, Leigh Cliff Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1PR
SAC Autumn Exhibition 2023 - 4th & 5th Nov 2023, Chalkwell Hall, Chalkwell Park, Westcliff-on-Sea, SS0 8NB
The 59th Essex Open Art Exhibition - 7th Oct - 31st Dec 2023, Beecroft Art Gallery, Victoria Avenue, Southend-on-Sea, Essex, SS2 6EX
The Great Print 8 Exhibition - 20th Jan - 7th May 2023, Rheged Gallery, Rheged Centre, Penrith, Cumbria, CA11 0DQ
Old Leigh Artists’ Market - Bank Holiday Monday 1st May 2023, Strand Wharf, High Street, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 2EN
2022
Open Studio - 18th Nov & 19th Nov 2022, Studio 19 Leighcliff Buildings, Leigh Cliff Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1PR
‘Flora & Coast’ Solo Exhibition - 19th Sept 2022 - 14th Oct 2022, Leigh Community Centre, 71-73 Elm Road, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 1SP
Old Leigh Artists’ Market - Bank Holiday Monday 2nd May 2022, Strand Wharf, High Street, Leigh-on-Sea, SS9 2EN
Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year - Pod Contestant in Heat 3 (Whitstable Harbour) in series 7, airing on Sky Arts - Wednesday 26th Jan 2022 8pm
David Lloyd Solo Exhibition - Dec 2021 - Jan 2022, David Lloyd Southend, Snakes Lane, Southend-on-Sea, SS2 6XT
2021
The Little Known Studio Solo Exhibition - 23rd & 24th October 2021, The Little Known Studio Art Gallery, 115 Leigh Road, SS9 1JH
Old Leigh Artists’ Market - Bank Holiday Monday 30th August 2021, Strand Wharf, High Street, Leigh-on-Sea
Candid Orange website article - August 2020 https://candidorangemagazine.com/2020/08/07/artwork-pandemic-printmaking-with-grace-edkins/