Landscapes & Orchids: Studio Visit to Bill Pryde in Advance of his September Exhibition

Bill Pryde in his studio

Yesterday Robin and Natalie took a trip to Saxmundham to visit screen-printer Bill Pryde in his new studio.

Bill Pryde outside his idyllic new studio in Saxmundham

The aim of the visit was to choose work for Bill's upcoming show with us in September and to find out a little bit more about what he has been making in recent months.

Studio Interior- Downstairs

The new collection of prints focuses on both the landscapes of his native Scotland and his new home environment in and around Suffolk.

Bill Pryde, 'Day Loch', screenprint

With this new body of work he aims to capture the spirit of the location, recording a "non-representational, poetic response to the mood and moment of a place."

Bill at his print bed with a new print, surrounded by older works (behind,framed)

He sees walking in nature to be of essential importance to his work, breaking the long periods in the studio with regular trips to the sea or marshes nearby.

One of Bill's new, more painterly landscape prints

These walks are not specifically for inspiration, more to encourage a moment of tranquility to allow his creativity to return after his often physically exhausting printmaking sessions.

Much of Bill's inspiration comes from working in his beautiful new garden

The recent move to Suffolk has had a large impact on his practice, affecting his pallette and moving his landscapes away from his characteristic style of 'cloisonnism' to softer, more painterly printmaking.

Choosing some of the new Orchid prints for framing

Alongside these new landscapes we were pleased to see Bill was keeping up with his much loved still-life's - this time returning to Orchids as a subject for the first time in ten years.

Bill Pryde with his dog Bunny

We had a wonderful, uplifting day with Bill, seeing his new home and work space and, most importantly, seeing his new prints. A lot has changed in his practice since his 2012  show "Lonely Churches and Remembered Landscapes" and with these developments come exciting new challenges for the established artist.