Art and artists

In 1997 Glenn Tomkinson retired after over 30 years working in Education.

For 13 years he lived in Cumbria where he took up printmaking and exhibited in local Galleries including a one man show at Abbot Hall in Kendal.

After moving to Dover, he continued to make prints and after retirement he began to exhibit again, in particular, with the “Image” group of printmakers based in Whitstable.

Glenn Tomkinson at work in his studio

He returned to live in Cumbria in 2003 and has exhibited at The Brewery in Kendal, Upfront, the Village Bakery Gallery in Melmerby, the Gincase and the Painted Penguin in Caldbeck. He had an individual show at Greystones Gallery at Glenridding at Easter 2005, had work accepted for the Cumbrian Artists Exhibition at Upfront in 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008.

In 2006 and 2007 he had individual exhibitions, “A Printmaker’s Impressions” and “Further Impressions” at the Theatre by the Lake in Keswick and his work has also been included in the Landmarks III exhibition and the Christmas exhibition at Melmerby. He is a member of the steering group for Art in Eden.

Examples of his work can be seen at the Upfront Gallery where he will be taking part in a printmakers exhibition in July.

His work is mainly aquatints combined with etching but recently he has been experimenting with Collographs and Carborundum Prints. He produces small editions of up to 20.

For each print, the plate or block is inked by hand, so no two are identical. It is the limitations and difficulties of printmaking which allow him to find the essential elements in the image.

Most of his work is rooted in landscape but can also find inspiration in buildings. His work acknowledges the influence of his youthful exploration of the abstract in art while retaining a response to the visual stimulus of the world around us.

My e-mail address is kandg@printgarden.co.uk and the web site is http://www.printgarden.co.uk

Words and pictures courtesy of  Glenn Tomkinson