Silvana McLean at Highland Print Studios

Seahouse Tangwick

 Silvana McLean, Artist and Printmaker from Moniave, has a new solo exhibition 'Diary of a Cold Spell' based on an artist's residency in March 2016 in Siglufjordur in northern Iceland, and on work made following visits to Shetland. I saw it on 16 September while it was at the Highland Print Studio (1-28 Sept). It's now showing at the Designs Gallery in Castle Douglas until 12 November.

The exhibition included etchings, monoprints and collagraphs, mainly landscape-based, in greys, browns and blues.

I am interested in the solar-plate etching /polymer photogravura technique, in which the plate is coated in a polymer.  This image, entitled 'Seahouse Tangwick', is photo intaglio and soft ground etching, which gives some wonderful texture and line. 

Product of Iceland

Like so many artists, McLean is inspired by Scotland and the north. I was particularly interested in this exhibition for its Iceland connection.  McLean says, 'The far north fires my imagination, the focus oscillating between Iceland and the Northern Isles of Scotland. Whether works are sea-based or on geological and glacial themes, the north remains a connecting factor.



Freya and Kai chose the pictures they liked best, including this etching 'Product of Iceland', a collagraph with text. The deep blues work well. I am also interested in the technique of sewing into prints, which McLean uses in some of the pieces.