Collette Howie

Artist & Printmaker

red squirrel and birds

About my Art practice

Being creative is not so much the desire to do something as the listening to that which wants to be done: the dictation of the materials.

Anni Albers “Weaving in a College”
the gunning press at the studio

For the last 17 years, I have been involved in the creative world in some way. Initially, I taught myself how to make patchwork and quilts after the birth of my second child. I worked with several patchwork and quilting magazines writing patterns and making quilts for them. I taught a beginner’s quilting class for several years too. One day I began sketching some moths and drawing intricate patterns in order to relax. My return to an art practice grew from there. At school, I had always loved art and even passed my higher art. I had dreams of going to art school but life took a different path.

I am a mostly self-taught artist. Through perseverance, hours upon hours of practice, and a great deal of patience, I used this wonderful internet world to study the skills I needed to pursue the type of art I want to create. I am still very much a work in progress like my artwork.

My Practice

I have a shared studio space in a fantastic creative community in an old school on Dornoch street, in the East End of Glasgow. There is a huge Gunning press I print on and it is a beautiful and inspiring place to work.

My art practice involves exploring the wildlife and nature that surrounds us here in Scotland.  I have been on several solo retreats to some of our beautiful islands to observe and sketch what I find. 

These are then developed to become Lino Prints, Drypoint Prints and Coloured Pencil Art. Our studio has a Gunning Etching Press which I use to print my small, limited editions of prints. 

I am to create a sense of vulnerability and resilience with my mark making.  The fragility of nature has never been more evident than now given the climate crisis and extinction of many species.  Yet nature is also resilient and evolves to cope with the damage inflicted upon her by humans.

I use the Drypoint technique to scratch delicate lines into the plate to produce a sense of fragility.  Lino printing uses a bolder, graphic line which evokes a sense of strength and resilience which can be found in nature thankfully. 

I also am currently exploring automatic drawing and abstract work. My process involves using a pendulum to intuitively create art based on a feeling or emotion or state of mind.

Currently, my main mediums are Lino print and Drypoint Intaglio. For my coloured pencil artworks, I use Faber Castell Polychromos pencils to achieve a realistic, lightfast, professional result. I use this material for pet portraits.

Collette Howie in studio at desk

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