Thursday 9 September 2010

ARTIST'S SPOTLIGHT: Graham Carter


Detail from Graham Carter's 'Antler Dance', signed by the artist.
The artwork is hand screen printed onto a fine gauge merino wool kimono style cardigan.
Available soon in our online store.


We have been massive fans of Graham’s work since our embryonic days, and not in our wildest dreams did we imagine one of his creations would be part of our collection. Well, it’s happened, we got Carter!!! And Lark Rising is truly thrilled and honoured to have reaped the benefits of his wandering mind …

LR: What clients do you work for?

GC: In the early days of my illustration career i was working with clients such as Orange, Bupa, HSBC, FT magazine and Waterstones.  These days i tend to focus more on my print career and although there are a couple of corporate clients i do regular work for, such as Aviva, by and large the illustration tends to take a back seat. This means i have more time to produce print work for galleries such as Art Republic, Soma, Ink-d and of course Boxbird.

 LR: What inspires you?

GC: I usually find that flicking through illustration/print source books is enough to get my creative cogs whirring.  I should stress that i don't copy anyone but i do find that somedays i need to constantly look at patterns, colours, forms, characters and compositions produced by other people in order to spark an idea of my own. Websites such as ffffound.com can usually take up a large chunk of my morning in this capacity.  Letting my mind wander in a cafe or on a train or something is also sometimes all i need for a good idea to form.

LR: Do you admire any particular artists or designers?

GC: I go through phases but i'll just list a few names of Artists i'm currently interested in. These are Tara McPherson, Shaun Tan, Eric Tan (not related), Kuniyoshi, David Hockney, Mark Ryden, Nate Williams, Gary Taxali, Chris Ware and the animation work of Hayao Miyazaki and Genndy Tartakovsky.

 LR: When were you last really affected by someone else's art?

GC: I bought a book called 'The Tree Show' recently by Mark Ryden. This is basically an accompanying book for a show he had in the States which was naturally heavily inspired by trees and woodland folklore/imagery, as well as featuring his trademark surrealism. The whole thing just worked incredibly well and some of the frames he had hand carved to compliment the paintings were truly breathtaking. From that i was inspired to produce my own show which i ultimately hope will be a complete package of book/prints and animation all working together, telling a story.

 LR: What is it about the medium you use that appeals to you?

GC: I've always had an affinity with Silkscreen, and i'm constantly discovering new ways to use it. It's never boring and you get the satisfaction of feeling like you've done a hard days work during a particularly heavy printing session! There are so many different types of inks, printing/stencil making methods and surfaces to work with that the possibilities feel limitless.

LR: What's on your iPod while you're working?

GC: I tend to listen to a lot of the BBC 6 music station online and i'm obsessed with the Ricky Gervais podcast/audio books at the moment(far superior to the unnecessary TV show).

‘No Bugs Here’ (Giclee print 49.5 x 65cm. £200.Ed 100)
Available at Boxbird.

‘Lightkeepers’ (Silkscreen. 41 x 59cm. £350. Ed 10)
Available at Boxbird.

‘Business Class’ (Silkscreen. 66.5 x 44cm. £300. Ed 10)
Available at Boxbird.

Check out Graham's beautiful website:
And be sure to follow him on Twitter!

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