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Liz Harvey
MG: When does your working day start and end? LH: The day always starts early at the studio. I check in with work in progress, reviewing plans and pieces (I often have several pieces of work on the go at once as I tend to work in series), or prepare to teach. I run courses from my studio and have regular groups, which I find really rewarding. I do make sure I carve out plenty of painting time as well though. The day ends late, with more painting, planning and drawing. MG: What is your favourite kind of day as an artist? LH: Bright, crisp days at the studio are an absolute delight. My studio is in a beautiful area between Grewelthorpe and Mickley, surrounded by farmland, with extensive views, so just getting there and being surrounded by the space and light is inspiring. The best days are the days when paintings are underway and the ideas are bubbling. I often work in series on a specific theme or place. This allows me to explore ideas in depth so my favourite days definitely include both working on sustained oil paintings and emerging mixed media sketches which form the starting points of my work. There is always a good supply of morning coffee and afternoon tea on my favourite days too! MG: What marks a successful day? LH: Any day which involves painting or drawing. MG: How does the place you work influence you if at all? LH: There is plenty of light and space in my studio and incredible views, so these have a huge influence on my work. My studio is also a teaching space where I lead courses and workshops. It has been essential that I have my own dedicated working space within the studio. I think this was the biggest factor in my development as an artist whilst I worked full time. Initially that place was a table in a spare room - and that was enough to convince me I wanted to just keep creating more art. Moving into my current studio and now working as an artist full time, has had the most incredible impact on how I work, the scale at which I can work and the way I work, often with multiple paintings being produced at the same time.  Liz Harvey's spacious studio MG: Who are your biggest artistic influences? LH: They are many and varied, and have definitely changed throughout my artistic journey as I have moved from pure abstraction into abstractions from observations. Robert Ryman, Richard Diebenkorn and David Hockney have all had an impact on how I approach my work. But there are many others I look to as well - often for different reasons. I think it is important to look at the work of others. I studied History of Art alongside Fine Art at university so I am fascinated by artists’ work and it is using their ideas to inform my work, not working in their styles, that is most important to me. MG: Where do you find inspiration? LH: Since moving to Yorkshire a couple of years ago, my inspiration is all around me! I am really enjoying finding new places and spaces to explore and investigate. The local landscapes around the studio provide much of the influence for my current work - the places where I spend time . I teach at Old Sleningford Hall and the opportunity to work in the gardens there has had a huge impact on my work. They are so beautiful and inspiring. MG: When is your favourite time of day to create? LH: Mornings / afternoons - don’t mind really just as long as I have time. With tutoring commitments, I need to be flexible and I am pretty good at finding the time! MG: How do you define success as an artist? LH: Success for me is in the creating of works that both challenge and find resolution. There is a wonderful satisfaction in creating an artwork that feels balanced and complete - I love that moment when it just all comes together. For me success as an artist is being one - that is enough. It is a huge privilege to spend my time creating, making and sharing my art - that is success. MG: Does art help you in other areas of your life? LH: It fuels me - it genuinely makes everyday better and is essential to my own wellbeing. This impacts how I can deal with other aspects of life. I have recognised how calm and happy I am since moving to Yorkshire and working full time as an artist following a long and happy teaching career. Art brings me calmness and joy - that helps in so many ways.  Liz's light-filled studio MG: Do you have the opportunity to mentor or share your skills with young or new artists? LH: I trained as an art teacher and worked in schools in the UK and internationally for nearly 30 years as an art teacher, head of art and director of art. It was a joy to teach so many young people throughout my career and to make sure art was an essential part of education of my students. I thoroughly enjoyed teaching in schools but just wanted more time for my own work so moved up to Yorkshire and established my studio - which is very much a teaching studio. I now teach adults and that has been a revelation, in terms of how much I genuinely love teaching them. My approach is very much about personal tuition and guidance and helping people find their artistic voice and realise their intentions. I am also passionate about helping people develop an understanding of how to create meaningful works of art and how the process is the most important part of the journey, enabling them to think and make decisions about their work.  Thank you very much for sharing your work life with us Liz.
You can check out Liz’s working our summer exhibition, A Particular Place.
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Pam Grimmond We are back this month with a bonus edition of 'What This Artist Does All Day' to shine a spotlight on another fantastic artist from our current A Particular Place exhibition, which runs until September 8th. This time we step into the daily world of Pam Grimmond, a North Yorkshire based printmaker whose intricate linocuts draw on the quiet details of everyday life - birds, buildings and the landscapes she walks through daily. MG: When does your working day start and end? PG: My first thought when I saw this question is that it’s not a 9 – 5 job! Then I remembered a quote I’d seen recently about being an artist is part of your identity, rather than simply your profession, and I thought, Yes, it’s who I am as much as what I do! So, in a way, what I’m trying to do is to define my working day. I’m thinking about my work all the time but the nitty gritty bit comes when I’m actually sitting at my desk upstairs in my studio, drawing or cutting a block ready for printing, or else downstairs at my printing press, actually printing! MG: What is your favourite kind of day as an artist? PG: I love printing. This takes some working up to: first I have to have the blocks ready to go, then there’s choosing and cutting the paper/s. I then prepare the press, ie. getting the registration ready, and finally, choosing and rolling out the different colours and so on, until the fabulous moment of removing the paper from the block to see what is there. Then there’s a whole new set of problems to think through! I’m totally working in the moment when I’m doing all this The mind can go off on a tangent of its own, planning and plotting other avenues to explore. MG: How does the place you work influence you if at all? PG: I’m lucky enough to have an old one up, one down outbuilding in our garden which I use as my studio. It’s also a utility room and there’s a bed settee upstairs, where my sister sleeps when she comes to stay in August. I love the peaceful atmosphere of my studio but especially in the Summer months when it’s warm and doesn’t actually need heating. Downstairs it’s always cool, except on the hottest days, but the double doors open onto the garden so I’m glancing out and seeing the flowers and hearing the birds. Obviously in Winter it can be quite difficult because the lino is hard and the ink takes quite a lot of rolling out. No one bothers me here as there’s a ladder to climb so people aren’t passing through. I like to have it quiet but sometimes I’ll have the radio on.  Bracken 2, Linocut on Japanese Paper by Pam Grimmond MG: Who are your biggest artistic influences? PG: I used to pore through books on Edward Bawden as his linocuts are so well thought out and there is so much to learn. Also, contemporary printmakers such as Mark Hearld, Emily Sutton and Angie Lewin. As my work has progressed and changed I’ve enjoyed looking at the work of Mary Feddon, Jo Self, Gary Hume, Ellsworth Kelly and many, many others. At the moment, as my plant studies evolve I’ve been looking at the macro photography of Karl Blossfeldt and am feeling really inspired. MG: How do you define success as an artist? PG: This is a tricky one and it would be easy to say that success is defined by whether your work sells or not, whether it is popular. It’s hard to let go of that and sometimes it can feel like a lonely road, breaking out and trying new ideas, following new threads. My M.A. in 2018 really helped with this and in many ways, it taught me how to work by keeping an open mind and moving on, always being curious.
Michael AtkinSummer is in fill swing and with it comes a new exhibition here at Masham Gallery. A Particular Place runs from now until 8th September and celebrates Mashamshire. The Exhibition brings together ten artists, including Michael Atkin, whom over the past year have walked the streets, wandered the woodlands - sketchbooks in hand to capture this place we call home. Michael's work depicts quiet corners of Mashamshire - and the famous Druid's Temple folly. He has created a wood engraving and 2 etchings with aquatint for this show. We thought we'd shine the spotlight on Michael this month in our (fairly!) regular What this artist does all day feature.
MG: How about the end of your day? MA: Evenings are spent in the house where I have a table for cutting wood engravings, which are small (in comparison to other mediums) and take far longer to cut. I often have three or four different wood engravings ion the go at the same time. When I’m not working on my own images I print for other artists/institutions who require editions to be printed, either wood-cuts or etchings or engravings. MG: When/how do you take breaks? MA: Decaff coffee is the staple drink, as and when I need them, breaks occur between processes. Whilst waiting for stop out varnish to dry, or cooling the plate after laying an aquatint. Ink to dry, there are many times I take a break, including when I need to walk Bob our dog. MG: What is your favourite kind of day as an artist? MA: Working on three or four images at the same time, often three etchings and two Lino prints along with four or more wood engravings. MG: What marks a successful day? MA: When the bite on the plate is good, or the ink layer for a Lino cut prints well, or even a trail proof from a wood engraving shows promise.
MG: When is your favourite time of day to create? MA: There isn’t a particular time of day as I’m involved with image making every day, I often have ideas whilst woking on an image of another, then the difficult bit, finding a location that fits the narrative I want to portray. MG: What couldn’t you live without in your studio? MA: The four antique printing presses from the 19th century that I own, and my Rochat etching press [seen below], which I had made for me in 1976. MG: Thank you so much for sharing your daily work life with us Michael.
Do check out Michael's work in our latest A Particular Place exhibition. |
Josie BeszantHello! welcome to the once a month (hopefully!) blog about reflections on running Masham Gallery and what it means from a personal perspective. I hope to get some guest bloggers in at a later date too. All feedback is welcome, thanks. Archives
August 2025
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