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.

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.

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.