The Batik Guild > Featured Artist

Featured Artist

Heather Gatt, North Yorkshire

2011 has been busy, with North Yorkshire Open Studios in June, a solo exhibition at Pocklington Art Centre in April, not to mention keeping galleries supplied with new work and running batik workshops. I also have a part time job at the local youth hostel. So I never seem to have enough time to spend in my studio and really value every hour there.

Potting off Whitby Coast Batik

Skipper's Pose Batik

In spite of being busy, the year has been a time of flowing creativity for me. It began with two commissions for illustrations. The first was a commission to produce a series of batiks inspired by Paul Gallico's novella The Snow Goose. This work is still ongoing but I am enjoying the challenge immensely and don't want to rush it. It's so different to have to work entirely from one's imagination, rather than using sketches and photos.

The second commission was to produce batik illustrations for a book of stories for children. At first I found it very difficult to visualise the various animal and insect characters in the stories. Pencil sketches drawn from a friend's natural history book collection over Christmas seemed fruitless, but I persevered, continuing to draw pencil cartoons from the original sketches. Eventually, as if by magic, the creatures began to develop a life of their own. There's still lots of work to do on this project and I am looking forward to the quiet, dark days of winter, when I can lock myself in the studio and let my imagination run riot!

Evening Light, Sandsend Batik

Bright Morning Tree Batik

The present bleak economic climate may not be a good time for working on (and trying to sell) larger batiks. Creatively, though, it does seem the right time for me. When I say 'big' I'm talking about 1 - 2 metres - not the size of a house, although one thing may lead to another I suppose...

What I am often trying to express in my batiks is a sense of space, filled with light, especially in some of my seascapes or beach images. Sometimes to achieve this I need a larger 'canvas' to work on. It's easier to work loosely when there is more room too - and to get a good sweep with a fan brush perhaps to indicate wet sand or the grooves left on sand when the tide recedes.

I am enjoying teaching batik very much and have a fantastic Thursday morning group, some of whom are helping on the Batik Guild stand at the Harrogate Knitting and Stitching Show. Two of my students are now professional batik artists in their own right and are beginning to sell their batiks, which makes me very proud indeed! My day courses are inspiring in that I never know what is going to happen creatively. I often learn as much as I teach, especially when I watch beginners tackling batik for the first time and going at it with perhaps a completely different and much more experimental approach to my own hesitant and well-worn methods!

Weather Front, Saltwick Batik

Sand Dancer Batik

Plans for 2012 are for more illustration work, which I enjoy so much, and to hone and pare down my seascapes and other images, to express more succinctly my fascination with the drama of light. I will also be looking to exhibit and hold workshops further afield.

Finally, I would invite everyone to see my new website (with videos) at www.heathergatt.co.uk.

 

See Heather's gallery page for further examples of her work.