Art @ Crafts Alive

Having initially studied Fine ArtI took up printmaking about ten years ago. I work mainly from my small
studio at home in the Bannau Brycheiniog, producing, limited editions by
hand, on a Little John Press.

I employ a variety of techniquesusing colour and monochrome. I love the different qualities each process brings to the image - from the fine line of a dry point, to the rich
colour of a monoprint; the tonality of etching, and the sharp, vibrant cut
of wood or lino.

Recently I have beenexperimenting with Mezzo tint, a process, where you start with a completely etched plate –a solid dark tone and gradually scrape back to the metal to produce the lighter tones, giving the print an atmospheric quality.

I live and work in Ceredigion,West Wales with my husband Emyr and I have five children and twelve grandchildren.

Although since early childhood, Ihave painted and experimented with many forms of arts and crafts, my career as an artist only began after my youngest child went to school in 1999 when I could devote my time to painting. I opened up my home studio in 2001 as part of the Cardigan open studios, and soon established a reputation as a landscape artist. Among the many private commissions that came in, I am proud to have painted a picture that was presented as a gift to HRH Prince of Wales in 2006. My work is represented in private collections in the U.K. Europe, Kuwait, New Zealand, America, Canada and Australia.

Mainly a Landscape artist, I alsopaint a wide variety of subjects and will undertake private commissions that will be created to your own requirements.

For me, painting is aboutcommunication, exploration, discovery and above all, celebration. I am aiming to share the joy I get when I walk out of my door into the amazing world we live in; to share a celebration of the individuals and events I encounter in my daily life.

‘One of our most talentedwildlife artists’ Sir David Attenborough.

Jackie has her studio in Llandybie and describes herself as a wildlife and hyper-realist artist. She is also an accomplished ceramic artist.

Based near Porthryd, Viv uses a Littlejohn Press to produce limited edition prints, mainly of birds but also of local scenes. She works with a variety of techniques and accepts commissions.

Svitlana Kozmin is a Landscape Artist living and painting in Swansea, UK.

Svitlana was born in West Ukraine and grew up in the foothills of the Carpathian Mountains. It was here that she developed a profound love of the enchanting forests and crystal streams that surrounded her, and nature continues to form a major focus of her art work. Having come to Wales some twenty years ago, Svitlana and her son settled on the South Coast and now lives and paints in Swansea. She draws her passion and inspiration from beautiful woodland scenes, open skies and sea views of the local area.Svitlana was privileged to train with the nationally renowned artist, Mihailo Figol, the founder of the West Ukrainian School of Art.She completed her studies (Masters) in Fine Art at Ivano-Frankivsk State University, West Ukraine in 1992, and having moved to England, continued her studies at Bangor University and later at Reading University in 1998-2000.

She has since spent nearly fifteen years in education teaching Art and Design. Svitlana paints predominantly in oil on canvas and has also produced artwork in multimedia. Her paintings are owned by private collectors in many countries around the world, and have featured at Art Fairs and in extended en plein air projects around Europe.

Having had abackground in teaching where the artistic and creative aspect was a great passion of mine, on leaving the profession I was able to continue and further my love of all things creative.

My other passions are travelling, camping and my golden retriever has led me all over the UK and Europe, beachcombing the coast for sea glass, pebbles, driftwood and all sorts of natural materials that the sea makes beautiful. Each find is thrilling, especially if it's aparticularly vibrant colour or smooth, beautiful shape. Equally as thrilling is creating artwork from the discarded pieces made beautiful by the sea. I incorporate these into simple and quirky greetings cards and pictures that hopefully make people smile and have a little bit of our beautiful coast in their home.