Gerry Coles

I discovered and fell in love with printmaking after visiting an exhibition of relief prints in Bath in 2012. I am self-taught, working solely in linocut, rigorous about improving my skills and I love to explore new ways of working.

My work typically depicts my fondness for British wildlife, gardens and countryside alongside occasional forays depicting more quirky subjects.
My handcrafted prints are stylized, often with bold, graphic lines and dynamic composition, but always grounded in observation. I enjoy the challenge reducing a subject down to essential shapes and few colours, using the restrictions of the printing process to enhance rather than limit my creativity, often using the reduction technique for my multicoloured prints.

I teach Linocut workshops at my home studio. I am member of Oxford Art Society and I exhibit my work throughout Oxfordshire and sell online in the UK and internationally.

I relish the combination of artistry, craft, technical challenge and a pinch of luck that is needed to produce a good print, and I’m always in awe of what is revealed when the paper is peeled back from the block.