Focus On Kirsty Hopkins at King Street Workshops

 This is a focus piece on one of the King Street Workshops, something we plan to do for all the artists/designers. It will give you a little insight into their techniques and how they work. 

Kirsty Hopkins is in studio 10 and has been there for 18months now. Previously she worked in a converted barn and did shows up and down the UK as well as in Seoul, South Korea.
She works mainly in mixed media but has on display screen prints for this current exhibition...although the textile influence can be seen in these as there is so much texture conveyed within the prints.

"Screen Printing is a technique that I have recently really come to love. The ability to overlay images, colours, textures to create a unique piece of art has a compelling appeal.

When I screen print I like to use stencils, that I have previously created, and work at a piece until I am satisfied it is completed. One reason that I have so much texture in my prints is that I did not wait for the paint to dry, instead I keep printing so the colours meet and melt together. By using this technique I can create both deeply complex images with hints at silhouettes and also strikingly minimal pictures, where colour and form are the focus."

 "I absolutely love this screen print (left). It does not have as many layers as the others in the series, but I instantly knew it was finished. It is often a question I get asked...how do you know when a picture is finished...the answer is you just know ."  
























 "The piece seen below, ‘The Tea Party’, is

 perhaps my favourite work.  The ’tea’ pots were actually based on Moroccan coffee pots. This was the first large picture I worked on, so that may explain some of the significance and importance I place on it. I have had it up in my own home for a long period as I have not been able to part with it, but now feel the time is right.

I love the strength of the colours and the way in which they interact with each other. The shocking pink with the blue of the large coffee pot brings out both colours to their full extent.

I used a range of fabrics, threads and beads in this piece and I believe my love of

various textures to form a picture was

ignited by the creation of this piece."

Kirsty Hopkins work can be viewed on:

http://www.kirstyhopkins.co.uk/