Liberating
constraints
An
etcher with thirty years experience Cat Outram practises in Edinburgh
Printmakers studio where we meet. She is well known for her beautifully
detailed and linear black and white drawings of Edinburgh and the varied
Scottish landscape and for her studies of plants and objects. Is it purely coincidental that an enduring first impression of the UK as a seven year-old,
is the snowy scenery that met her upon her arrival from Kenya?
Winter twilight 29x50cms
image courtesy of the artist
It
was while studying Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art that she
discovered printmaking. She took to it “like a duck to water” and promptly abandoned her paints and brushes much to the
consternation of her D&P tutors!
Monochrome
etching complements perfectly her fascination with light and tone and she
thrives on the challenges it presents. In her preparatory sketches, she has
trained herself to drain the colours out of the picture much like the process
of black and white photography. She mentions Ansel Adams as particularly
inspirational.
Top Flat Panorama 29x73cms
image courtesy of the artist
Seedheads 49x21cms
AiH collection, image courtesy of the artist
When
she decided to introduce colours into her work, she had to find a way to do so
within the technical constraints of printmaking and within her own range of
skills. Unlike lithography or screenprinting where colour is an integral part
of the process from the start, with etching, each colour requires a different
plate. This is a painstaking process that needs great accuracy from the
printmaker who has to line up each plate perfectly with the marks of the
previous impression. She admits struggling with this level of precision and
often ends up with rejects.
Snow with Beech Leaves 30x21cms
image courtesy of the artist
The
artist had to find a solution to get round this problem. At that time, one of
her sons, now grown-up, was in China and she reminded herself that Chinese art
often introduces one colour only in a drawing to great effect. She promptly saw
the potential for her etchings and has since made this single coloured spot
distinctive of her style.
Earlier
this year Outram took part in a collaborative project organised jointly by the
Scottish Poetry Library and Edinburgh Printmakers that brought together
twenty-four poets and twenty-four printmakers. The remit was very open but like
etching, poetry is a discipline rich in constraints, rhyme,
form and vocabulary among many others. When she and Ken Cockburn the poet discovered this shared
characteristic in their respective practices they both set out to introduce
parameters in their project for inspiration. The culmination of these collaborations
is exhibited this month in both the SPL and EP gallery.
Close up, Possible Connections 29x42cms
image courtesy of the artist
Cat
Outram had been searching for ways of expressing ideas through her art and she
is now thinking about using her own words in her work. With this introduction
of words and possibly, the use of a brush instead of the traditional needle to
draw with, it is clear that at this point in her life when she has more time to
devote to her practice than ever before, the artist is already looking for
fresh boundaries and challenges that will continue to sustain and renew her
imagination.
Martine Foltier Pugh is a freelance writer and visual artist based in Edinburgh.
With thanks to Cat Outram.
Related links:
Cat Outram http://www.catoutramprintmaker.com/
Edinburgh Printmakers 'The Written Image' http://www.edinburghprintmakers.co.uk/exhibitions/the-written-image
Scottish Poetry Library 'The Spoken Image'
