Edutainment > Merlyn Chesterman

Woodblock

Merlyn Chesterman
Dusk
copyright Merlyn Chesterman

"I want to strip my work of effects, until it stands monolithic, based on reality and yet transcending it. It must flow naturally from my materials, from the way of the chisel and the way of the block. This is very difficult but it is the only way." (Shiko Munakata, Japanese woodblock artist).

This is the same goal Merlyn Chesterman aspires to. Her work is mostly about places and the natural world, and what she sees and feels around her.

About Merlyn Chesterman

Merlyn Chesterman is a British painter and printmaker who grew up in Hong Kong. She lived overseas for 25 years, in Hong Kong, Thailand, and the U.S., travelling to Bhutan, China and Kashmir to paint. Her work can be found in the Hong Kong Museum of Art and in galleries in London and the South West. She returned to England to study fine art at the Bath Academy of Art, Corsham England, where she obtained a B.A. and a Diploma of Education. Always painter, she begann woodblock printmaking in 2000, learning from Carol and Colin Walkin at West Dean College, where she has taught short courses since 2004.

Statment by the artist

"I try to catch the spirit of place, working at a fundamentally abstract level, with a supporting, literal surface. Even in woodcuts, as with painting, I try to keep my options for development open, to keep the process alive. Looking back over my sketchbooks, it surprises me slightly that I have always had the same preoccupations."

Exhibitions and Awards

Woodblock

Merlyn Chesterman
Chinese Shoes
copyright Merlyn Chesterman

• 1977 - Contemporary Hong Kong Biennial Exhibition, City Hall.
• 1978 - Pearl City Art Exhibition, Hong Kong, China.
• 1979 - Save the Children Fund Exhibition, The Mandarin, Hong Kong. Contemporary Hong Kong Biennial Exhibition, City Hall.
• 1980 - China Coast Community Exhibition, The Mandarin, Hong Kong. One-person show at IDL, Lane Crawford's: "Paintings and Illustrations of China and Bhutan".
• 1981 - "First Choice" Group Exhibition, Arts Centre, Hong Kong. Contemporary Hong Kong Bienniel Exhibition, City Hall. Cover for Asia Week: The Dalai Lama.
• 1983 - Group show "Westen Eyes look at the Orient", Landmark, Hong Kong.
• 1984 - Contemporary Hong Kong Biennial Exhibition, City Hall. Winner of Urban Council Fine Arts Drawing Award.
• 1985 - Urban Council of Fine Arts Award Winners Exhibition, City Hall, Hong Kong. Plant illustrations for "Twelve Hong Kong Walks", Published by Oxford University Press.
• 1989 - Artwork for Wildlife Fund Thailand. Illustration for Sawasdee, Thai Airways Inflight magazine. Invitation by Royal Government of Bhutan to travell trough Bhutan to promote the country trough painting.
• 1990-1993 - Private comissions in the US. One-person show at the National Liberal Club, Whitehall, London.
• 1993-2000 - Exhibitions of miniatures at the Town Hall, Wells, and the Royal Albert Museum, Exeter, UK. Exhibition at the Dorset Gallery, Wareham, in conjunction with the pottery of Philip & Frannie Leach, entitled West East
• 2001 - One-person show at the National Liberal Club, Whitehall, London. Russell-Cotes Museum & Art Gallery, Bournemouth, print room.
• 2002 - Manhattan Graphics, NY, group show. The Walk, London, SE1, summer grou show. "If Pressed" group show, Sherbourne House, Dorset.
• 2003 - Group Summer Show, Burton Art Gallery.
• 2004 - Royal West of England Academy, Open Print, Bristol. "Here and There" one person show in Marine on St Croix, Minnesota for the Science Museum of Minnesota.
• 2006 - Noth Devon Festival, two-person printmaking show at Appledore Craft Company. Society of Wood Engravers 69th Annual Exhibition group touring show. Illustration in Monoprinting, pub. A&C. Black.
• 2007 - Arts now, Red Forge Collective Exhibition, Corsham, Wilts. Group show, Stillwater Public Library, Science Museum of Minnesota.
• 2008 - DeMuth's, Bath, two-person show. The Burton Art Gallery, Bidford, two-person show. Ruskin Mill, Gloucs, two-person show. Summer show at The Sussex Barn, West Dean College, Chichester. Exhibitor in "Footprint" 1st Biennial International Print Competition, Center for Contemporary Printmaking, Norwalk, CT, USA.

Collections

Woodblock

Merlyn Chesterman
After Munakata
copyright Merlyn Chesterman

Mrs. Merlyn Chestermans artworks can be found in the collections of:

• City Hall Mueseum of Art, Permanent Collection, Hong Kong.
• Princess Ashi Tashi Dorji of Bhutan.
• Lord & Lady Wilson of Tillyorn.
• Simon & Caroline Bowes Lyon, Lord Lieutenant of Herfordshire.

Awards, Grants, Residencies & Commissions

• 2002 - Urban Council Fine Arts Drawing Award, Hong Kong. And Tarka Country Millenium Award to set up printmaking wokshops in Hartland, Devon.
• 2003 - Devon Community Foundation Local Network Fund grant to run open-accsess printmaking worshops in Hartland, Devon.
• 2004 - Arts Council England Award to develop a series of large-scale woodcuts.
• 2005 - Artist in Residence, St. Croix Watershed Research Station, Science Museum of Minnesota. "Enhancing environmental awareness and scientific understanding through the aesthetics of art." And the Award for all grant to run printmaking workshops, Devon.
• 2006 - UnLtd. Millenium Award. Limited edition woodcut for Chichester Writing Festival.
• 2007 - Winner of competition to design St. Georg's field wall mural, Bidford. Co-designed with Rod Nelson. And Commissioned to design and execute six acoustic panels, with Rod Nelson, For Pond Arts Centre, Corsham, Wiltshire.
• 2008 - Designs selected by the Mayor Tirana, Albania, to decorate two Communist era buildings in the capital. Joint project with Rod Nelson.

Teachings by Merlyn Chesterman

• 1971-1975 - House-Mother and Art Teacher at The Cotswold Community, Ashton Keynes, Wiltshire.
• 1975-1977 - Englich Teacher at Kiangsu-Chekiang College, Hong Kong.
• 1977-1979 - "English as a Second Language" Teacher, British Council, Hong Kong.
• 1979-1983 - E.S.L. Teacher at Longman School of English, Hong Kong.
• 1981-1983 - Art Teacher for Caran D'Ache, Hong Kong.
• 1979-1983 - Art Teacher at Extramural Department, Hong Kong University.
• 1984-1985 - Art Teacher at The Early Learning Centre, Bangkok, Thailand.
• 1989-1993 - Art Teaching at Marine Elementary School, Minnesota - After School Activity Program E.S.L. to Tibetans. Private art lessons.
• 1993-1995 - Part-Time Art Teacher at The Small School, Hartland.
• 1996-2000 - Devon County Council Supply Teacher.
• 2000-date - Link Tutor, Art Specialist, for the Pupils Out of School Team, Devon Country Council. Printmaking Tutor at West Dean College, Chichester (Short Courses). Tutor, woodcut workshops, Hartland.

Printmaking Techniques Used

Woodblock

Merlyn Chesterman
Ngong Ping
copyright Merlyn Chesterman

For her work she is using mainly lime, with its superb cutting quality, and elm and plywood, choosing boards for their particular grain. She prints the larg prints on Okawara, a Japanese paper, using oil-based or water-washable ink. And often grading color on the roller and adding extender to dilute the pigment. She usually uses severall blocks, one printed over the other.

More about Merlyn Chesterman

On the homepage of Print making Devon B&B Hartland you can finde some more artworks by Merlyn Chesterman.

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