This week Brighton Journal spoke to local illustrator and print maker, Sally Elford. Sally takes inspiration from wildlife and landscapes to create her charming contemporary prints. During her career, Sally has worked on some incredible projects with the likes of the National Trust and the V&A. We discussed Sally’s work towards the “1/many charity postcard project” on Instagram, as well as how her work has been affected by living in the local area.
What are you doing today?
Designing some small postcard sized screen prints for the 1/many (one of many) project started on Instagram. People can claim your print for free but pledge to donate a suitable amount to charity rather than the artist. Its great to have constraints and with the lack of access to full printing facilities at the moment, I have to keep colours to a minimum and am using just paper cut stencils. The design has to be simple!
Describe where you do most of your creative work.
For designing; any comfy chair I can curl up in – usually in my home in Seaford. That’s the joy of working on a fully mobile devise like the iPad. I used to be desktop based but whenever I got busy with commissions I’d end up with terrible back problems. Just before the lock down started I had just joined a small printing studio in Newhaven; I’m looking forward to finally printing in there rather than on my kitchen table!
What’s the most exciting thing you’ve worked on?
Art Angels have published a few of my images on lovely greetings cards over the years plus a couple of gift wrap designs and its always a buzz when I find them in my favourite shops.
However, if we’re talking actual commissions, it would probably be having one of my patterns used across a range of items sold in National Trust shops – great exposure and a lovely client to be associated with. I’d like more of that please! The V&A once ran a very popular screen printing workshop and used one of my designs for it. I saw so many people take part and comment on the artwork but I was too shy to introduce myself as the originator!
What made you decide to become an artist?
It goes way back to childhood, before I even knew there was earning potential in it! I was happiest with creative subjects at school and would draw all the time. I’d often be yearning to get back home so I could make something, I still get that same compulsion now. I had a run of ’normal’ jobs including graphic design but it just didn’t excite me and I decided to go full time self-employed as an illustrator over 10 years ago and now can’t really imagine doing anything else.
What are you currently working on?
I’m enjoying all the Instagram drawing challenges – posting an image a day for say, a week, following prompts set by the originator. The last one was #7dayfloralschallenge with @makeitindesign. As this goes out, I will have hopefully just completed the WWF World Wildlife @world_wildlife ’s #ArtForEarth challenge so that will generate some new images.
What are the key themes in your work?
Birds. Tress. Landscapes with a slightly contemporary style.
What would you like people to notice about your work?
A pleasing atmosphere and mood.
What attracts you to the medium you work in?
Until I owned an iPad I’d incorporated texture into my work with a lengthier process of scanning in found textures and converting them to bitmaps. Now I have them in a brush and its made it possible to work in a far more spontaneous way.
What equipment could you not do without?
My iPad Pro and Apple Pencil. A screen and a squeegee.
Who or what inspires you?
Far reaching rural views. A tree. Gardeners World! Sitting in an interesting cafe with a decent flat white.
How is your work affected by living in this area?
I’ve got the best of both worlds in my specific location. Seaford is so close to incredible views, rolling hills and of course, the sea. Gazing over these ever-changing scenes is pretty much all I need for inspiration if I’m creating a nature themed print. If I need a hit of contemporary culture I can be in the centre of the Laines in half an hour and here I gather inspiration from simply glancing at the colours and patterns in shop windows.
What’s your favourite thing to do locally?
A trip to the Pavilion is always a thrill. Closer to Seaford; just walking around Friston Forest and along the Cuckemere River, also Birling Gap – I forget how majestic that coastline is!
What’s your favourite gallery (or place to see/experience art)?
I love the Towner – a great, unpretentious space for all. Lovely gift shop and cafe too. I’ve not been yet but the Fry Gallery in Saffron Walden is somewhere I must visit to see originals by my faves – Edward Bawden, Eric Ravilious and Peggy Angus.
If you could collaborate with one artist, from any time, who would it be and why?
To illustrate John Betjamin’s wonderfully evocative poetry of landscape and atmosphere of the everyday – a project I may actually set myself. Directly collaborating…I’m not sure I’d want to actually – perhaps with an animation studio though, or musician rather than a visual artist.
What’s your favourite colour?
Mustard – gold or light teal (which is very different to turquoise!) I can’t really choose one!
To find out more about Sally and her work, take a look at her website.
