Christine McCarthy has been prominent in the South Australian art scene for more than 30 years, renowned for her hand-coloured lino prints of landscapes and native flora, and as a lecturer at the Ruth Tuck Art School. During her Fine Art Painting course at the School of Art in North Adelaide she learned printmaking with Barbara Hanrahan, that inspired her now decades-long expertise in the relief printmaking method, which involves carving images into a piece of lino, rolling ink over it, covering the lino block with paper, and rolling it through a printing press, then transferring the image onto the paper like a stamp. Christine produces 20 print editions from each block, which she paints with gouache, making each print an individual work. Christine credits French master Matisse and Japanese woodblock artist Hiroshige as significant influences, but says the work of other artists has always been secondary to Nature. “The pattern, line and texture of plant forms, the contrast of vegetation and built structures and the decorative aspects of the environment are my greatest inspiration,” she says. Living in the city and on Southern Yorke Peninsula provides plenty of opportunity to contemplate such aspects. Her recent work focuses on the juxtaposition of past and present structures in Adelaide.
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