New Ground

Thursday 20 November to Sunday 25 January 2015

Free Entry: 10.30am to 4pm, weekends only

Meet the Artists: Saturday 22 November, 12 noon, to 3pm, plus music by guest artistes. 

Printmaker Hester Cox and ceramicist Charlotte Morrison explore the history, nature and landscape of the North York Moors in a show that draws upon new sources of inspiration.

Charlotte Morrison

Charlotte Morrison is a young ceramic designer, who hand-builds her highly individual ceramics. 

She uses porcelain and stoneware clay, to create both functional and decorative items, which are then decorated by hand using underglazes, oxides and various glazes. 

Charlotte is an avid collector of vintage items and her work constantly reflects the past. Her most recent ceramics are inspired by the ancient roads that cross the varied Yorkshire landscapes. These historical routes – once used by drovers and packhorses, and the monks from surrounding granges and abbeys – form the starting-point for Charlotte’s striking and symbolically decorated work.

Hester Cox

Hester Cox is a printmaker specialising in collagraphs but interested in a variety of printmaking techniques. She has a BA (Hons) in Illustration and, although not purely illustrational, Hester’s prints often have a strong sense of narrative, reflecting her love of stories, poetry and folklore.

Hester designs printing plates using card onto which she applies collage elements, textured paints, glues and gesso. She often combines this with intricate cutting. The plates are sealed with varnish, and then inked and wiped by hand, before being passed through an etching press. Multiple plates are often used to create a richly coloured and textured limited-edition print. 

Hester enjoys the contrast between the meticulous nature of plate-making and the messier spontaneity that comes from inking the first proofs. The excitement of lifting the paper to reveal a brand new print has never diminished.

Hester first discovered the wild beauty of the National Park whilst fell-running along moorland tracks and trails. Her most recent work is a response to this experience and by documenting her journeys, using words and images, Hester has recorded in print some of the sites seen, wildlife glimpsed and stories revealed throughout a calendar year.

Workshops and exhibitions

Hester exhibits regularly across the UK and teaches at printmaking workshops for organisations such as New Lights, The Woodland Trust, ArtisOn Ltd and Rural Arts. 

In 2011, she received an ‘Extending Practice Award’ from Chrysalis Arts. This enabled her to work with Jane Sellars, Curator of the Mercer Art Gallery in Harrogate, and curators at the Yorkshire and British Museums. Hester created a collection of prints as an artistic response to the Vale of York Viking Treasure Hoard, and these were exhibited at the Mercer Art Gallery in 2011/12. 

In 2012, Hester was shortlisted for the ‘Flourish Printmaking Award’ and completed an artist’s residency at Ålgården Printmaking Studio in Sweden as part of the ‘Connections North’ programme. She returned there to develop her printmaking in 2014.

For more about Hester and her work see www.hestercox.com