In August this year (2024), Claire Thompson left her long-term office job in higher education to pursue her lifelong dream of having a creative career. After the occurrence of some significant live events, Claire set up Inky Badger, her linocut printmaking practice that brings together her love for nature and creativity.
Claire tells us; “I was always advised that having a ‘proper’ degree would be essential for success, so I did Chemistry at university… and hated it! It really didn’t agree with my brain but I was terrified I’d fail at life if I didn’t get that proper degree, so, incredibly I did finish it!” After graduating, in an attempt to be more creative, Claire did a diploma in Graphic Design, however discovered again that this was not the path for her. After a year working as a freelance illustrator she went into office work to get a steady income, but carried on experimenting and creating when she could.
Recently, two things pushed Claire to reignite her creative career. The first was having a baby; “The thought of not being able to talk to her passionately about what I do kills me inside, I want her to have the confidence follow her own path, whatever that may be”. The other was her mum getting seriously ill, which made Claire realise “that having regrets is not on my to do list”.
Today, Claire works from her home studio in Yorkshire UK on self-directed projects. Her inspiration stems from plays on words, everyday phrases, and things she sees and hear that make her smile. She comments; “It’s usually pretty silly things that spark my imagination! For example, we have flamingo garden ornament. It looks really sad and I drink a coffee staring at it every morning thinking, what would that flamingo rather be doing? That lead to my Fleur-mingo design.”
Once she has an idea for a print in mind, Claire begins by creating rough compositions in pencil, then draws the design by hand on paper. “This bit can take ages and I could probably do it a lot quicker using Procreate but I just love using traditional materials,” says the printmaker. She continues; “There’s something about the feeling of the pencil on the paper and the messy rubbings that is very satisfying!” Claire may then use Photoshop to clean up her drawings and experiment with colours that she might want to add later.
Her prints are then created using oil based inks and a variety of papers printed with her Woodzilla and Pookie presses. Claire describes; “I have a real fear of reduction printing… it feels so final! So I prefer to explore other ways to add colour and finish them such as chine colle, metal leaf, hand painting, and my current favourite which is stencils and spray paint.”
Only two months into setting up her creative business, Claire is excited to see where her pursuits as Inky Badger will take her. Alongside her art prints, she hopes to learn about pattern design, with a view to moving her linocut printing into the world of fabric and surface design.
www.inkybadger.co.uk
@inkybadger
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