Natural talent, BBC Countryfile magazine April 2014

Page 1

country craft

The designs capture everything John loved about the British countryside – its landscapes, wildlife and built heritage

Natural talent

The artist with a countryman’s eye John Hinchcliffe’s deep connection to the countryside shaped his life and work. His partner and daughter reflect on how the flowers, wildlife and landscapes of Dorset and Sussex inspired the late artist’s prints Words: Rosanna Morris Photos: Philip Hartley

A

s dawn breaks in a valley below the Dorsetshire Gap, the beautiful spot where five historic tracks meet, a tall man of slight build sits in a shabby green Lloyd Loom chair half in and half out of a garden shed. Smoking now and then the roll-up that he holds between two fingers, he hunches over a steaming mug of strong coffee and gazes across the slopes of Lyscombe Hill, waiting for something to catch his eye. “He’d always sit there, every morning, watching and observing,” says Georgia Hinchcliffe, fondly sharing the most enduring memory of her father, the late designer-maker John Hinchcliffe. “Since I was a child, wherever we lived, I’d wake to find him sitting outside. Even in the rain.” John Hinchcliffe, a prolific textile designer, artist, ceramicist and printmaker who loved the great outdoors, died in 2010 aged just 61. His chair may be empty today but his work lives on, thanks to the efforts of Georgia and her mother Wendy Barber. John’s death from pneumonia stopped him mid-flow; 40 BBC COUNTRYFILE

April 2014

April 2014

the papers, pencils and books in his barn studio at nearby Dewlish were left as if he’d popped out for his favourite downland walk.

Inspired by the seasons At the time, as well as teaching art at Milton Abbey School near Blandford Forum in Dorset, and taking commissions for illustrations, he had been handprinting his Months of the Year series. He’d originally created the collection of 12 linocut pictures for chapters of Alan Taylor’s book, The Country Diaries (Canongate Books, 2008). “He was planning to print 100 of each,” says Wendy. “But he died before he got going.” Georgia and Wendy have taken up the baton and printed the series as John intended. But rather than print them by hand, they approached Curwen Studio fine art printers near Cambridge and had the designs printed lithographically on Somerset velvet paper. The 12 designs capture everything John loved about the British countryside – its landscapes, wildlife and

TOP John Hinchcliffe’s Months of the Year series of linocuts has been reproduced as lithographic prints LEFT Some of the artist’s lino blocks, featuring the countryside subjects that he loved

Rosanna Morris is a freelance writer who is passionate about the countryside, arts and antiques. BBC COUNTRYFILE 41


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Natural talent, BBC Countryfile magazine April 2014 by Rosanna Morris - Issuu