			Amanda McIvor completed her foundation course at Farnham Art School and went on to study graphics for a further four years at The Epsom School of Art. During her final year at Epsom she won the Hyde Bursary for Advertising prior to exhibiting her work in a collaborative show at London's ICA Gallery in the Mall and had one of her early paintings exhibited at the Royal Academy which was also reproduced for the 1984 Texaco Calendar. After a year working as an illustrator she established a dynamic, award winning graphic design consultancy having teamed up with her now husband Duncan, which they sold after seventeen years in a management buyout. Amanda’s debut exhibition, entitled Amanda McIvor ‘Re-wound’, was held at Brock Street Gallery in Bath during October 2008. Why 'Re-wound'? Amanda explains, "In my in interview for the graphic design course I was told by the interviewer that I was a fine artist and asked if I would prefer the fine art course. I teetered on the edge for a moment but I thought it sensible to study graphics as the employment prospects would be better. So my head won over my heart". She has often wondered what it would be like to rewind her life to that pivotal moment and follow the fine art route. Amanda now realises the value of her design training and her work reveals a keen understanding of composition and sensitive use of colour. Twenty five years on she is liberating the ideas from numerous sketchbooks accumulated over time in the form of paintings and screenprints. Following a life of creating thumbnail sketches she now relishes the freedom of working in a large format. Most of her canvases are over a metre and a half wide. Printmaking is also a passion and having studied etching and making linocuts and collagraphs she is now concentrating on screen-printing. Considering her background, using this medium is a natural step. "With screen-printing you build an image layer by layer, much like designing using a computer, but much more fun" says Amanda. "There's something very satisfying about mixing the colours and anticipating the effect it will have on the image, especially the final colour which brings the whole piece together". The subject matter of her current work varies as it reflects the themes that have caught her imagination over the years. She has taken inspiration from mythology, in some cases as a starting point and then created her own ideas around the subject. An example of this treatment is shown clearly in her oil painting 'Helios’ Garden'. It depicts the God lightly brushing a sunflower with his hand as he passes by, surrounded by a garden of chilli peppers and flame-like trees. Amanda explains, "Art should be thought provoking and by telling half a story it gives the viewer an opportunity to fill in the gaps themselves".

limited edition contemporary prints

Signed, original Limited Edition Contemporary Prints can be made in many different ways. There are intaglio processes which include etching and dry point where the ink is pushed into grooves made in the plate and printed and relief methods where the ink is rolled onto the raised surface of the plate as used in lino and wood cuts. There are also other methods such as Screen-printing, lithography and collagraphs. What all these methods of creating origina Limited Edition Contemporary Prints have in common is that take a lot of skill, training and expertise to produce. Giclee printing is widely used these days and is a term that was fist used in the 1990's to describe a fine art ink jet print. This method can be used to print onto more varied substrates and to create a larger edition. Really good examples of Limited Edition Contemporary Prints can be seen at Tate Modern.

screen-print

Screen-Print as printing medium has been around since the Song Dynasty in China. The method of producing a Screen-Print is basically to push ink through a woven mesh onto a substrate using stencils to mask out the areas that you don't want to print. The colours are built up in layers using opaque or translucent inks to produce varied effects. Take a look at Screen-Print used in the early 20th Century mainly for producing expensive wallpaper that was printed onto fine fabrics such as linen and silk.

artist prints

Andy Warhol is the artist most widely known for popularising screen-printing which is known as serigraphy in the United States. The Artists Prints are easily recognised by the general public even if they have little knowledge of contemporary art. Warhol's Campbell's soup cans and famous people's portraits especially those of film star Marilyn Monroe have been collected ever since they were created in the 1960's. Visit the websites of major auction rooms and you'll see Artists Prints achieve ever increasing values.

contemporary prints

Contemporary Prints form a large part of today's art market. Many painters also practice printmaking in one form or another to produce limited editions of Contemporary Prints to serve the ever increasing demand for affordable art. There is such a huge range of printmaking methods available to the artist that there is something to suit everybody's style. When you next visit a gallery take a look at their print browser which usually contain a wide range of Contemporary Prints to choose from.

affordable art

There are many opportunities to buy prints and Affordable Art these days if you are considering starting a collection. Even if you are just searching for a particular artist you can easily search and buy prints via the internet. Collectors can browse galleries online and receive information about private views and previews from the major Auction Houses making it easier to buy prints and Affordable Art from their favoured artists when they become available. Starting your own collection of art by visiting some of the many exhibitions such as the London Affordable Art Fair.

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