Nature's Imprint: A Journey Through Time and Art

CLAUDY JONGSTRA

As part of an ongoing collaboration we are proud to include the works of world-renowned textile artist Claudy Jongstra. Known worldwide for her monumental artworks and architectural installations, whose organic surfaces and nuanced tones reflect her masterful innovations in the ancient technique of making wool felt.

In 2001, Jongstra established her studio in the rural North of The Netherlands, where she began a sweeping ecological experiment in the local landscape. Maintaining a flock of rare, indigenous Drenthe Heath sheep (the oldest breed in Northern Europe) and cultivating a specialised dyers’ botanical collection garden,

Jongstra creates a completely sustainable chain culminating in her artworks. As Jongstra’s artistic practice expands, so does the impact on her region. Collaborating with local farms, schools, and social programs and drawing on a deep respect for the interwoven narratives of people, land, and tacit knowledge, Jongstra actively reimagines and revitalises the local landscape from monocultural production toward a more diverse, inclusive, and ecologically-just model.

KELLY JENKINS

Kelly Jenkins is an abstract painter and textile artist based in Hampshire, UK. With a first-class Honours Degree from The West Wales School of Art and a Masters in Textiles from the Royal College of Art, Kelly soon drew wide success from her graduate show featuring her collection of knitted paintings bought by Blain Southern, London. She has since lectured at her former alma mater on the subject of art and textiles and founded Abbotts Ann Arts, a creative educational hub in Hampshire. Kelly’s rare style is a symphony of paint, embroidery, and geometric data visualisations on canvas.

Her paintings juxtapose the familiar landscape with aesthetics of the information age to create an equally intense and playful atmosphere. The ultimate goal of Kelly’s art is to transform rooms worldwide into colourful and happy places, offering a form of joy and clarity amongst the speed and tension of contemporary life. Much of her work is a pure reflection of personal emotions translated into paint and stitch onto the physical canvas. The process of painting and embroidering offer emotional and physical restoration and comfort. With grit, sass and positivity, Kelly’s work carries an arresting sense of levity.

MARY DALTON

Mary Dalton is a professional printmaker and arts educator. Her work traverses genres, radically expanding the presence of printmaking into areas of sculpture, installation, textile, and performance. Her prints are stand-alone, non-edition artworks, presenting audiences with a truly unique and dynamic piece. Mary’s art has been featured in prestigious collections from the Tate Library, Imperial War Museum, V&A Museum, the Canadian War Museum, and the British Library. Alongside her education from the Royal College of Art, Mary was trained by master printmakers such as Alan Smith, Robin Smart, and Stanley Jones MBE.

Mary often creates her prints by using a multitude of techniques to effectively express different elements of the tale. An innovative technique she developed in 2021 is Lithino–lithography on the lino surface, a natural compostable and biodegradable printing form. Much of Mary’s research is dedicated to finding sustainable routes in her artistic practice. In addition to lithino, Mary creates using self-made paper, non-toxic oil-based inks, reusable plastic sheets, cotton rags, traditional oiled stencil cards, and more ecoconscious tools. Her ecological approach to printmaking is not only groundbreaking in aesthetic appeal, but also in its impact on sustainability within the art community and beyond.

ROD MCINTOSH

Amidst the noise and chaos of reality, Rod McIntosh creates quiet, reflective, optimistic, and affirming art. Process is central to Rod’s artistic practice. His markmaking embodies a gestural flow with a mindfulness to breathing and physical strength. Alongside choreographed movement, specific materials like ink and paper enrich his art. Following traditional eastern recipes for archival inks and pastes, Rod works upon delicate Chinese paper that absorbs every
fluid movement. His mark-making has a brevity and honesty that reveals itself through a muted pallet of monotones. Its minimal appearance coalesces with the quiet sensitivity to his materials, time invested, and action.

By combining the physical act of the brushwork with his breathing, stance, and mindset, Rod captures the essence of the present moment. He creates art full-time from his purpose-built studio next to his home on the Kent North Downs. His work is in international private, corporate, and hospitality collections; and he is a featured artist in local and international fairs like the Affordable Art Fair, Accessible Art Fair, and SCOPE Art Fair Miami.