In conversation with: Katherine Jones

‘Recipe’ | Katherine Jones

Katherine’s make-shift studio in her son’s bedroom during lockdown

‘False Flowers’ | Prunella Clough

‘Hollows in the Cloth’

‘Everything is alright’ | Henry Danger

‘An Eyelid Closed Against the Light’ | Katherine Jones

Baba Yaga

‘As Dangerous as an Albatross’ | Molly Martin

Tell us about the four prints we have selected for C&B Curates

The plates for the four prints were all started over lockdown. They are all made using very basic materials and proofed on an old mangle (used for wringing water out of sheets) converted into a press that I moved into my eldest child’s bedroom.

‘Recipe’ was a preparatory piece for ‘Hollows in the Cloth’, which is currently on show in We Grew the Long Bones. It is a table spread with various plates of food including meat and cut melon. The eyelid pieces were about having this temporary pause in lockdown; our eyelids close to protect the eyes from sunlight and replenish the moisture – reflective of how lockdown was a time for the world to heal and refresh itself.

All four works were printed onto paper and I then hand painted various shapes onto the surface. 

Talk us through your creative process?

I start with drawings, followed by little watercolours. The watercolours pile up in my studio; I like to leave them for a while as you can’t always see things straight away. After a period of time, I sift through them and fish out the most interesting elements. Occasionally they translate directly into prints but mostly bits will be compiled from multiple drawing. I’ll use plates with different textures, often cutting them up and rearranging them until they come together. It’s like a puzzle and it takes time.

What printing technique do you use?

Mostly a technique called collagraph which is printed in the same way as an etching. I add texture to the plate with fine sand or paint. The sand translates as a texture a bit like rough sandpaper – which holds more ink and creates darker tones. I then do a lot of drawing onto the plate in the non textured areas to create drawn marks. These drawings are done with drypoint needle, directly onto the plate. It’s really spontaneous and I love it.

If you could own just one work of art, what would it be?

My favourite artist changes every five minutes, but ‘False Flower’ by Prunella Clough has been a favourite since I was about 16. It’s just a really beautiful image, and I can’t stop loving it.

What is your earliest childhood memory of artistic talent?

I went to a Steiner school and in the kindergarten they used to do a ‘wet on wet’ watercolour technique. You have a wet sheet of watercolour paper and you add pigment onto it in various ways. It helps you learn which colours make other colours when you combine them. It was a special technique to have learnt, and one I still use today.

Which piece(s) of art are you most proud of?

I like artworks where I feel I have broken through a barrier somehow. With ‘Hollows in the Cloth’, I thought I’m going to make this (in terms of technique) exactly the way I want to make it. I used brush marks on it, which is not a traditional printmaking technique and might be a bit frowned upon by the printmaking specialists because it doesn’t allow the piece to fall neatly into either category of painting or printmaking. It feels uncomfortable, but that is a nice feeling to have.

You seem to combine a lot of different techniques, tell us more about that.

I normally combine print techniques and now I feel even less worried about combining painting and printmaking. Whether you are a printmaker or painter, it often doesn’t feel quite right to make a combination of the two techniques – and it has taken me a while to break through that.

What challenges do you struggle with as an artist?

Time. There is never enough time to get everything done. There is a preconception that artist has a life of drinking tea with endless free time but the opposite is true. Its a job like any other and I know lots of artists who work late into night to avoid the juggle.

What advice would you give to your younger self?

I feel like I’m going to contradict myself here! Take your time and don’t rush to be seen. Do not put your work out there before you are ready.

Which art movements (past or current) most interest you?

I find movements quite tricky as each artist is an individual. I’m not alone in loving the work of outsider artists, who just do it for themselves; artists like Henry Darger. Had his work been known during his lifetime I imagine he would have been quite misunderstood, but he was very truthfully making his work for no-one other than himself.

Do you interact with the digital world / technology in your work?

I use Instagram and I have a website. Those two things alone cause enough of a distraction; any more would be overkill.

Did 2020 lockdown prove to be a creative time for you?

Less than normal, but I was very focused. I was home schooling and spent a lot of time on my allotment in the beautiful weather. I was out all day with the kids and I’d go to the studio at about 5ish, working until 10pm at night. I found uninterrupted time really productive.

Name your favourite art gallery and why?

It’s easy to say big, beautiful museums like Guggenheims, but it’s probably somewhere like Hastings Contemporary. I went to see the Victor Willing exhibition, which was really well curated by Victoria Howarth and Elizabeth Gilmore. There were thoughtful pieces of writing next to the works which were not trying to explain what the work looked like – something a lot of places do badly.

Where do you take your inspiration from?

Pretty much anything that seems interesting. I’ve spent quite a bit of time researching Baba Yaga – an anti-heroine, Slavic folk-law character. I like that this multi-faceted female wasn’t stuck into one little bracket. She was a witch and fairly menacing but she was also quite benevolent. The work is also a bit autobiographical, it’s what I’m grumpy, excited or intrigued about as well as things I am discovering. So pretty wide ranging! 

What visual references do you draw upon for your works?

The natural world. I draw an awful lot and it’s nothing like the work I put out. I have drawings of my children and my immediate surroundings, but just for myself – like a diary – so it’s very personal. It’s much easier to put down what you want when you know it won’t be seen. It’s practice and observation. Drawing is really important, although it’s seriously underrated. 

Where do you most enjoy creating art?

Finally I have a studio I really love. It’s on Brixton High Street, above a charity shop, and it has massive windows. I share it with my lovely friend and illustrator Molly Martin. There are really complimentary people in the space. And I have my printing press in there, so I can print everything myself.

What is the value of art in this day and age?

We all thought lockdown heralded the end of the artworld, but it seems to be going stronger than ever. It is proving to be a fundamental human need, there is no denying it. It generally seems to be valued as much if not more than before.