Profile on the art of Elizabeth Harbour

Celia Rufey speaks to the artist about her career, inspirations and love of imagery evoking the past

Elizabeth Harbour’s life as a working artist began as soon as she graduated from The Royal College of Art in 1992. ‘For several years I illustrated children’s books, book covers and magazines, which often led to commercial commissions,’ she says. Then she made a bold decision to change direction and create her own pieces to sell. ‘I’ve always been inspired by different image-making processes, mediums and techniques,’ she explains. ‘I love printmaking; it is exciting because you don’t always know what the final outcome will be. At first I had to End ways to print at home without investing in a large printing press or expensive equipment. I was able to make mono prints and relief prints, but screenprinting was my favourite.’

For years, the dream Elizabeth shared with her artist husband, Llewellyn Thomas, was to have their own print room, and recently they have been able to create one in a barn beside their house, where Elizabeth can also make lithographs and large linocut prints.

‘We have a large Columbian press and use it to print designs for lining papers, the quality used for covering boxes, lining drawers and the backs of cupboards, as well as designs for larger wooden hangings.’

Many of the designs Elizabeth creates take motifs with a link to the past, evoking a sense of place, of old houses or gardens and antique toys. Her card design entitled To the Summer House is one of these, a screen print inspired by follies and garden walks. ‘The limited use of colour helps give the image an evocative backward glance,’ Elizabeth thinks. Another design, Edwardian Girl, is a larger mono print created using a homemade gelatine printing plate. ‘The image is worked in stages by layering impressions of $owers into the ink and isolating areas of colour using a cut stencil of a girl made from one of my drawings inspired by a picture of my grandmother as a child wearing an Edwardian dress. It’s printed on washi paper.’

Elizabeth’s skill as a printmaker and the appeal of her prints, cards and decorations brought regular orders from independent shops and her website. ‘This is how my wooden decorations evolved,’ she explains. ‘Originally they were cut from wood and I hand-painted thousands of them. Increased orders gave me the con#dence to take the next step into having them made in England on sustainable birch plywood and printed on both sides so they can face either way.’

‘Printmaking is exciting, because you don’t always know what the nal outcome will be’