Bev McKinnon-Mathews was born and educated in Melbourne, spending time travelling and teaching in Victoria, NSW and London. Bev settled in NSW where she farmed in the North West for 40 years. Since retiring from farming, she has lived in the Hunter Region and now calls Port Stephens home.
I have always been interested in printmaking. After retiring from ceramics (after 35 years potting), the processes and variety of printmaking seemed a natural fit.
Bev McKinnon-Mathews
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More about Bev
After 35 years of ceramic artistry, Bev’s curiosity into printmaking led her to explore etching on aluminium and zinc in copper sulphate, as well as other printing techniques including drypoint , mono printing, relief printing with lino, and collograph. Printing from nature lead to Gyotaku, which are popular sellers in the gallery!
Bev first saw fish prints in Japan and was fascinated by what seemed like a seemingly simplistic process. After researching, she learned it is quite a time-consuming art form but she dived in anyway (pun intended).
The fine art of fish prints was originally used by fishermen to record their catches and has now become an art all of its own. Prints are made with prepped fish (sourced, cleaned, dried, prepped and supported) before being inked onto special paper.
Bev uses her etched plates of seaweed to create the background and is always on the lookout for interesting fish. Stinker (@stinkerfishing ) is a wonderful resource for interesting finds, as are friends who have had unlucky fish in their tanks.
See that gorgeous little seahorse above? Well he was gifted to Bev from a friend after he died in her fish tank, lucky little guy got to be immortalised in her artwork!
