Angus Stewart

Paynes Grey is the colour of distance, perhaps the colour of loss I took this picture a couple of months back of wild Konik ponies in the flooded marsh between Dunwich and Minsmere, with the nuclear power station in the distance. Translating it from camera to hand made print was not quite as straightforward as usual. I made multiple plates changing exposure and crop but sill could not get quite the sense of distance I was after. Finally I moved from my favourite ink, Charcoal Black, to a softer grey, Payne’s Grey. Payne’s Grey has the ability to beautifully replicate the effect of ‘atmospheric perspective’, which is the effect that makes hills or mountains look softer, paler, and bluer the further away they are. This happens because particles in the atmosphere — such as dust, pollution, and tiny water droplets — scatter the shorter blue wavelengths of light. Payne’s Grey captures this subtle blue-grey haze so naturally. Unlike a flat black, it adds subtle depth, helping to create a sense of distance, atmosphere. Being a softer, looser ink it’s not always easy to use, it wipes away too fast, becoming too pale and faint, I was glad to find an image that it worked with. (p.s. the shopping list is for milk, butter, sugar and almonds, not, as someone in the studio misread it, diamonds) …. This images was created as part of the EDGE LAND project: The Suffolk coast is currently experiencing profound environmental and human-made change – from the effects on the natural landscape of changing weather patterns and erosion, to the construction of major energy infrastructure. EDGE LAND invites creative responses to this environment in transition, reflecting on its geology, biodiversity, cultural histories, and the social tensions of transformation. Covering the full length of the Suffolk coast from Lowestoft to Felixstowe, its hinterland and extending out to sea, the project will generate new artistic works, events and conversations that explore the complexities of a coast at the threshold of change. #photogravure #photopolymer

A few years back I went to a studio sale for the artist Billie Bond, and on a shelf in the corner I saw a pair of feet that had somehow lost the rest of their body, I was carried back to a brilliant teacher who, reading Ozymandias from a battered book of Victorian poetry, taught us of the cruelty of empires and how everything must fall. It’s amazing how a good teacher can light a fire that burns throughout a life. One cold January day a month or so back I took the feet to Dunwich beach, the site of a lost Medieval city, and photographed the feet in the sand. I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words appear: My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings; Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!” Nothing beside remains. Round the decay Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare The lone and level sands stretch far away. P B Shelly #photogravure #ozymandias

New Hand-Made Print: Columns Last year win a field in Italy we came across a deconsecrated church, and in the corner a group of Roman columns and carvings, here was over two thousand years of history, empire and belief, stacked in a corner and photographed at 1/125 of a second. It would have been easy to pass by and walk away but I find these quiet places fascinating, this chronotopia: a configuration / collapsing of time and space intertwined. These places make me think of all the hopes and aspirations, and love and fear that existed and passed, and how these times too will pass, all empires will fall. This is now in my on-line store in an edition of 10 #blackandwhite #roman

✨Hand-print available 🌍 - I discovered these globes in an antique shop in central Italy last summer. I’ve always had a fascination with globes, as my grandfather had one when I was a child and he would spin it gently and tell me of all the different places I could visit. This cabinet took me back to those memory of childhood wonder and excitement of future travels and adventures; but this time I was travelling, looking for the place I had come from. This limited edition, hand-printed piece is not available on my website. #blackandwhite #photogravure

📷 Some people ask which press I use in my printmaking process. The press is the backbone of my studio, and I needed something that would be robust, fit the space and could scale from small prints to larger sizes, like A2. I landed on the Gunning Press from @ironbridgeprintmakers . Have a look at my website (link in bio) if you would like to know more about my hand-printing process. #photogravure #printmaking

✨NEW WEBSITE is Launched! ✨ I am so proud to share my new site that shows not only the prints on sale but also the studio, the process and the craftmanship that is behind them. Link in my bio. #handmadeprints #photogravure #angusstewart

I don’t often appear in pictures as I think the work should speak for itself. However, lately I realised that behind each picture I print there is me, the studio and the press. This is me. #artiststudio #menwithglasses #angusstewart 📸 by @al_ldn

Discarded plates, ink covered rags, wasted paper and a lot of patience. There are so many attempts and test prints before a hand made print comes out as I like it to be. #photogravure #intaglio

I’m delighted to have two pieces of work selected for Summer Contemporary @snapemaltings this year. Columns - 21x15 - photopolymer print of Roman Columns in a corner of a deconsecrated church in an Italian field. Gorse (Ulex Europeus) - 40x60 - photopolymer - gorse, a historically important plant used for paint, fabric dyeing, firewood and defensive barriers, now marginalised. @brittenpearsarts @snapemaltings #summercontemporary #photopolymer #angusstewart

Edge Land. The joy of slow walking with friends. On Saturday we walked from Saxmundham to Aldeburgh, past the Saxon Ship Burial at Snape and along the Sailor’s Path, setting out at 10 we arrived on the beach at 4pm. Town, fields, heath, marsh, beach. A rag tag group of artists, photographers, writers, weavers, potters, all chatting away and sharing thoughts and ideas with @andrewsmith_art leading the way, mapping out ship burials in the sand and pointing out different landscape features. The day was a perfect blend of comfort and adventure and arriving at the beach felt like a small moment of triumph, as if we’d walked the whole coast path not just eight gentle miles. There was no champagne, but coffee and ice cream on the seafront before the bus back home. Perfect day. #suffolkartist #edgeland #angusstewart @kristina.tonev @worrallvm @jenniferhall805

Exhibition dates 28th March - 31st May Delighted to have my work Globes selected for the The Open:Odyssey @sussexcontemporary @hastings.contemporary Globes examines changing perceptions of what is “foreign” and how exploration and colonialism have shaped human relationships, using hand made walnut ink (from Old English wealhhnutu, “foreign nut”), introduced by the Romans, to print an image of antique globes.  Globes from the series Arbor (from Latin arbor, “tree”) is a series of photopolymer prints made with inks foraged from trees, including oak galls, walnut husks and hazel charcoal, paired with frames crafted from the same tree species as the ink.   The combination of print subject, ink and frame explores the often-forgotten connections between human experience and the natural world.   This collapsing of boundaries between subject, medium and frame emphasises the deep, often overlooked interdependence between human gesture and natural form. #photopolymer #blackandwhitephotography #angusstewart #naturalink #photogravure

Thrilled to have my work ‘Laundry, King’s Cross’ accepted to the Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Print Prize 2026 If you are in the area the exhibition opens tonight and runs until 28th March #rbsa #photopolymer #photogravure #kingscross #angusstewart