Amy Rose Studio is run by Fine Artist Amy Hey and is based Canterbury, England. After completing her BA Hons in Fine Art Painting at Wimbledon UAL, Amy became a self employed artist running Amy Rose Studio, making original linocut prints, illustrations, and oil paintings. Her art is inspired by the landscape and wildlife that surround her, as well as the folk stories and history behind it. Tales of shipwrecks, sea creatures, stone circles and witches can be found entwined in her artwork, alongside stories and characters from traditional folk songs and music.
Return to Nature is one of Amy’s latest prints, taking inspiration from Rene-Antoine Houasse’s painting Apollo et Daphne that depicts the myth of Apollo pursuing Daphne. Amy initially made a sketch last winter inspired by the work, but after looking back through her sketchbooks this summer, she finally decided to realise it as a print.
The story goes that Apollo, the Greek God of art and archery, mocks and angers Eros, the God of love, causing him to shoot Apollo with his golden arrow, which makes him infatuated with Daphne the river nymph. Daphne isn’t interested in Apollo’s advances, nor the attention of any God, as she prefers to spend her time in the forest among plants and animal familiars. Apollo pursues Daphne persistently, without success. She grows exhausted and overwhelmed by his efforts to claim her as his own. When he finally draws closer, she begs her father, Peneus, “Open the Earth and enclose me”, turning her into a Laurel tree, so she can no longer be bothered by the persistent Apollo.
Amy’s print depicts Daphne’s return to nature, and her hand morphing into a Laurel tree branch. She says; “The story can be interpreted in different ways, but personally, I really resonate with the idea of women longing for a return to nature in a world dominated by men, determined to claim both woman and nature as their own. I think it speaks a lot about patriarchy’s exploitation of women and the earth, and women’s desire to reconnect with the earth, the ancient feminine source”.
Return to Nature was created from a grey linocut block which Amy carved with her favourite Pfeil tools. The edition was made using a mixture of Carbon Black and White Cranfield traditional oil based inks, printed onto cream Fabriano printmaking paper, and pressed with Amy’s antique etching press.
www.amyrosestudio.co.uk
@amyrosestudio
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