Emma Louise Grekul is the face behind Birdsfoot Studio. From Alberta, Canada, Emma started printing at the beginning of 2020, and has been hooked ever since.
During farming season, she lives on her family farm where there’s an abundance of both prairie and forest plants, which she reflects in her prints. As she pursues art as a career, Emma is practising and learning the fundamentals at home, working across a range of mediums, including lino printmaking (using a Woodzilla press and teaspoon) and ink and gouache illustration.
When she was younger, Emma took to plant pressing, a craft that still continues to influence her work today; “At first I think I just liked the idea that a plant could be indefinitely preserved. Then I realised how many different species there are beyond what we commonly notice. So then I wanted to find as many new plants as I could, preserve them, and identify them.” She now has over 100 pressed specimens in her collection!
Emma’s artworks come from her interest in plants, wanting to capture and preserve them, and highlight species that are often overlooked; “Maybe cause someone else to notice and appreciate the plants we see, often just along the road, and to see the delicacy of their leaves and the pattern of their veins. Wild violets, for example, are very common and easy to find, but they’re so small I think we forget to notice them. We often even call a plant a weed, just because it’s growing where we don’t want it or maybe we’ve seen it so often we don’t appreciate it.”
When she first started printing, Emma would go to her pressed flower collection for inspiration, but recently has found that she much prefers drawing from life; “A living plant has more flow and interest to draw from”. She continues; “During the spring and summer I end up feeling overwhelmed with all the wildflowers, and don’t get to carve them from life before their season ends. This year I’m drawing wildflowers from life in my sketchbook as they are in season, recording what information I need to make a print at a later time.”
Emma also includes imperfections (such as bug bites) in her plant recreations, adding more real life and interesting elements to her works. “My favourite printmaker, Henry Evans, said that he omits imperfections because he likes to present plants in their ideal form. But I think they add interest and a level of reality,” says the printmaker.
Her prints also reflect her love for animals, especially cats, frogs, and birds. With plants, she likes to capture the flow and movement of the subject, and with animals Emma aims to capture some character and personality. She is also inspired by vintage posters for their graphic shape design and readability. Emma concludes; “I like my designs to be bold and clear, with simplified details”.
www.birdsfootstudio.com
@birdsfootstudio
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