by Heike Roesel.

Etching.

"Cuckmere Valley" is part of a series of etchings inspired by the South Downs and the dramatic Sussex coast line. The view from East Dean Road looking down on the valley exposes the extraordinary serpentine form of the Cuckmere river as it slowly wriggles it's way towards the sea at Seaford Head.

Image size: 55 x 29 cm.
Paper size: 74 x 50 cm approx.
Artist's proof, signed.

Originally from Rüsselsheim, Germany, Heike Roesel studied Fine Art Printmaking BA (hons) at University of Brighton. She started her printmaking practice doing lithography, but eventually switched to etching which has been her medium of choice since. The process and the materials inspire the way she develops her imagery. She starts with a loose idea for an image, clarifying it through drawing. But the real development starts with working on the plate, pushing the initial idea through to a conclusion. The resulting imagery is never a representation of the circumstance or object that inspired it, but an improvisation of her initial idea, becoming ‘a world in it’s own right’. With her imagery she aims to inspire an observer’s own imagination to find their own individual ‘picture’. In 2009 Heike set up Studio B5 with Jo Riddell, Richard Denne, Margaret Betts and Jane Sampson, all fine art printmakers, printing in different mediums. There she developed her own way of using the alternative technique of Acrylic Resist Etching, which is now in use by the studio.