Sally McGill has always been fascinated by patterns – those found in nature, numbers and in music. She’s fascinated by the way the earth looks from the air – both with the natural landscape and the man made – the fields and roads, towns and villages and evidence of previous uses of the land. Her sketch books are filled with drawings done on planes. Recently, she’s been looking at fractals, the geometry of natural shapes that are repeated at different scales such as coastlines, clouds and mountain ranges.
In recent work, Sally has been experimenting with collage, in some cases using fabric as an extra layer before priming, in others using cut or torn painted paper on top of the painted layer. She also uses lino to cut small blocks to print with and combine these to make larger pieces.
In 2004 Sally was approached by Artizan Editions to make an original screenprint and has worked with them ever since, producing more than 20 prints. At present she’s working on a series of monoprints, using a selection of elements but combining them in different ways. Her work has been shown mainly in England and France, including five times at the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Hunting Prizes, the Discerning Eye and two solo shows at Galerie Aalders in La Garde Freinet, France.
Two of Sally McGill’s prints have won prizes: Water Marks at Originals 06 and All in All at Originals 08.
Sally studied Interior design at the London College of Furniture from 1969 to1972 and Clothing Technology at the London College of Fashion from 1976 to 1978. From 1990 onwards she has taken courses in life drawing, painting and etching.
She divides her time, loosely, between painting and printmaking, and has studios in London and the South of France.
