Sarah Gillespie – Storm Cock

Mistle Thrushes are known as Storm Cocks for their love of singing from the tops of trees -hurling their melancholy, halting song into the face of storms. “Blast be-ruffled”, Thomas Hardy put it…a symbol for us all in these violent times.

‘Something about these small birds singing into that pre-dawn dark moves me to tears. Something too, in these still, May-filled days always reminds me of Edward Thomas and ‘all the birds of Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire’. How do such tiny birds hold such achingly powerful poetic resonance for us…? Way beyond their tiny size and exquisite song. It’s something to do with time, time past and time present, but I can only get close to the ache in a mezzotint. Words will not do’ SG

Sarah Gillespie uses her mastery of drawing and printmaking skills to explore her subjects. Her contemplative depictions of moths, birds and moonlit landscapes encourage us to value and attend more closely to the natural world. The quality of light is central to her compelling imagery, informing her selection of methods and materials. Drawings and works on paper often include intricate webs of charcoal or silverpoint marks. She is one of only a few artists using the centuries-old medium of mezzotint in her contemporary practice.

Gillespie studied 16th and 17th century art methods and materials at the Atelier Neo Medici in Paris before going on to read Fine Art at The Ruskin School of Drawing and Fine Art, Oxford University. Extensive collections of her mezzotints are held by The Victoria and Albert Museum, London and Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris. Other public collections include: The Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester; Chippenham Museum, Wiltshire, and Xuhui Art Museum, Shanghai. In 2022 The National Portrait Gallery, London commissioned her to make a special work and a film for their permanent displays.