Grace Edkins is an artist printmaker from the fishing town of Leigh-on-Sea on the Essex coastline, working in the relief methods of woodcut and linocut, and often combining the two. Living close to the water and marshes of the Thames Estuary, the beautiful landscape is a constant source of inspiration for her work.
Grace is inspired by the flora and fauna of her local area and her work is deeply rooted in seasonal changes and cycles, exploring elements in detail and the beauty of the sometimes overlooked familiar.
All her prints start off life as a drawing, usually sketched whilst out walking. The design is then developed back in her studio and transferred onto a block, or drawn straight onto a block to then be carved. Grace’s works are created without a press, printed by hand in small limited editions, enjoying the slowing down of the process and the opportunity to have control over the variation in hand burnishing.
Biography
Grace graduated from the University of Essex in 2007 with a BA in Graphic Design but it wasn’t until the change of pace in life during the first lockdown that led her to discover printmaking and dedicate herself to her own creative practice, around raising a young family.
Grace was selected to take part in Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year 2022 creating a reduction woodcut print of Whitstable Harbour. She has had various solo local exhibitions, was invited to exhibit at the Great Print 8 exhibition 2023 in Cumbria, and selected for the Essex Open Art Exhibition at the Beecroft Art Gallery in 2023, 2024 and 2025. She has been a member of the Leigh Art Trail for two years, opening up her studio to visitors in the summer of 2024 and 2025.
Events/Exhibitions
Leigh Art Trail (2024 - present)
Arts to Hearts – The Linocut Artists Redefining Print (2025)
The 61st Essex Open Art Exhibition - Beecroft Art Gallery (2025)
The 60th Essex Open Art Exhibition - Beecroft Art Gallery (2024)
The 59th Essex Open Art Exhibition - Beecroft Art Gallery (2023)
The Great Print 8 Exhibition - Rheged Gallery (2023)
Sky Arts Landscape Artist of the Year - Series 7 (2022)