Stephanie Carlton – South Norfolk

Stephanie’s work is based on textures, light and contrasts.

About Stephanie

“I currently work in Clay Shed Studio, on the border of Norfolk and Suffolk. The studio sits at the end of the garden and was an old shed until it was restored and converted when we moved here a few years ago. The studio has been functional since mid-2019 and is now the home of my printmaking, painting and ceramics, including ceramic jewellery.

Before moving to the UK from Australia in 2003, I studied Fine Art (painting and printmaking) at Federation University, Ballarat, Victoria. I have been working in the arts conservation field for the last 16 years, but now my studio practice is the main focus of my time.

My work consists of different strands that can be seen separately and as an interconnected body of work regardless of material or process. Themes that link across all mediums are mark marking, mapping, and the history of making the object as recorded in its physicality and the nature of its surface. There are certain motifs to which I return time and time again; crosses, tracks, and repetitive patterns, combined with fluid expressive brush marks and forms.

I work in a reduced palette, focusing on changes in light and contrast, with accents of colour; reds, gold leaf and occasional deep blues. This allows me to explore the subtleties of what can be done within that reduced range. My preoccupation with gradations of light is something that has developed over the years of living in the UK; I have learnt to appreciate the pale light and shades of grey, so different to my native Australian environment.”