Vicky Oldfield

Vicky studied (BA Hons) Design at Staffordshire University and then advanced printmaking at Richmond School of Art tutored by master printmaker Melvyn Petterson. She went to to work as a commercial designer in wallpaper and textiles in both London and Paris with a hankering to move from commercial to fine art, she left full-time employment in 1998 and for a while once again supported herself working as a freelance designer before finally making the switch to become what she always wanted to be; a printmaker/fine artist. 

Oldfield likes to find beauty in the everyday – some weeds on a roadside, or a cluttered windowsill can set off a new collection.  She treasures both the eccentric and the ordinary, inspired by collections of found objects and natural forms; she is fascinated with the structure and design found in flowers and plants, often redrawing the same plant many times over to explore the subtle variations in its form.    

Paintings often tell a story using collage and drawing, referencing a memory, time, or place.  

She starts with drawing often directly on to the plate, which is then drawn into and collaged with a variety of materials, card, fabric, paper, string, sand, and anything else that may come to hand; it’s recycling at its most creative!  The plates are then sealed, inked up and printed in intaglio or relief on damp paper using an etching press.  The embossed textural quality of the print is unique to this method. They are often printed in one colour and then hand painted. 

Thanks to the process itself, Vicky can make small editions of the image; each edition will vary within its run due to the process itself and her desire to experiment. Each print produced is then unique.  

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Oldfield has completed residencies in Japan where in 2016 she saw for herself the long-held traditions of the printmakers craft in Tokyo and Kyoto, and in studios closer to home such as Ochre Print Studio in Guildford, where she held the post of Artist in Residence for 2019. 

She was elected a member of The Royal Society of British Artists in 2021. Her work has been exhibited in many major shows including the Royal Academy Summer exhibition and, she has also exhibited in America and Japan.  Her work can currently be seen in many galleries across the UK.