Allison Sylvester’s beautiful nature-led artworks require close observation – both in their making and in their appreciation. Words Natasha Goodfellow, photographs Rachel Hoile
There’s something transfixing about Allison’s Sylvester’s artwork. Small though the majority of pieces might be, their detail is so intricate, one can’t help but take a closer look. Just how is this beautiful, almost heraldic geranium leaf image made? Is that monochromatic moth photographed, drawn or painted? And just what is that glint of gold on a block across which miniature flower vines ramble and twine?
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“I’ve never been interested in drawing or painting landscapes,” says Allison. “It’s always been the small things that catch my eye.” This fascination started in her childhood in rural Devon, where she spent a lot of time outside. “I was left to my own devices for much of the time and anything I found – flowers, birds, dead bees – I would draw,” she says. “Nature was my sanctuary, my retreat and a place of constant inspiration – it still is.”
Having originally studied jewellery (where etching into metal was her preferred technique), Allison then went on to do a Masters’ degree in fine art printmaking, which allowed her to expand her love
of drawing still further. “A print is never exactly the same as a drawing,” she says. “Every time you run
it through the press and lift off your paper, it’s always a bit of a surprise. It’s very addictive.”
Today, monoprinting (in which leaves are painted with ink and then pressed on to paper or a pre-painted wooden block) is one of Allison’s favourite processes – something of a revelation for Allison as she had never particularly enjoyed drawing foliage. “I’d always preferred to draw flowers and was trying to find a way to speed up the drawing of leaves,” she says. “I was blown away by the amount of detail a monoprint can produce.”
I hope I can help people to see the hidden beauty in things they might have thought mundane before
Another technique she enjoys is hammer printing – literally hammering plants to transfer their colours on to fabric or paper. “It’s especially satisfying when you’re using herbs such as mint, rosemary or sage, which release their scent as you work,” she says. She also paints and draws exquisite miniatures, and frequently combines techniques for greater effect.
For all but her largest pieces, for which she commandeers the kitchen table, Allison works in her “cave”, a small, dark-walled studio in the basement of her Totnes home. Many years of trial and error have taught her what gives the best results. “Evergreen leaves aren’t great for printing because the veins and pores aren’t so evident,” she explains. Likewise, fresh leaves work better than dry, though she allows them to wilt slightly, “so that they give me more”. Stems, spikes and prickles tend to be too juicy or too sharp to print well and so Allison removes them, drawing or painting them, with the help of a large magnifying glass and the finest brushes available, on to the completed print.
While she often looks for symmetrical leaves, or those with a strong silhouette, she also loves nibbled specimens (“they remind me of lace”) and weeds which others might overlook. “I think we dismiss a lot of plants out of hand,” she says, citing goose grass with its star-shaped flowers and sticky seedheads, and enchanter’s nightshade, “which threads its way through a shady part of our garden, its tiny white flowers aglow”.
Allison is drawn to moths for a similar reason, finding their understated patterns more interesting than brighter, showier butterflies. “I hope I can help people to see the hidden beauty in things they might have thought mundane before,” she says.
To underline this feeling of treasure that she wishes to instil, Allison finishes her woodblock pieces in
one of three ways – mounting them in painted frames, edging them in soft, grey velvet, or gilding the ends of the blocks. “All just add that little extra something to a piece,” she says. “I want the people who own them to feel they are precious.”
Useful information
Follow Allison on Instagram at @allison_sylvester and look out for her workshops at Kokutan flower farm in Devon (kokutan.co.uk) and at Damson Farm in Bath (alisonjenkins.co.uk). Allison will be part of regenerative fashion project The Loom, the Stitch and the Wardrobe at Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey (7-9 June).