Terence Millington

Terence Millington is more than just an artist; he is a master of his craft. The rich and immensely detailed artwork he so skillfully produces is the result of hours of work involving several intricate procedures.  Yet Terry’s work exudes an air of calm and a quiet confidence. His vast rolling landscapes are just as carefully composed as his still life work and his still life work shares all the majesty and feeling of his landscapes. He achieves all this through a traditional, yet unusual artistic method known as multi-plate intaglio printing.  

 

“I’m fascinated by this process because it breaks down the way of making an image into stages. I enjoy being able to take an image to pieces, reworking it and then reassembling it in order to achieve the finished product.”  This method of printing, also known as etching, involves four identical steel plates. The basic image is drawn in pencil onto greaseproof paper and is then placed face down onto a steel plate, which has been coated with hard wax. The drawing is then transferred onto the plate by running it through a traditional hand turned printing press. This provides guidelines for the artist to follow as he scratches the wax away to reveal the steel below. Once finished the plate is immersed in an acid bath. The acid bites away the steel where the wax has been removed and a line drawing is left in the plate.  This is considered only the first stage!   

Once subsequent grounds are laid to form the tonal areas of the image each plate is coated with resin and heat is applied to create acid-resistant sections. Bitumen is applied to certain areas to ‘stop out’ sections of the picture that are not to be printed. The length of time the plate spends in the acid bath determines how far the acid corrodes the metal and is directly relative to the strength of tone. Terry works all of these factors out in his head. Numerous adaptations and artist proofs later the finished image will be pulled and a limited amount of prints will be made. The care and effort involved in producing one of Terry’s etchings requires an entire month of work, and it shows; the finished images radiate luminosity and character. The images often appear clean and simple but on further inspection are intensely detailed.
 
Many years of training have helped to develop Terry’s unique skills.  At the age of twelve he attended the Moseley School of Art. He later attended Birmingham College of Art where he specialized in painting. His interest in print making grew after a stint working as a teacher at the college and he later made the decision to take a postgraduate course in this subject at Manchester College of Art. After finishing his course he continued to teach all over Britain whilst professionally producing etchings for Gallery’s, shows, and exhibitions. Over the years he has been commissioned for several collections, including the Royal Mail who asked Terry to produce a series of four stamps depicting traditional post offices. Terry explains, “The stamp commission was a new and refreshing experience for me. I always enjoy a challenge but stamp design has very particular requirements, which I had to bear in mind throughout. I also enjoyed the work because I felt very much at home with the subject I was considering.”

 

Etching is not, however, Terry’s only forte. He also paints in watercolour, the likes of which are unparalleled when considering depth of colour and composition.  He explains that etchings are now his inspiration for his paintings. It seems that the entire artist process is completely intertwined and that one aspect of Terry’s creativity feeds another, eventually producing stunning results.

 

It is difficult to find someway in which this artist is limited. His subjects have been many and varied, from Chateaus to post offices from Lake Como to a vase of Montbretia or a native Devonshire hedgerow. His techniques are interesting and evolve with time. His pictures are beautifully composed but are never contrived. The art and skill he harbors is an honor to share both in person and through his uniquely individual pictures. In an age where ‘digital’ means everything Terry has created a haven for this incredible creative process through hard work and devotion to his passion. When asked why he has chosen etching as method of creative expression he explains “I prefer to accept reality as open to interpretation. My images are drawn from familiar, commonplace subjects. I like to consider each aspect of a piece as a separate entity with a particular ingredient and I have found that etching is the most receptive medium to this approach, due to it’s capacity to accept and harmonise.”