Hilke MacIntyre was born in Germany and worked as an architect before she moved to Scotland in 1995.  Since then she has concentrated on printing, painting and making ceramics reliefs, combining a simplified figurative style with bold shapes, strong colours and abstract patterns.  Her work is widely exhibited in galleries throughout Britain and her linocuts and woodcuts have been used for various illustrations.  She lives with her family in a small village near St Andrews.  Daily life, her garden and the surrounding coastal landscape and villlages provide plenty of ideas for her pictures.

A word from Hilke:

"I started printmaking 1995 working in the Edinburgh Printmakers.  Linocutting quickly became my preferred printmaking technique as it is direct and hands on.  Carving the image with a knife out of a block of linoleum is very enjoyable and produces a tactile three dimensional printing block, which is then inked up and printed onto paper with a traditional press.  I like the carved line and shape, its simplicity and slight roughness encourages inventiveness.  I generally use only 2 or 3 colours and keep edition numbers low.  All prints are hand printed by myself on a big old press in our Studio near St Andrews.  In recent years I’ve been doing more and more woodcuts on Japanese plywood, which feels differently for cutting and its rougher surface can be used for introducing a grainy pattern to the print."