Rutland artist's work is displayed at Stonehenge Visitor Centre

A Rutland artist has earned a ‘commission of a lifetime’ as her artwork has been installed at a World Heritage site.

In December 2020, Catherine Headley was asked by English Heritage to create art for the Visitor Centre at Stonehenge in Salisbury.

Catherine created the work in the form of 10 collagraph prints which she said aimed to give an emotive, semi-abstract response to the stones and their surrounding landscape, using pattern, colour and texture, to reflect and amplify a unique sense of place.

She said: “At Stonehenge, I wanted to give my work the energy that emanates from the stones and to reflect their moods, ever changing according to the weather.

“I felt the powerful presence of the stones in an ancient landscape strewn for many miles with earthworks and barrows.

“From aerial images I observed the sweeping curve of the avenue, once a white path cut into the chalk to connect Stonehenge with a bend in the river Avon.

“I thought about the axes carved into the stones. I used two colour schemes to reflect the importance of the winter and summer solstices.”

Due to print workshops being closed during the pandemic, English Heritage provided Catherine with finance for an etching press and all equipment necessary.

This has allowed her to set up a print workshop at the bottom of her garden in Barrowden.

After four months of work, which Catherine described as ‘all-consuming’, the images were enlarged and transferred using a dye sublimation print process on to fabric banners.

They now hang in the visitor centre and the imagery is also being carried on merchandise.

Catherine said: “To be asked to produce art work relating to Stonehenge was a gift, and I have endeavoured to celebrate the delight in Stonehenge and the awe felt by every visitor.”