Emerging from a gifted family, Cressida Campbell is now one of Australia’s most celebrated artists. She chose an unusual medium with an ancient pedigree; she is a woodblock painter.

First drawing her subjects on plywood, she painstakingly carves the outlines, then paints the image in many layers of watercolour. The finished picture is sprayed with water and just a single impression taken. The result is a unique print and a coloured block. Artists who are interested in print-making often use it to make their work available to a wide audience by producing large editions, but not Cressida Campbell; she restricts her print-making to editions of one. The result, the coloured block and its mirror image, the unique print, are both highly sought after. Her work is to be found in 28 Australian public collections, numerous corporate and private collections as well as the British Museum and the National Museum, Poland. Her subjects are interiors and still life; the results, very beautiful.

Cressida Campbell trained at the famous East Sydney Technical College, then the Yoshida Hanga Academy, Tokyo to refine her print-making.

She exhibited in the early ‘80s at Hogarth Gallery, then was championed by Rex Irwin in Sydney and Philip Bacon in Brisbane. She has exhibited several times in London with great success. Until 28 October, Philip Bacon Galleries are exhibiting her latest work at Mossgreen, Woollahra. Nothing left to buy, but it’s a feast for the eye and the spirit.