Peg Morris RBA

Statement

Come with me for a walk in the woods and I will introduce you to my favourite trees. Some of these veterans have quietly stood here for centuries. I walk between them, watch how they change through the seasons, draw them, talk to them and listen to them.

I walk daily, often along the ancient tracks and holloways which traverse the landscape, revisiting the same locations in different conditions, forming deep personal connections with my surroundings through observation and quiet contemplation. I am fascinated by nature’s reclamation of places influenced by human activity. By producing closely observed images I hope to strengthen viewers’ appreciation of the often-overlooked beauty around us and the need to preserve and protect our precious landscape.

I specialise in etching but also draw, paint and explore as many printmaking techniques as I can as I have a fascination with the processes involved.

Since my move to the Surrey Hills in 2021 there has been a shift in the focus of my work as the beauty and history of my surroundings works its influence on me. I have always loved dilapidation and I have found roofscapes, doors and windows a longstanding fascination. Oh the stories they could tell…

Bio

Artist Printmaker Peg Morris was born in Essex in 1966. After leaving school she completed a Foundation Course at the North East Essex School of Art before going on to complete a BA(Hons) in Fine Art Painting at Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology in 1988. She worked in photography and then as a hologram designer before moving to London and training as a Primary School teacher in 1991. She worked in mainstream and special education in London over the following 25 years but always continued her art practice. In 1998 she started attending etching classes at Putney School of Art, having tried a little printmaking as part of her degree and it was at Putney that she really discovered a love of intaglio printmaking.

Process is fundamental to how Peg works. Although she specialises in etching, she explores different processes and makes mezzotints, lithographs, collagraphs, Tetrapak prints and monotypes. Her work is rooted in observation and drawing underpins all the images she makes. She also makes paintings, usually in watercolour.

Dilapidation, decay, natural forms, especially trees, and the changing light conditions which transform our perception of the landscape, cityscape or interior spaces provide inspiration for her work. Since her move to the Surrey Hills in 2021 after 30 years in London, the ancient trees and trackways of that landscape have proved a rich source of inspiration. She walks daily and revisits the same locations in different conditions, forming deep personal connections with her surroundings through observation and quiet contemplation.

Peg has exhibited widely, including the Royal Academy, the RWA, the Mall Galleries, the RBSA where she was awarded a prize for her etching, the Woolwich Print Fair and in many group exhibitions. Her work is held in the Printmakers Council Archive at the Scarborough Museum and Art Gallery and is in the V&A archive.

In 2025 Peg was elected an associate member of the SGFA. She has been a member of Southbank Printmakers since 2015, was a member of Richmond Printmakers from 2011-2021 and has served on the committee of the Printmakers’ Council since 2019. She co-founded KAOS (Kingston Artists Open Studios) in 2010.

Since 2016 when she left teaching, Peg has worked at Kew Studio as the Printmaking Studio Manager, Technician and Etching Tutor. She also runs occasional printmaking workshops at her home studio in Surrey and has recently started to work as a visiting tutor at Ochre Print Studio in Guildford.