| By :
Martin Hofschroer
British painter Simon Claridge has revealed that his latest work has been made using art materials in a silkscreen process. The artist announced that he wanted to work using the silkscreen technique, a method that uses a woven mesh to support an ink-blocking stencil because he sees it is a natural progression in his career. Screen printing was introduced to Western Europe from Asia in the 18th century after it first appeared in a recognizable form in China during the Song Dynasty. The artist said that he was proud to have developed a new collection of work using the ancient technique with modern art materials. Claridge, a University of Reading graduate, told his official website: "I consider my original works made in this way to be original paintings; I simply use a different kind of brush!" The artist has created two new pieces using the silk screen method with the first being Penny Black, an interpretation of the historic stamp, while the second is Monroe Lisa, a portrait combination of both Mona Lisa and Marilyn Monroe. Simon Claridge painted the world's first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system, in order to praise the emotional weight of a letter or handwritten card as opposed to electronic communication. He said: "It is iconic in both its symbolism and aesthetics. Nowadays, the whole world is at our fingertips with email, Facebook and Twitter and I wanted to celebrate the power of the written hand." Monroe Lisa is a humorous work depicting the iconic Hollywood actress laughing while posing as Mona Lisa in a style reminiscent of Andy Warhol's famous pop art portraits. The artist said: "Monroe Lisa was a joy to create. I can think of no more iconic portraits than those of the Mona Lisa and Marilyn Monroe so I decided to combine the two to create this powerful image." Claridge announced that he will be touring most of England's major cities to showcase his new work and will use his portable screen printing rig to provide visitors with free prints at each exhibition. The artist's prints normally include famous females because Clairdge confesses that he loves to paint women who he admires such as icons like Brigitte Bardot, catwalk queen Kate Moss and sixties model Twiggy. Scottish rock legend Rod Stewart reportedly bought a print of Blondie singer Debbie Harry by Simon Claridge at Harrods in London.
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