About Brenda Hartill

Brenda Hartill RE is a celebrated British painter-printmaker whose career spans over five decades. Working across etching, collagraph, carborundum, and monoprint techniques, Brenda’s art is deeply rooted in a love of experimentation, texture, and elemental landscapes.

Originally trained as a painter in New Zealand, Brenda moved to London in the 1960s on a scholarship, where she explored theatrical design before fully embracing printmaking. Her artistic evolution has taken her from figurative etchings of urban London life to richly abstract compositions inspired by nature’s universal forms, from craggy Andalusian mountains to volcanic New Zealand terrain.

In her studio, Brenda’s process is as layered and nuanced as her works. Her monoprints capture raw emotional energy through free drawing, vibrant primary colours, and complex overlays of texture and tone. Her etchings and collagraphs dive deep into geological and environmental themes: erosion, structure, transformation and often using innovative methods such as collaged plates, found materials, and handmade paper to create highly embossed, luminous prints.

A member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, Brenda has exhibited extensively, including solo shows at the Bankside Gallery and Curwen & New Academy. Her work is held in major collections worldwide.

“For me, art is a voyage of discovery. A dance between chance and control, the abstract and the personal. Each print tells a story of process, place and possibility.”
— Brenda Hartill