Polly Marix Evans is a printmaker whose largely monochrome linocuts often focus on the adventures and misadventures of a feisty character called Bun-head. Brought up in in the south, Polly graduated from Manchester School of Art in 1993, moving to her grandmother’s native Cumbria in 2013. She lives and works in the Eden Valley and shows in EVAN gallery, Penrith, The Makers Mill at Keswick and Courtyard Gallery, Appleby, as well as her online Etsy shop.
I often work via procrastination: when I should be framing, I’m drawing; if I should be getting ready, then I’m covered in ink. I try and organise my time a bit better now though as there’s so much admin – social media promotion, photography, checking stock for Etsy. I also do craft fairs, and work part-time for EVAN.
It all started with a second-hand John Bull printing outfit I was given as a child. I’ve always loved print making. Ideas often come to me in bed, so I note them on my phone and do drawings the next day ready for cutting and printing. I also teach occasional workshops, and helped hang the Great Print 9 exhibition at Rheged.
My first big break came soon after graduating. John Lewis picked up on my handmade textile and paper cards and ordered £6,000 worth! But I really blossomed when I got back into linocut printmaking and started going to craft fairs. Then in 2018 I was in Rheged’s Great Print exhibition, and became one of their best sellers.
I love it all: the drawing, the carving, and when I have an idea that really works, although I do overthink things, panicking that I’ll never think of an idea again. Sometimes it’s hard to get right, like Big Pants – re-drawn many times – but mostly you just ink up, pull a proof and tweak things.
My favourite pieces, like Fork in the Road, didn’t need tweaking at all. Work-life balance is up and down like a yoyo, being self-employed as a printmaker, doing part-time work for EVAN and casual tech for Tullie in Carlisle. I also have three children, two of them away at uni but my son Stan is home, along with guinea pigs Ponyo and Belinda. I do yoga every day, drink lots of tea and have a great network of friends.
Looking further ahead, I’d like to expand: eventually Bun-Head will take over the world! It would be good to show in more galleries across the UK, but I’m hopeless at promoting my own work. I’ve terrible imposter syndrome. Feeling isolated here in rural Cumbria, I’d like to move to a town here in the future, so I don’t have to drive everywhere.
etsy.com/shop/PollysUtterlyMe
Instagram @utterly-polly
Facebook @pollymarixevansartist
