“Artists do not grow in an altogether hap-hazard way; they fertilize each other, and consequently it is no surprise to find a generation of friends, such as were Monet, Pissaro, and Renoir, maturing in the same soil and climate.
These three print-makers, Norman Ackroyd, Peter Olley, and Shane Weare, all studied at the Royal College of Art more or less at the same time. They are all tremendous individuals, but they have more in common than they probably realize.
They matured in the same soil, and learned the hard way to extract their nourishment from the impersonal face of an Art Academy. As a result, perhaps, they have all come to speak the same artistic language.
They are all in their separate ways exploiting to the full the possibilities of the medium in which they work—etching. They all share a professional attitude to their work; one has only to notice the impeccable quality of each print.
And above all they are, as all true artists are, possessed by the same creative fire.”
