Nicki Vowls
Nicki trained in Printed Textiles at Camberwell School of Art, and then attended Goldsmiths for her postgraduate year.
Throughout Nicki's work she returns to the theme of lifeboats. Their rescues from the Goodwin Sands and the waters around the East Kent coast ignite the imagination. The dynamic textures that lino and woodcutting produce help to add drama and danger to the images.
Nicki lives and works in Deal, and her lino and woodcuts feature local heroes and their true stories. Rescues from the Goodwin Sands by Deal lifeboatmen, and also the daring rescues by local boats from the beaches of Dunkirk, during Operation Dynamo, are both themes she likes to revisit.
Heroes of Deal 1881
On the Night of 14th October 1881, 29 men of the 33 crew were rescued from the Ganges, which had gone aground off the coast of Deal.
In attendance was the North Deal lifeboat, the Mary Somerville, and the Ramsgate lifeboat, the Bradford. Each lifeboat was towed by a steam tug, one of which can be seen in the background of this linoprint.
Size: 34x34cm
Media: Oil based ink on board (single edition of 1 for W&Y)
£285
Guardship, Deal 1914
Pictured in this linocut is the Guardship Niger, which was anchored off Deal in order to help safeguard neutral ships from enemy attack.
On November 11th 1914, she was sunk by a German U-boat. The North Deal lifeboat Charles Dibdin and the Kingsdown lifeboat Charles Hargrave, both of which can be seen in this print, were two of the boats that rescued the officers and 77 crewmen from the water.
Size: 26x26cm
Media: Oil based ink on board (single edition of 1 for W&Y)
£240
Dunkirk Little Ship 1940
This linoprint commemorates the contributions made by destroyers and local littleships during Operation Dynamo and the Second World War.
It was drawn from a stone memorial that is at Chatham Dockyard.
Size: 30x30cm
Media: Oil based ink on board (single edition of 1 for W&Y)
£250