Artist Film Documentary: Julian Meredith and his Extraordinary Art of Printmaking
Artist film documentary work is central to my practice as a North East England filmmaker.
Creating an artist film documentary lets me step into the private worlds of artists and share the unique stories behind how and why they create. One of the artist film documentaries I’m proud to have made features printmaker Julian Meredith, filmed in his studio as part of my wider exploration of contemporary printmaking across the UK.
This artist film documentary about Julian Meredith was one of seven films I produced for the Glossary Exhibition, commissioned by Northern Print and screened alongside the artists’ work in 2014. The Glossary Exhibition celebrated the very best in contemporary printmaking, taking viewers into the private studios of artists working across the country through specially commissioned films.
In this artist film documentary, Julian speaks passionately about his approach to printmaking. Although his work builds on traditional woodcut techniques, he’s reinvented the process in ways that set him apart in the world of contemporary art films. Rather than carving small wood blocks, Julian works with entire planks or whole trees, transferring their textures and grain patterns directly onto paper. As he shares in the documentary, it’s less about precise cutting and more about embracing the natural scale and character of the wood itself.
He explains how he prefers to burnish the back of the paper instead of using a press, maintaining the raw qualities of the wood’s surface. His choice to work on a large scale reflects his creative process. “I don’t like my mind to reduce scale onto something small,” he says. “I like my mind to think outwards.” For Julian, creating large prints is fundamental to his vision as a printmaker and a subject of my artist film documentary.
A particularly engaging part of this artist film documentary is Julian’s discussion of colour. He talks about his preference for transparent colours over opaque ones, describing how opacity can be deadening, while transparency allows images to feel lighter and more alive. “It’s no longer earthbound,” he explains, “it’s more river, it’s more water and air bound.” In the world of printmaking and contemporary art films, these nuances are significant and help audiences understand an artist’s creative choices.
Julian’s subject matter often centres on the natural world—fish, birds, and animals—and in the documentary, he talks about wanting to project these creatures into a visual future. He’s not interested in romanticising or being nostalgic. Instead, he uses his printmaking practice to keep these species alive in public consciousness. His method of transferring images directly from objects rather than relying solely on drawings underlines his belief in a more immediate, physical creative process.
The artist film documentary also explores Julian’s views on authenticity in printmaking and art more broadly. He speaks candidly about how people sometimes struggle to distinguish between mechanical reproductions and true handcrafted prints, leading to mistrust. His view is firm: copies of paintings, he insists, “stink.” It’s a reminder of the value in traditional techniques and human touch—an idea central to both printmaking and documentary filmmaking.
Filming this artist film documentary was an opportunity to share Julian Meredith’s unique approach to printmaking and to highlight how his creative process defies conventions. As someone dedicated to documentary filmmaking and capturing artists in their studios, I’m inspired by artists like Julian who challenge the boundaries of their medium and transform traditional techniques into contemporary art.
Projects like the Glossary Exhibition remind me why I’m drawn to artist film documentaries. They allow me to document the creative process and give viewers a glimpse behind studio doors. While the River Tyne and landscapes of the North East remain important subjects in my filmmaking archive, artist film documentaries like this one continue to shape my practice as a North East England filmmaker, connecting me to artists whose work bridges nature, craft, and contemporary art.
If you’d like to explore the artist film documentary about Julian Meredith or others in the Glossary Exhibition, you can find more of my artist films here: https://alanfentiman.co.uk/vimeo-videos/artist-films/