Hi I’m Caroline. I’m a Scottish Artist who loves to make work about animals. I have a degree in Fine Art from Glasgow School of Art where I specialised in Printmaking. We learned all kinds of printmaking including Silkscreen, etching, woodcut and lino print.


I have always loved drawing animals and making things. I’ve created many large charcoal drawings of the wild animals in Edinburgh Zoo and the Highland Wildlife Park. I’ve exhibited these at Artwalk Porty and in galleries in Edinburgh and London. In my spare time I like to make cardboard automata of animals and I like to sew. I find it hard to sit still and I like to explore different techniques.


What I’m most interested in currently is making prints of the creatures that I see in my home county of East Lothian. I’m always trying to capture them in unusual poses and in movement. I love birds and there is such a diversity of birds here that I’m never short of subject material. I also try to think about the habitats that you’d find the animals in, what behaviour you’d expect from them and what they would be eating and then include all that in my work. It’s a great way of learning about the natural world around you. I hope that my work celebrates the joy that I find in the Scottish countryside.


Some of my favourite prints from the last year are a crow marching through dandelions, a wood pigeon in a field of wheat, sparrows eating from poppyseed heads and a blackbird amongst some buttercups. I’m really drawn to colour so my prints are packed full of it. I have lots more planned including a new series of prints about the seabirds of East Lothian.


As an artist I spend my time making limited edition prints and handmade cards to sell at various events. I’ve had virtual and real-life stalls at quite a few of the Support the Makers markets. I like to work towards putting on a show at the annual Artwalk Porty in Portobello, Edinburgh. I have a fully stocked Etsy shop and I like to keep people updated on what I’m working on next on my Instagram page. I also take on the odd commission and I do like the opportunity to try things that I might not have thought to do myself.


I work from my home studio in Musselburgh where I have my own printing press and a dedicated pulley to dry all the prints I make. I mostly work in Linocut and my favourite thing of all is making reduction prints. This is where you use one sheet of lino to produce a multi-layered print. With each layer you carve a little more of the lino away to reveal your image. It’s absolutely vital that you print the image in exactly the same place each time. I love the technical and mental challenge of this process. If I’m not printmaking I’m always thinking about how I will do the next layer on my prints! If I’m out on a walk I’m also always looking for another bit of scenery, some lovely coloured skies or an unusual weed that I can put in my next print.


I spend a lot of time working on my own so I really value the connections that I’ve made through Support the Makers, Artwalk Porty and my social media groups. Support the Makers has given me such a sense of community and I love that I have made all sorts of creative friends through my involvement with them. The Artwalk is 2 weekends in September of full-on meeting and chatting to friendly people. It’s a lot of fun. I have also met lots of kindred spirits on Instagram. I find it a great resource for sharing ideas and techniques or just seeing how others resolve similar issues to yours.


If you’d like to see examples of my work you can find me on instagram @caroline.convey, on Facebook Caroline Convey Artist or my Etsy shop is CarolinesMenagerie.