DeAnne Frost, Aka DADA FROST Is an American-born Graphic Designer And Screen Printer Based In Scotland.

Her Work Is Colourful And Graphic, She Enjoys Exploring Ideas In Pattern, Print, And Handlettering. ​​​​​​​DeAnne Designs And Hand Screenprints All Her Own Products. The Risograph Prints Are Designed By Herself But Printing Is Outsourced.

Her Screen Printing Style Is Very Organic Often working And Making Decisions About The Composition As She Prints It. Because Of This She Tends To Print Small Editions Or series Of Prints That Are Unique To Each Other But Printed Together With The Same Colours And Shapes. Working This Way Allows The Freedom To Move The Paper Around Each Time Creating Shapes And Lines Which Sit Together And Feels Right To Her At That Moment.

I Have Always Been Creative And My Family Would Say, ‘she Always Wanted To Be An Artist’. I Studied Graphic Design At Uni And After A Few Freelance Jobs When I First Graduated I Ended Up Working In Publishing And Then For A Charity, Neither Doing Graphic Design Nor Being An Artist. Then About Nine Years Ago, After Having My First Child, I Decided To Enroll On A Beginner Screen Printing Course At Spike Island Print In Bristol. I Loved It, Learning The Process Was So Satisfying And My Obsession With Learning To Screenprint Grew. I Did Several More Courses And Eventually Became A Member There.

In The Summer Of 2019, With My Family, I Relocated To Edinburgh, Scotland. With No Job To Go To I Saw This As A Fresh Start, A Chance To Realise My Dream Of Making A Living By Being Creative, And So I Took A Leap Of Faith And Become A Full-time Printmaker. I Am Now A Member Of Edinburgh Printmakers. I Print Most Days Either In The Studio Or At Home. I Feel Like I Am Starting To Create My Own Style And I Am Enjoying Exploring That.

What Is Your Creative Process?

The Way I Work Is I Will Have A General Concept But I Won’t Really Know What The End Product Will Look Like, Even When I Draft Something On My Computer. Until I Start Physically Printing, It Is Always Open To Change Which Allows Me The Freedom To Make Spontaneous Decisions, Using My Instinct To Form The Final Composition. This Method Results In Small Editions Or Unique One-off Prints.

My Work At The Moment Is Based On Geometric Shapes And Is Very Abstract.  Playing With Layering, Joining Edges Together, Turning The Paper Around Until I Like What I See. Printing Like This Allows Me Lots Of Options To Experiment Without Having To Re-expose Screens, Which I Need The Studio For. Each Shape You See In My Prints Is One Layer, One Flood Of The Screen.

What Influences Your Work?

My Daughters Are A Big Influence On Me, I Love Watching Them Draw And Paint And To See What Colours They Use And Mix Together. My Youngest Is Obsessed With Drawing Rainbows And This Influence Definitely Shines Through In My Work. I Am Also Really Enjoying The Vibrancy Of Neon Colours Which You Can’t Really Replicate In Digital Printing.

Do You Have Any Big Projects Coming Up? Anything We Should Keep An Eye Out For?

What’s Next For Me? To Keep Making, Playing With Ideas, Learning New Techniques, And Growing In My Practice. And For Right Now? I Feel Thankful That I Get To Do What I Love Every Day And Proud Of Myself For Not Letting Go Of My Dreams.