Ingrid Nilsson is an Edinburgh-based painter, lino printmaker and writer.

Like so many women artists, it took her many years before she found the space to stretch her wings into a full-time creative practise. For ten years she and her partner ran  gallery/café 'Bon Papillon' in Edinburgh’s New Town. She now designs, carves, prints and paints her world of birds, mythological creatures and feisty women in her home studio. Drawn by the processes of printmaking, she finds that the inherent imperfections and accidents make the prints come alive and evolve, suggesting new directions for future experiment and exploration. Recently she has begun to return to larger scale painted pieces, involving an element of relief printing.  Her curious imagination, travel, and storywriting drive an ever-evolving and prolific collection of images with a tale to tell. In 2024 Ingrid and her partner Stuart embarked on an ambitious cycle through Europe and SE Asia, which has changed her practise in ways that are still becoming apparent. Always one for learning a new skill, Ingrid is currently writing her first novel and working on hand-made books to combine her writing and lino printing.

All Ingrid’s lino prints are hand designed, carved and pressed in her home studio (aka kitchen and bedroom). She uses old-school ‘battleship grey’ lino or Essdee soft carve when her shoulder injury plays up. Tools are mostly Pfeil with some Japanese v gauges, ink is Cranfield Caligo safe wash on paper or Speedball when used on board with mixed media. She presses the paper prints on a Woodzilla press or hand burnishes with a wooden spoon. Ingrid’s paintings are mixed media using water based products including Liquitex acrylics, Farrow & Ball emulsion and Caran d’Ache Neocolour crayons. She hand waxes, paints and distresses her frames in the studio, starting with bare wood mouldings.