Sarah Gillespie in her studio, photograph by Rebecca Eames
Listen to Hannah interview Sarah Gillespie (Autumn 2022)
Sarah Gillespie
Sarah Gillespie was born in Winchester in 1963. She studied 16th & 17th century methods and materials at the Atelier Neo-Medici in Paris before going on to read Fine Art at Ruskin School of Drawing & Fine Art. Born into a (in her own words) chaotic, creative household, Gillespie says of her childhood that art materials were just always around to be experimented with. That and the fact she spent much of her early years outside, exploring the natural world has been pivotal in the artist path she has taken.
Gillespie is most well-known for her detailed, monochrome mezzotints celebrating one of the UK’s most elusive insects, the moth. The artist reminds us that ‘moths, as with other insects, are in serious decline. Since I began studying and drawing moths ten years ago, I have felt more and more aware of their importance and the need to record and draw attention to their fragile beauty.”
Mezzotint, meaning ‘half tone’ in Italian, is a engraving technique by which the artist uses a rocker to roughen the whole surface of the plate, making the deep black background, and the lighter and white tones are created using a process of scraping back smoothing the surface.
In 2025, eight of Sarah’s mezzotints were acquired by the British Museum, and her work now also features in major collections and exhibitions across the UK and Europe including: La Bibliothèque Nationale de France, Paris; the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; the Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Gallery, Exeter; and The Museum Sinclair-Haus, Germany.
Available works
Limited edition mezzotint engraving in an edition of 30
13cm x 17.5cm (Paper size: 26cm x 30cm approx)
Framed £650 / Unframed £550
Mezzotint engraving, 2026
Artist proof
Plate size: 20 × 14cm
Paper size: 31 × 25cm
Framed £700 / Unframed £550
Mezzotint engraving
5″ x 7″
Edition 14/40
Hand printed on Arches Moulin du Gué paper
Mezzotint engraving
2026
Edition of 20
Plate size: 20 × 20cm
Paper size: 31 × 31cmcm
Unframed
Mezzotint engraving
2025
Edition of 25
Plate size: 40 × 40cm
Paper size: 51 × 51.5cm
Unframed
A study of the Peach Blossom Moth in Sarah Gillespie’s ongoing project documenting the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2024
Edition of 30
Image: 29 × 30cm
Framed
Mezzotint engraving
2026
Edition of 25
Plate size: 40 × 40cm
Paper size: 49 × 47cm
Unframed
A mezzotint study of the from Sarah Gillespie’s ongoing project documenting the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2023
Edition of 30
Unframed
Image: 20 × 19.5cm
A mezzotint study of the from Sarah Gillespie’s ongoing project documenting the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2019
Edition of 20
Framed
Paper size: 57 × 57cm
A mezzotint study of the from Sarah Gillespie’s ongoing project documenting the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2020
Edition of 20
Framed
Image: 12.5 × 17.5cm
Paper: 19.5 × 24cm
Sarah Gillespie’s latest mezzotint engraving in her ongoing study of the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2024
Edition of 30
Image: 62.5cm x 50cm
Framed: 77 × 65cm
Sarah Gillespie’s latest mezzotint engraving of a song thrush
Mezzotint engraving
2025
Edition of 25
Image size: 17.5 × 13cm
Paper size: 31cm x 24.5cm
A study of the Muslin Moth from Sarah Gillespie’s ongoing project documenting the endangered UK moth species
Mezzotint engraving
2023
Image: 17.5 × 12.5cm
One framed print remains in the edition
Mezzotint engraving
40cm x 40cm
Edition 18/30
Hand printed on Arches Moulin du Gué paper