Month: October 2021

Hi! my name is Sofia Salazar. I’m a textile designer from Argentina, and I’ve been living in Norwich for the past 8 years. I come from a family of makers and in my practice, I try to explore and experiment with almost every technique I learn about. Although at the beginning I used to work a lot more on textiles, mostly doing embroidery, in the last few years I’ve shifted almost completely to printmaking; Cyanotypes, linocut, woodcuts, screenprinting, pochoir and even kitchen litho.

Describe your printmaking process.

It depends on the printing technique I’ll be using; some take more preparation and designing than others. For instance, I can sketch with charcoal on a big piece of MDF and just start carving the lines for a very expressive and rough print that will take me only a few hours. Or, on the other side completely, I can spend days or even weeks planning a reduction print on my Ipad before getting anywhere near my lino piece. For a reduction print, I’ll first sketch a design on paper. Once I’m happy with it I’ll start working on it on my Ipad, first considering where to apply colour and how many layers the design needs. Then I’ll define the layers, decide the order in which they should be printed (because I use very strong colours I need to make sure the inks will cover each other completely) and once I’m finished I’ll start trying different colours schemes and combinations. Only once I’m done with that I can start putting the tabs on my paper, transferring the first layer to the piece of lino and thinking about carving.

How and where did you learn to print?

Oh, we are 100% self-taught. I say “we” because my partner has been interested in the process from the beginning and many times he’s the one insisting on trying something new. I’ve known about different printmaking techniques since I was a kid because at home prints were hanging from the walls, from the time my parents were students. I remember since then, paying a lot of attention every time I was in a museum, to see what techniques were used in the pieces I liked. So let’s say I knew the names; I knew linocut was a thing, that etching was a thing, that lithography was a thing. Eventually, I started googling and watching YouTube videos, many times just buying the tools and giving it a try intuitively. We have printmaking books, we’ve read blogs, we’ve tried, failed and succeeded eventually too. We bought our first inks from Handprinted, in 2014 and from then on we’ve been trying almost everything in their catalogue! From my screenprinting screens to my ABIG press, it all came from them.

Why printmaking?

I’ve always liked the possibility of doing multiples without losing the handmade aspect. I like to be able to feel the texture of the inks, to see the colours blending, the uniqueness of the mistakes, to see the relief and marks left by the press. I like the feel of the paper and I love smelling the ink while prints dry around me. I like seeing something materialise in front of me, I like knowing that I’ve been involved in the making of each one of my prints and that you can tell by looking at them that a human made them. I like to think in terms of printing, dividing a design into layers, considering the order in which colours should be printed. I think I enjoy the process throughout.

Where do you work?

I work from home, I have my studio in the front room of our house, in Norwich, so I get to see a lot of passers-by and I love whenever someone stops to look at what I’m doing. I also like coming back from the shops or whatever I’ve been doing out and seeing from outside all my prints hanging on the walls, drying, and the tools on my table.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

Well, I try to take care first of what I like least… so I usually start my day tidying up, makings to-do lists, taking care of emails and preparing orders for shipping. That takes up more than half of my workday, but once I’m done I can “relax” and take care of re-stocking, printing or planning new work. Even though shipping is very time consuming and repetitive, there are advantages, like not needing to use my brain a lot and being able to re-watch films or listen to podcasts or things I can’t really do when I need to focus a lot.

How long have you been printmaking?

I’ve attempted printing on a few occasions before but I’ve been doing it more seriously and non-stop since 2018.

What inspires you?

Other artists at work, either on Instagram, a museum or in a documentary. I love hunting for second-hand art books and seeing people’s sketchbooks and studios. I love to study an artist or a subject in-depth until I hit something new I want to try or make. Wandering around a city just looking at buildings, watching films, people watching. Museums always have an effect on me, always make me want to go home and make something. Of course, I like art a lot and I’m inspired by the likes of Picasso, Matisse, Cocteau, Le Corbusier, Malevich, Arp, Calder, Miro, Picabia, Schiaparelli, Hepworth and Hockney.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

My Hawthorn Roller: I love a good and heavy roller. I find the Ternes Burton Registration Pins essential to my work.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

My partner and my father in law built a big press from scratch back home and with it, we managed to print our first large scale print. A print I’m still very proud of. Also, all my reduction prints take me so much time and effort that I always end up feeling proud even if it’s only for finishing them. I think that’s my favourite technique at the moment; I really enjoy how you carve away layer after layer until there’s almost nothing left of your lino plate. And how there’s no going back.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

You can see my work and my process on Instagram and I sell on my website.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I’m working on some flat pieces for wooden sculptures that I want to try and print instead of paint, but I’m still sampling and trying out materials at the moment 🙂

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Well, I think a good piece of advice would be to follow your curiosity even when it feels like drifting away from your original goal. Exploring new tools, techniques and materials usually leads to new work and even to new styles, so that’s always a good thing to try when you find yourself blocked. Lastly, it is always good to remember what you see on social media is only the best-curated version of ourselves and our work… you rarely see all the failed attempts so it is easy to think you’re the only one making mistakes or not producing daily work that is museum ready!

To see more from Sofia follow her on Instagram.

It can be tricky to see where you are carving when making a lino block, making it more easy to make mistakes. An easy solution to this problem is to stain the lino. That way, the colour of the lino on the surface is different to the inside, allowing cut marks to show easily.

Read on for one simple way to do this (or scroll to the bottom to watch a video).

Choose a bright or dark coloured acrylic paint that is a strong contrast to your lino. We are using traditional grey lino. Red acrylic paint is a strong colour option for staining.

Use a large wet paintbrush to apply acrylic paint to the surface of the lino. We don’t want a thick layer, just enough to cover the whole block.

Let the paint sit for a couple of minutes and then use a dry rag to buff off the excess acrylic paint. We just want to leave the stain behind, not a layer of paint. A damp rag may clean the block too much.

The block can now be carved, showing our gouged lines as we work.

It is recommended to clean the lino before inking up to remove any excess paint that may otherwise transfer to your print.

For this project you will need:
– Acrylic paint
– Paintbrush
– Sheet of Lino
– Rag

Hello, I’m Haychley and I’m a linocut printmaker based in Norwich, Norfolk. I’m a full-time printmaker and I work from my little home studio that often features my lovely cat, Stella. I run my own linocut workshops in Norwich and also organise pop-up shops for other creatives in East Anglia.

Describe your printmaking process.

Most of my prints start life as a digital design on Procreate on my iPad. Often my ideas come to me nearly fully formed and I have to work quickly to fill in the details and get them out of my head. Creating my designs digitally to start with allows me the speed to change parts of the design with ease and use layers to plan multi-block or reduction prints. I’m not a printmaker who necessarily follows a strict start to finish process; I’m often working on several linocut prints at once! I like to take my time and enjoy the carving process and then try to set aside several hours when I can test the print on different paper types to see which one suits the design best.

How and where did you learn to print?

I’m a self-taught printmaker. I watched countless hours of videos on social media and just kept persevering until I felt confident in what I was doing. I run my own workshops now for beginners and I’m a big believer that anyone can learn linocut printmaking.

Why printmaking?

I think it’s the freedom to be able to fully control what you create. You are in charge of the whole creative process from design to carve to print. It’s such a multi-sensory medium too; from the feel of the paper and the smell of the ink to the physical exertion of printing by hand. You feel like you’ve really worked hard to produce each print and there’s such a sense of satisfaction when a print is dry and framed or mounted.

Where do you work?

I mostly work at home in my little studio. I’ve made a conscious effort to join groups and organise events that get me out of the house regularly to meet new people and interact with the local art community. I’ve made brilliant connections this way and these in turn have opened more doors for me and pushed me to keep putting myself out there as much as possible.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

There’s not often a typical day for me at the moment. If I’m not at a market or acting as a duty artist in the shop, I usually let my mood dictate what I do each day. Some days I feel like getting lots of behind the scenes work done; updating my website, bookkeeping, organising my studio. Other days all I want to do is put a podcast or TV series on in the background and carve for the day. So long as the essential tasks are done for the day, this way of working really helps my mental health as I’m focused on how I feel that day and not forcing anything.

How long have you been printmaking?

I started printmaking in late 2017. My first prints were far beyond my ability at that point; A3 designs with a lot of solid ink coverage! Those first six months were such trial and error (and very frustrating at times) but I’m so glad I stuck with it. I would get up every day and try again, varying paper types and tweaking my process each day until I eventually cracked it. The actual printing part of printmaking used to be something I dreaded but now it’s one of my favourite parts.

What inspires you?

It always feels so vague to say that inspiration comes from all around but it’s true. I can be walking around the City and see a little piece of stonework and want to go straight home and carve it. My prints tend to vary a lot depending on the time of year, too. Last summer I made a print called Forage that depicts a woman collecting mushrooms under a full moon in the forest. My most recent print was of a girl sat relaxing on the grass and an inquisitive butterfly in front of her dreamt up whilst sat in my own garden. As autumn and winter approach my prints will often get darker in colour and include more cosy nighttime scenes. I try to keep in tune with what’s going on around me in nature and reflect that in my prints.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

Japanese HoSho paper. I’ve tried lots of different paper types over the last few years and always come back to my old favourite! It’s brilliant for printing by hand using a wooden spoon or baren and it’s such a strong lovely paper. I tend to hoard it a little because it can sell out fast so I always have several pads at a time to hand.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I think I would have to say my Norfolk Broads print. It was my first reduction linocut and taught me a lot about the process. It’s a print that really reflects the beautiful landscape of Norfolk I feel too. Before this print, I focussed a lot on single colour linocuts, often in darker shades, but this is such a bright and happy print that was a step in a new direction for me.

Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?

Most of my linocut prints can be found in my Etsy shop. I hope to integrate my shop into my website by the end of the year too. I have a gallery and blog on my website and I publish a lot of process videos on my Instagram. If you’re local to the Norwich area, I have my prints in the Norwich Art Shop and Anteros art gallery as well as greeting cards in a couple of other local shops.

What will we be seeing from you next?

My next three linocut prints focus on the relationship between women and nature. They’re fun and joyful designs I think; one beach-themed, one of a woman lying on the grass (using the negative space on the block), and a large colourful reduction print of a girl sitting on a lilypad.

I also have plans for a new Norwich themed print based on a gorgeous historical design in the City. It’s one of the best feelings when inspiration strikes and the second I saw it I knew I had to try to turn it into a linocut.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

I feel like the biggest thing I’ve learned is that you have to constantly put yourself out there, even if it’s out of your comfort zone. Nothing will happen unless you make it so try to push yourself to try new events and interact with different types of artists who will help you grow. I’m an introvert so it definitely doesn’t come easy to me but the more you do it the easier it will get, I promise.

If you’re just starting out as a printmaker, my advice would be to just keep going. Become a linocut sponge! Watch all the videos you can on Instagram and YouTube, read online tutorials and try to follow along and absorb all the information you can. Keep varying your technique, paper type, ink, tools, everything you can until you find what works best for you and allows you to create what you want to.

To see more from Haychley, follow her on Instagram or visit her website.