My name is Rachel Winsper, I’m a pattern maker and hand printer based in South Staffordshire. I work from a small pink studio at home, surrounded by patterns and colours.  I create handprinted wallpaper and decorative printed items for the home.

Describe your printmaking process.

Once I have an idea for a pattern, I like to sketch it out on graph paper. I find the grids useful to create a sense of symmetry and balance in my patterns.  I’m often creating a wallpaper design, so I will already have an idea of the size and scale that works, and how the pattern will repeat. Once I’m happy with the pattern, I transfer the design onto the cutting surface using a pencil and tracing paper. I then use a small-sized cutting tool to outline the whole design before I begin cutting away. All of my test prints are printed in pink ink, it’s become a bit of tradition that I like to keep. There’s nothing more exciting than the first test print of a design, even though I have a good idea of how it’s going to look at the design stage, there is always an element of surprise from the printmaking process.

How and where did you learn to print?

I love interiors, fabrics and wallpapers. I’ve worked in interior design and used to have my own interior design company, but I knew that one day I would love to be the one designing the papers and fabrics. I found the perfect workshop with the brilliant Vanessa and Flora Arbuthnott in the Cotswolds. I was familiar with Vanessa’s designs, and I was intrigued to see if I could block print my own pattern designs onto fabrics and papers too. The workshop was a real catalyst for my journey, a real spark was ignited, and I quickly realised the possibilities and set about learning all I could about pattern design and printing. I haven’t stopped designing and creating patterns since that first workshop.  I also love learning from other printmakers, I follow lots of generous printmakers that are always happy to share their knowledge.

Why printmaking?

Printmaking is an incredibly special and charming way of creating patterns.  I love that you can see the makers mark in each pattern repeat and the small imperfections make for more interesting results, giving the finished piece a sense of energy and personality. It’s also incredibly accessible – I can have an idea for a pattern, design, carve and print it all in the same day. The materials and are affordable, and you can do it on the kitchen table if you don’t have a dedicated space.

Where do you work?

I am very lucky to have my own studio space at home, it has bright pink walls and lots of light. I have a printing table as well as an area to design and carve my patterns. I have a very rudimentary cardboard tube and pully system that I use to print my wallpaper, it’s basic but does the job! I long for a sink and wash-out area, now I make do with my trusty grey washing-up bowl perched on top of a picnic basket.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I have three young boys and I work part-time at a local secondary school, so I mainly print afternoons, evenings and weekends. I like to prep all my base papers for wallpaper orders when I first come into the studio. They need a minimum of 24 hours to dry before they are printed. I’ve nearly always got a pattern design on the go, so I’ll spend some time carving and test printing. I love sharing my work on social media and I like to keep my website up to date so that will be part of my day. I love nothing more than getting stuck into a large wallpaper order, I find the process incredibly mediative and calming.

How long have you been printmaking?

I began printing in 2014, but I think it’s really been the last couple of years that I have found my own signature style. I now have a process I trust, and I have worked out what works, what doesn’t work and more importantly what I enjoy creating.

What inspires you?

I’m hugely inspired by the female artists of the inter-war years, I adore the print designs of Peggy Angus, Enid Marx and Barren & Larcher. It was after taking my children to the London Transport Museum that I first discovered these wonderful artists. I spent a long time admiring the patterned moquettes used on transport seating, designed by Enid Marx – I then fell down a rabbit hole and I haven’t really come back up.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

My favourite printmaking product is my Pfeil cutting tools, I love the ritual of sharpening them each time I begin carving a new block. They are lovely to handle and perfect for outlining my designs and carving intricate details. I also love all the different surfaces there are to work with. I wash my wallpaper blocks regularly and I find the traditional lino doesn’t last so well, however, the Easy Carve, SoftCut and Speedy Carve are very durable and long-lasting.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

One of my very first handprinted wallpaper commissions was from my son, he asked me to design a pattern based on the Porsche logo. I took the iconic antlers, shields and stripes from the logo and turned them into a simple repeat pattern design. I’m very proud of my hand printing on the wallpaper, it’s straight and matches near perfectly. It still makes me smile when I go into his room.

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

I sell my work directly from my website. There you will find my wallpaper, greeting cards, printing kits, pencil pots and boxes. Whilst I will always make small batches of handprinted items for the home, I’m focusing more and more on my handprinted wallpaper. On the website, you can order samples and colour cards. I also loan out returnable samples so that you can see my wallpaper designs on a larger scale. I love to use Instagram to share my work and life in my pink studio. I’m also a proud member of the Heritage Craft Organisation, I have a page on their maker’s directory.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I’ve always got multiple projects on the go at any one time! I’m creating a new collection of patterns with a more floral and vintage feel, a new direction for me and I’m enjoying the process of bringing it together. I’m working on a handprinted fabric trim, that can be added to the edge of curtains, blinds and cushions. Pre-COVID I ran block printing workshops, I put these on hold due to the restrictions, but I’d like to start them again when time allows; I have an idea for a print club for teenagers and children called ‘Small Print’.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

It can be a bit overwhelming looking at what everyone else is doing and sometimes it can make you can feel a bit stuck; my only advice would be to do something every day that pushes you forward. Even the smallest amount of work will soon add up. There’s room for everyone and it’s never too late to start something.

To see more from Rachel follow her on Instagram.

We’re thrilled to be able to stock Laura Boswell’s brand new book: Linocut and Reduction Printmaking.

Laura Boswell is a leading printmaker, specialising in linocut and Japanese woodblock. You may have come across Laura at one of our printmaking workshops, or perhaps you’ve seen some of her fantastic how-to videos. This new book leads us through everything we need to know to get started with linocut printmaking, or to further your practice.

This fully comprehensive book will help you through everything linocut. Part one guides you through tools and materials, from choosing cutting tools, paper and printing ink, to sharpening your tools and installing a printing press.

Part two explores design, planning and transferring your composition to lino. Part three shows the step-by-step sequences and layers used to build up a print.

We love this new book! It covers everything you need to know about linocut and is packed with ideas and inspiration too. It’s available here. Other printmaking books can be found on our website.

Hi, My name is Paul Cleden; I am a printmaker living in Dorset. I create relief prints, collagraph, and card prints, but the majority of my work is currently multi-block Lino Cuts, although a recent collaboration with the Penfold Press means that I’m also now making screen prints – all very exciting.

My background is in illustration, which is what I trained as originally and worked as in London for a few years, before moving here to Dorset.

Describe your printmaking process.

As I said, I do like to explore a range of printmaking techniques but the process I use most often is multi-block lino. This means that, unlike a reduction print that uses only one block, I create a separate block for each colour. These are used to overprint and build up the final design. I love the fact that you can multiply the colours with any number of overlaps, even though it can be more challenging with the registration.

I work from multiple drawings to make sure that all the overlaps work, and to get a sense of what the final design will look like. I generally start to cut a block that has a good amount of design on it. After cutting, I offset this onto the remaining blocks. This makes registration a whole lot easier. Once all have been cut and adjusted, I print the edition.

How and where did you learn to print?

I have actually had very little printmaking teaching and to a large extent am self-taught. I did, however, have a teacher at school who for two terms gave us the basics of several printmaking processes. He’s probably the main reason why I work in print today. I’d love to thank him. This combined with a two-week block on my foundation year is about all the teaching I’ve had.

Perhaps that’s a good thing as I don’t follow any rules? I am always inquisitive as to how I might extend what I do.

Why printmaking?

I spent a number of years teaching art and ended up teaching printmaking so I was able to explore my earlier experience.

After art college, I worked in London as a freelance illustrator, mainly in collage, which at the time was a little out of favour (unlike today).

My work naturally lends itself to the graphic qualities of linocut. It’s not dissimilar to collage on that front, so I found myself exploring linocuts, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Where do you work?

I have a studio at home, so my daily commute is an easy one! It’s big enough to accommodate a very large nipping press that I print the majority of my lino on. I did spend a few years printing with a spoon, but the press really does help me to speed up the process, which can at times, be rather involved.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I’m not sure I have a typical day, but I do fall into a pattern of either designing and preparing a lino, cutting the lino or proofing and printing an edition unless I’m making positives for a screen print, posting online, getting ready for an open studio (like I am at the moment) or taking a walk to think over all of the above. I find it a vital part of the process to leave what I’m doing and go think about it. So I’m often walking by the river contemplating what to do next.

How long have you been printmaking?

Well, that might give away how old I am!

I have been working full time as a printmaker for ten years this year, although I have been printing on and off for over thirty years now.

What inspires you?

I am inspired by people and movement, I just love crowds of people to draw.

During the lockdown, I saw that most of my work celebrates all the good things of life we couldn’t do, going to the theatre, meeting friends, and watching sports. Celebrations of life.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

A very hard question indeed. I think one of the elements of my practice that affects the final image most is the paper. I’ve been fairly settled on inks and tools, but I do vary the paper. Recently I’ve started using a lovely off-white Fabriano paper, which gives all the colours a super soft feel, but I also love the luminous qualities that Japanese paper gives – so paper.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I know it’s a cliche but probably the next print. I adore the process of making an idea become a print, seeing if I can introduce a new element, be it lino etching or imprinting random shapes into a block. Exploring screen printing has also been a marvel. I’m currently in the process of refining a new screenprint, the largest print I’ve ever made and I’m really pleased with how it’s going.

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

I have worked in a number of galleries around the UK. Having an almost unique name, I’m easy to track down online or I regularly post what I’m up to on Instagram.

Later in the year, I am exhibiting at Dorchester Hospital, while in November and December I’m heading up a group show at ‘Sculpture By The Lakes’. It’s going to be called, ‘Look Up – A journey into Printland’.It’s going to be a riotous celebration of all things printmaking, with workshops and a big exhibition of eight fantastic linocut artists.

 A few dates for the diary.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I’ve just finished eight new prints ready for my open studio, along with many other works, so that’s an exciting event. My next collaboration with the Penfold Press is cooking nicely. I’m just about to refine the positives before it’s printed.

I’m also working on some designs for Wallpaper and Fabric, which I’ve had in mind for some time now.

I will also be working through the pile of ideas sitting on my desk, so lots on the cards.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Yes, do it. Don’t give up! There’s always a way to work part-time or on the kitchen table in snatched moments. The saddest thing is to hear someone has given up. Be true to yourself, make mistakes, and don’t try and be someone else. As long as you like what you are doing, others will too.

To see more from Paul follow him on Instagram.

My name is Jody O’Reilly, I live on the edge of the Cotswolds in the Evenlode Valley in Oxfordshire, close to where I grew up. The small town we now live in has lots going on including a busy and active art society; we love where we live. I have two children and a husband who are very tolerant of my filling the house with multiple hobbies and projects and drying prints. My regular job is as a Heritage Consultant for HCUK Group providing advice on the historic environment, particularly listed buildings and conservation areas. My job is amazing and I’m always excited at the opportunities it gives me to see amazing places and help them thrive in the future.

Describe your printmaking process.

I mainly work in lino printmaking and almost always begin with a photograph taken on a walk, a trip with the family, or a day at work. Because I ‘see’ the prints while out and on the go, a photograph enables me quickly capture that moment and also reverse the image easily but flipping an image and perhaps upping the contrast is really the only digital process I use.

When working onto the lino I sometimes transfer directly from the photograph using carbon paper (particularly faces), sometimes I’ll sketch more freely from a photo first to work through tones and composition and then move to the lino. When I began printing regularly I liked using Japanese vinyl as it’s so easy to cut, but more and more I’m shifting back to traditional battleship grey, which if fresh is just as easy and it has that lovely ‘snap’ at the end of any cut.

Carving my plates takes place in short spurts fitted in around everything else in my life; it’s amazing how much can be achieved this way. I don’t usually mark up every cut, but block out the general shape and tone leaving the texture. I do use scraps of lino to test out textures or mark-making as I go if I’m uncertain. I don’t work on a Friday and use these days to print whole editions or layers as I can have a good block of uninterrupted hours. There’s almost always more than one print on the go at any one time, often a long-running reduction print with single colour prints going in tandem.

How and where did you learn to print?

I am pretty much self-taught. Art and crafts, making and creating have been part of my life since childhood and have all fed into where I am now which continues to include all sorts of things as well as printmaking – I’ll have a go at almost anything creative and frequently have to rein myself back from beginning another thing. I have done day courses with other printmakers – waiting impatiently through Covid-19 for a reduction course with Laura Boswell. I read printmaking books and blogs and vanish down the rabbit hole of Instagram. If you can avoid succumbing to feeling like you’ll never create anything as amazing as what you find on there, it does have a community of other creatives who are enormously generous with tips or guidance. Mostly, I have just worked away at it myself.

Why printmaking?

I love the transformation that comes from the decisions you make to translate tone and subtle shade into what is fundamentally a simple on or off the mark on the lino, there’s ink or there’s no ink, but it’s possible to achieve amazing subtlety and variation – at least that’s what I try to achieve. My prints are often places that I love and want people to recognise but they’re never hyper-real, I like a slightly reduced graphic quality. I also like the physicality of it, hands, fingers and eye all so closely involved to the exclusion of all else, it’s a meditative process – though it occasionally means I’m late with the school run or supper…

Where do you work?

The lovely thing about lino is that I can work pretty much anywhere… everywhere I walk I ‘see’ possible prints, that tree, the view over there, this flower that burger van, those kids playing… after that it’s almost exclusively my kitchen table alongside my family and everything else. Prints hang to dry under the stairs, with my rollers, or above my work desk, tools, paper, everything else is tucked away where it fits.

I also now have use of the Charlbury Art Room, a collaborative art space and amazing resource both in terms of space but also shared social opportunities with other creatives. Most excitingly there’s a press there so I can explore other printmaking techniques like drypoint or collagraph – it really is very, very difficult to print these without a press, though I’ve tried.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

There’s pretty much no such thing as a ‘typical’ day in my non-existent studio – or rather, a typical day for me includes printmaking alongside all the other things of busy family life, getting my kids out to school, my regular job, cooking, gardening, helping with homework and other things with the kids, stealing time with my husband, DIY, a bit of reluctant tidying or laundry and all the other things. But all the stages of printmaking, thinking, sketching, planning, carving, and even printing are really important creative strands that weave through everything else and give me a great sense of satisfaction and balance.

How long have you been printmaking?

I would say ‘properly’ since December 2018 when some local printmakers first persuaded me that I was good enough to exhibit as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks and I signed up and had a massive five-month push to generate enough work to actually show. I did it on an enforced shoestring budget, no new kit other than some decent paper and a few frames to see if I could. I used the funds from my first exhilarating sales to buy some new tools, ink and paper and I’ve never looked back.

What inspires you?

So so many things from an entire landscape to a moment with my daughter – I mean I printed a Wordle grid the other day to reflect our regular breakfast time activity together… The world out there is so varied and full of miraculous things, or the beautiful everyday little corners that slip by unnoticed until captured. I like to try and record those things. My print images are completed because I love them and because they mean something to me, the fact that anyone else might want to have them is a constant and pleasant surprise to me.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

When I finished my first Artweeks exhibition, I used the money I had made to buy myself the Pfeil cutting tool set, I really really love these. My kids have been carefully schooled in how to safely handle my kit and tools. They periodically have a go at printing and sharp cutting tools lead to fewer slips or skids.

I primarily use Cranfield’s Caligo Safewash inks and HoSho Paper, I have a trusty wooden spoon, one of Thomas Petit’s beautiful glass barens and a Slama press. Printing at home means my kit is safe to wash up in the kitchen sink, fits on my kitchen table, can hang to dry under my stairs and be stored in a compact way at home.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

Two things really… firstly the print of my children Jack and Megan. It’s based on a picture that I snapped on a sunny walk in the first lockdown when we were all so isolated from one another and my frequent thought – other than fretting over most everything else –  was thankfulness that they were getting on well together. It’s so recognisably ‘them’ and it still fills me with love every time I look at it.

Secondly, my handmade registration jig – leading on to my evening print of the view down the valley from my house. My jig was created from scrap bits and pieces when I first started printing and didn’t have any funds to spare, but it still works brilliantly for registering my reduction prints. I probably do need to update it a bit but I won’t change the formula, it’s a winner for me. The first multiple-layer reduction print I did was captured on a summers evening after we’d spent the day at a local music festival, it had poured with rain earlier on, but the sun came out as we walked up the hill, music still wafting up the valley and I stood at our stair window watching the clouds for ages as the kids fell asleep.

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

Online my Instagram account is where my prints and their process alongside other doodles and creative play are shown. In-person I’ll happily let anyone flick through my portfolio or look through the plates but this year I’m about to exhibit as part of Oxfordshire Artweeks in my home town of Charlbury (21-29^th May, Venue 411). It’s the 40^th anniversary this year and after all the lockdowns I really hope lots of people will come out to engage directly with artists and creators.

After that June has the Charlbury Festival where my involvement is in helping to run the day of printing with a steam roller – we’ve got some massive collaborative lino prints to do and monoprints done with my daughter’s class at school.

I don’t maintain a website but do sell my prints and the best way is to simply contact me via Instagram.

What will we be seeing from you next?

All my focus recently has been on getting ready for Oxfordshire Artweeks, lots to think about though lots of fun. I’ve just finished a Bristol print, with family connections in Bristol, I could do lots of prints of that city –  and I’m not far off completing a very slow going reduction print of a local view… I want to do some prints based on a recent holiday to Devon, and for ages, I’ve had a triptych in my head inspired by the song ‘A Place Called England’ – the version I like best is by The Young’Uns. Perhaps that will be next actually, it’s been in my head for probably years, about time to get it out and onto paper.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

I guess my biggest advice is that a creative life doesn’t have to come with a studio and days of free time. Try hard not to think ‘Oh I don’t have time, it must take ages’. It really doesn’t have to. Yes, there’s a lot to think carefully about in bringing a print, or any project, to life, but if you can recognise and take back the five minutes here and ten minutes there you can bring huge amounts of creative space into your life.

I give grateful thanks to my friend and fellow artist with a camera, Edmund Blok who came to photograph me at work for this.

To see more from Jody make sure to follow her on Instagram.

I am an artist printmaker producing original botanical relief prints. I predominantly create reduction linocuts made by carving my drawings on traditional lino and Japanese vinyl cutting surfaces using specialist carving tools, inking with oil-based printmaking inks and printing by hand or with an etching press.

Since May 2018 to date, I have been working on the Garden Plants of Kenya series of linocuts based on my nine-month trip to equatorial Kenya, immersing myself in my printmaking practice for professional development, to build a body of work around a subject about which I feel incredibly passionate – exploring the concept of “what translates as a sense of home, place and comfort?”, now evolving into a wider direction.

Describe your printmaking process.

I tend to work intuitively. A reduction linocut print begins with an initial, loose plan of the colours and the number of layers involved. The print then evolves organically as layers are built up from light to dark or taking them down again from dark to light. Some linocut prints incorporate a monotype technique of inking up the blocks in a painterly approach, blending colours directly on the lino block, resulting in unique prints within an edition.

A recent development within my practice came from attending a colour mixing workshop with Leicestershire artist painter, Lisa Timmerman, exploring colour and light to convey concepts within my practice. Refreshing my colour mixing knowledge has added value to my printmaking practice.

My colour palette starts life as primary colours plus white. I build my colours from a custom mixed Payne’s grey base where the primary colours are combined then adding a touch of white to bring out the grey. From here, I’ll add more of any core colour I want to achieve in the print – for example, if I want a yellow ochre, I’ll mix in more yellow until I’ve achieved the right shade. For every next layer, I add a touch of the previous colour to the next so it unifies the print more. The colour palette is often exaggerated to reflect the glowing equatorial light and its luminosity on plants, enhancing the vibrancy of their colours.

How and where did you learn to print?

I studied Fine Art at DeMontfort University, Leicester, following a foundation course in art and design there. I was mainly painting during my degree. My first foray into the printmaking studio left me hooked – I’d found my medium. My paintings began evolving into print and sidestepped into making abstract monoprints, exploring colour and experimenting with different inking/solution combinations to leave interesting marks.

Why printmaking?

Printmaking is such an immersive, meditative, present experience; it sits nicely within my holistic approach in my practice. The repetition involved when printing an edition focuses the mind in relation to the carving and inking process. I like the fluidity in crossing over and combining techniques, bringing a sense of freedom in movement to the work. The industrial aspect appeals to me in terms of hand producing something using age-old traditional methods.

Linocut, and general relief printing, as a technique, lends itself to structure and form in my work through its rigidity, while allowing me to convey linear details. Building variations of colour tones into each layer of a print in the monoprint reduction method allows for observations of natural light to be detailed. Intentional choices are made when selecting the type of block to work with and which type of paper to print on – each to compliment the plant in its form, within its landscape.

Where do you work?

My home studio is in Leicester. I had my first bricks and mortar studio back in 2016 on a rural Leicestershire farm surrounded by alpacas, horses, donkeys and humans of course, but decided to move it back home after a turbulent life season. Being in this space is the right fit for me for now and I’m grateful for every day spent in my haven.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

My practice is incorporated into a way of living for me. A morning of body movement, breathing work and meditation often informs and guides me in planning my day in the studio; sometimes going inwards and seeking stillness before I begin working on a new print or if I need to find a solution to overcome a technical issue. This holistic approach to my practice has been with me for a few years now. The moment I open the studio door, I feel as if I have come home, surrounded by inspiring visuals from other artists, printmaking equipment and materials, each providing a subtle anchoring – I breathe it all in, ground myself and take a seat at my studio desk. Gentle voices from a radio play keep me company during the day. I’ll continue to work on a linocut in progress or begin something new, both equally exciting – that’s the joy of printmaking, every stage is just as engaging as the next; it’s easy to forget there’s a whole world beyond the studio door until I come up for air, early evening. I take regular breaks to pause and think about the next layer or colour mixing recipe. Because of the way I work, this slow approach means I invest my all into every print, a little bit of my soul leaves a mark with every inking and carving.

How long have you been printmaking?

Printmaking has been a constant for me since my university days almost twenty years ago. Since then, I’ve had fifteen years of experience alongside teaching with museums and arts organisations working with collections, creatively, and freelancing delivering printmaking workshops. As a dedicated artist printmaker, I’ve been printmaking for three years when I returned to my practice full time in 2018.

What inspires you?

Spending my formative years in Kenya and visiting annually has given me the valuable opportunity of observing, connecting with and absorbing the surrounding natural beauty found within urban, back-garden flora. Exploring the concept of “what translates as a sense of home, place and comfort?”, by looking at natural light and colour transformations on commonly found plants dotted amidst the red soil, dappled by equatorial day and dusk light, sits within working from life studies or from my photographic collection accompanied with colour studies. I moved to the UK in 1993 at the young age of thirteen years, and the great British countryside has since also been a huge source of inspiration. I’m blessed to have one foot here and the other in Kenya; the latter is where I have my second studio at my parent’s home surrounded by lush, equatorial, un-manicured greenery. Both countries provide a never-ending supply of inner-outer connection with the landscape, constantly feeding my work through gentle guidance.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

Hard question to answer as getting hands-on with any printmaking product makes my heart sing! Choosing one, it would have to be the traditional hessian backed grey lino – there’s something about carving on that surface that feels connected to an age-old process coupled with the excitement of creating new work.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I made a couple of linocuts I’m most proud of. The first, Darling Hibiscus, always resonates with me as the one that would then, unknowingly, shape my career as an artist printmaker. Made four years ago following what was a tumultuous life change, this print was the catalyst to pressing pause, reset, and in turn allowing me the freedom to develop my practice in an open and fluid way. Darling Hibiscus linocut was made as an ode to my Mum during my long stay in Nairobi back in 2018/2019, a couple of years after she passed. She loved wandering around her equatorial garden; blush pink was her colour.

This is the print I got stuck into experimenting with, in inking techniques and inking qualities, without inhibition – it was the print that would form the foundation of my future work, the Garden Plants of Kenya series. Golden Shower linocut is the second print I’m most proud of, a direct influence from Darling Hibiscus, this print went on to win awards at various exhibitions, nationally and internationally. It was bringing this series to life over the last few years that brought plenty of technical learning combined with a renewed sense of a creative, holistic and intuitive approach to my practice.

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

My Instagram documents behind the scenes processes and printmaker’s thoughts in real-time as it were, including techniques I try and sometimes fail at, which is an important part of being an artist, something I feel we shouldn’t be shying away from in sharing both the successes and lessons. I mainly sell my work from my Website, from Artfinder and soon to be selling at Wistow Gallery, Leicestershire.

During Covid, like many others, I lost income from cancelled workshops, cancelled exhibitions at galleries and more, but underneath all that darkness was the joy of receiving uplifting parcels through my letterbox from my niece and nephews. This simple sharing of giving and receiving ignited a spark; it led me to create TLC Print Club – a postal original print membership where four original prints would land on members’ doorsteps throughout the year along with complimentary handprinted goodies added in along the way. I wanted to extend this circulating energy as a way of bringing light to people’s lives during a tough times. There’s more on my website including gifting a membership to the special people in your circle. Hearing how these little prints put a spring in members’ steps is exactly why I introduced the membership, it keeps me smiling and my printmaking alive. I’ll always be grateful for your continued support.

I also make handprinted and hand-bound books, as featured in the Stylist magazine.

What will we be seeing from you next?

Stillness in Displacement is a concept I’m developing, derived from work I made during Covid exploring the extended theme of “what contributes to a sense of home, place, safety and comfort?”. This new body of work is about producing a series of on-location original print studies around the impact of inner emotional and outer physical displacement, with stillness found in a landscape being the anchor holding and connecting us. Encouraged by reflecting on previous sketchbook work and print studies, I discovered a parallel in the narrative between mental health, immigration, the pandemic and landscape – it is these combined elements I’m beginning to explore.

I’ve also long wanted to commemorate the Garden Plants of Kenya body of work in a book as a sort of visual autobiography with family recipes from my Kenyan-Indian heritage – maybe this will be the year to bring it to life, or at least a draft version!

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Over the years of returning to myself as an artist printmaker, I’ve accepted my routine works for me. I’m supported by my holistic approach in many ways and understanding how I work the way I do has come after years of acceptance, making me more productive in my practice and lifestyle. If a schedule works for you which isn’t 9-5, that’s absolutely ok; it can only be a good thing as you open that space to welcoming new and wonderful opportunities into your practice and the wider dynamic.

Have open dialogues with fellow creatives in your circle even if they work differently from your medium – we can all impart knowledge in some way to each other; even the smallest of interactions can invite a whole new perspective and way of working into your practice.

Don’t be afraid to make work following your intuition, even if it isn’t “on trend”.

There’s a place for everyone in the creative world – revel in immersing yourself in the flow of new experiences, direction, and the magic that will follow.

You can see more from Mandeep on her Website, Instagram, Facebook and other social platforms.

I am a GP and mum-of-two, living in east London – with a side-hustle in printmaking. I’m self-taught and have dabbled in etching, monotype and collagraph but am currently working in linocut.

Describe your printmaking process.

I usually sketch out ideas and then either draw directly onto the lino with a sharpie or transfer to lino using carbon paper. Now I am venturing into more complex multi-layer reduction prints I often do a preliminary painting to test the colours. More recently I attempted to plan all the layers using the Procreate app, but in all honesty, I preferred the more haphazard approach!

How and where did you learn to print?

My first memory of printmaking is in my Art A-level but that’s where the formal training ends. After falling in love with etching on an evening course at the Royal Drawing School in Shoreditch, I started focusing more on lino printing as it was something I could do easily at home without chemicals or a press (and which I could fit around babies’ nap times!)

My father was a keen artist and maker too and I went on a collagraph course with him (tutored by the amazing Katherine Jones), and in typical fashion, he immediately bought a little table-top etching press. When his printmaking enthusiasm waned I inherited the press and the rest is history…

Oh, and I also spent a lot of my maternity leave during lockdown watching Laura Boswell’s youtube videos!

Why printmaking?

I find printmaking a really challenging and satisfying process with so many elements: planning a multilayer print can be really complex and intellectually challenging; then there’s the technical and almost meditative carving phase, but there’s still room for being instinctive and expressive. It’s a great mix of precision and happy accidents. There is always an element of the unexpected and I love the anticipation of the final reveal! There’s also so much to learn and so much possibility and potential for experimentation that I don’t think I will ever get bored.

Where do you work?

My ‘studio’ is actually a corner of my husband’s office. My press lives there, and I do my printing there. But I work anywhere – kitchen table, living room floor, a bench in the park!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

I wish I had a typical day in my studio – but most of my art is done in snatched evenings and nap times. I am hoping to develop a more regular printing routine now that my older daughter is at school and I have a free day away from my ‘day job’ once a week. 

How long have you been printmaking?

I’ve always loved making things and I started printing on fabric as a student when making tea towels and tote bags as Christmas presents for my family. I tried my hand at printing again during a period of time living in Kolkata, India, in 2015, where I was inspired by the colours and patterns of the block-printed textiles I saw there.

I started printing again in the run-up to the birth of my first daughter in 2017. I needed a creative way of processing all the new things I was experiencing and somehow printmaking seemed the perfect medium. I started a project by producing images based on the themes of pregnancy and new motherhood for each letter of the alphabet. I enjoyed bringing together my scientific side (I included things like ‘E is for embryo’) with the more personal and experiential – all in the style of a nursery alphabet poster. My daughter is now 4 and I’m still only just over halfway through the alphabet… but the project opened up the world of printmaking to me.

What inspires you?

I’m mainly inspired by my experiences, my home and a sense of place. Since my children were born, I’ve loved the idea of recording our daily life and family experiences in my art and trying to make an effort to draw them as much as possible. At the moment I am working on a series of landscape prints of local spots which are special to us and which remind me of particular moments in time. We live in a beautiful, green part of London and I think the juxtaposition of the urban elements and architecture with nature works well in print.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

Discovering Caligo Safewash inks and Ternes Burton pins were both huge printmaking breakthroughs for me, but I think my most prized printmaking possession is my ABIG press. It was just such a step up from the back of a spoon!

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I am really proud of the work I did for the book ‘The Wild Isles’, an anthology of nature writing edited by Patrick Barkham. As a child, long before I decided to pursue a career in medicine, I wanted to be a book illustrator so it’s a bit of a dream come true to be published – especially as the cover was by legendary printmaker Angela Harding.

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

You can see my work on my Instagram, or on my website.

I have also recently opened a small online shop with a small range of my prints for sale.

What will we be seeing from you next?

There’s so much on the to-do list! I’m hoping you’ll see me finish a few long term projects. I’d like to complete my series of reduction landscape prints of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, and finish the ‘Maternity Alphabet’.

I would like to get around to printing editions of some of the prints I have produced as book illustrations and ideally adding to my shop offerings with posters and greeting cards.

More experimentation with monoprint is also high on the agenda and I’d love to try my hand at wood engraving.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s so easy to scroll Instagram feeling envious of other people’s work, but I’m learning to find satisfaction in what I am achieving and having confidence in the uniqueness of my prints, as well as making peace with the fact I can’t do everything I would like to at this moment in time. There are lots of benefits to having printmaking as a part-time project as well as the limitations and frustrations, and I’m trying to remember I’m no less of an artist just because I have another job too!

B&W images credit: @tomalprice

My name is Alice, and I am half Italian / half British. Although I grew up in Italy, I’ve been living mostly in the UK since I went to university in 2013. Printmaking for me is just a hobby at this stage, but I do hope one day I can make it into something more, alongside embroidery. In Italian, my name is also what we call anchovies, so that is the inspiration behind the name for my art page: The Arty Anchovy.

My imagination has always been overactive, but it has shifted to visual arts only recently. Firstly, during the infamous March lockdown in 2020, I focused on instant film, 35mm and Polaroid, then in springtime of 2021, I began to cross stitch patterns and embroidery. In July, I finally decided to try out lino and rubber carving. So far, I’ve really been enjoying this new learning journey!

Describe your printmaking process.

Normally it all starts with a sketch (or sometimes multiple drawings) in my notebook, which I then trace over with tracing paper. Then I rub the paper onto my chosen surface and start carving! At times, if the design is more intricate, I might have some marker pens to hand to help me highlight the areas that must remain untouched. Once it’s done, I normally just print it using a Japanese bamboo baren and hang it up to display on my Arty Bookshelf. Pretty basic, really.

How and where did you learn to print?

At home, on my own. From then on, it’s been a lot of trial and error, and learning from watching others on social media.

Why printmaking?

Gosh. I’ve always been surrounded by prints while growing up thanks to my Italian Nonno who was an artist (Michele Spotorno, you can look him up!) and in his later years my English Granpa Alan. But I don’t know if that’s what drew me to printmaking, in all honesty. I’d love to have a cool origin story, but I think the truth is that I came across more and more printmakers on Instagram and eventually could not resist the urge to try myself. For some reason, I’ve never been able to draw or paint the things that I imagine, but printmaking is a different story. Even though negative space still baffles me at times, and I often get my linework wrong, my ideas and designs seem to take shape more easily. Plus, I love the physical mess of inky hands and an offcut-strewn table.

Where do you work?

Now, I’ve finally got some furniture from IKEA and built myself a little Arty Corner in my spare room, with a simple desk, lots of tiny drawers, and the red Pixar lamp that has illuminated me since my university days studying History and German. Before, it was the floor, the garden, the kitchen table, the sofa, my dad’s garage… anywhere!

Describe a typical day in your studio.

Sadly, art is not my full-time job. So I don’t really have a typical day, more like little snippets of time here and there. But it’ll always start with lighting a candle. I find fire very soothing and – now I think about it – I suppose it is something of a ritual to ignite my creative spirit or leave a symbolic offering to my imaginary muse. My sketchbook is always full of scraps of paper where I note down ideas that come to me during the day and then I just follow my inspiration. I want to design, carve and print things that bring me joy, so that is my primary driving force.

How long have you been printmaking?

Printmaking is a very, very new process for me. I carved my first little lino block in August 2021 while I was in quarantine after travelling to see my family in Italy. But the first thing I ever set my tools into was a piece of spare teak boat decking foraged from a box of wood offcuts in my father’s garage after I came across three rusty bent tools that used to belong to my Nonno. This was July 2021. We’d just arrived in Italy and had to self-isolate for 5 days, so I really took advantage of that bubble of time to let my inner child take the lead and run wild with creative force without being dampened by the daily responsibilities of being an adult.

What inspires you?

Oh, so many things! I’m a very open-minded person, which means that anything I come across in life, from the books I read to the food I eat, the places I’ve been and the photos I’ve taken has the power to fuel my imagination. Because of my bi-cultural upbringing, I also have access to the best of both worlds when it comes to inspiration. From the Ligurian side, I daydream about seafoam, dried herbs, maritime pine trees and simple, fragrant food; from the British side, I take woodlands, wildlife, folklore and legends. I also love looking at what other artists create because it’s the best way to come across fresh ideas or try new techniques. Then there are the Ancient Greeks and Romans, which I studied for many years at my classical high school in Italy, and all those whimsical and wholesome moments you can find in day-to-day life, if you’re willing to look. I could go on for ages, but I hope you get a general idea.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

So far, I think discovering the Japanese carving rubber by Tsukineko has been a bit of a revelation. I love that the dual colour makes it easier to see what I’m carving and for someone who has not yet had the chance to invest in proper tools (and tool sharpening materials) the soft-yet-firm consistency of the rubber is perfect to achieve fine details. Also, I like how the smell reminds me of going stationery shopping with my mum in September before the start of a new academic year.

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I’m still really impressed with myself when I think of my first lino block, which I’ve temporarily titled “At the Table”. I managed to carve so much detail, without having any idea what I was doing, and mostly sitting on my spare room floor for lack of desk space. The cheeky smile on the anchovy’s face says it all, really.

More recently, I made my own prompt list for Inktober, which I called Inky Anchovy, and one of the first prompts was “frog”. I made a little stamp using Japanese rubber, and to this day I’m delighted with the result!

But I think my favourite piece is a little square block I’ve named “Mediterranean Witch”. It was birthed from one of my October prompts, “stewpot”. The way I’d carved it at first was just not quite right, but I persevered, adding little details and drawing inspiration from my wonderful memories of reading “Circe” by Madeline Miller. In fact, I’m so pleased with it now that I’m planning to make it one of the first prints I will list on my online store when I open it.

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

You can see my work on my Instagram page. Unfortunately, I don’t sell anywhere… yet! I wanted to have an Etsy store open by the time this feature came out but, alas! Life got in the way. Hopefully, I’ll open a store soon. When I do, you can be sure to find out about it on Instagram.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I’m really eager to challenge myself with some larger, more complex prints. So far, my biggest print is your standard film photo size, 10x15cm. I have a project in mind which I’ve titled “Kitchens of Home” where I’m hoping to carve a portrait of all the kitchens I’ve called my home throughout the years – a way of connecting with my personal history through memories of shared meals. I’ve already made the first one in the series, “Mezzano” which is my childhood home in Italy, but I’m still to plan, sketch and carve the rest. That’s the long-term, ambitious project.

Then I have other things I want to try out, such as combining my interest with embroidery to make printed pieces on fabric or embroidering patterns on prints, and also experiment with printing on different types of paper like vintage maps or music scores. I’m very keen to keep everything I do as sustainable as possible, so using scraps of paper I forage from charity shops has the dual effect of being repurposed material as well as increasing the narrative potential of whatever I print on it. The possibilities are endless!

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

As a novice myself, I don’t really know whether I’m in a position to share much advice, but I’ll try. Using tracing paper to transfer your design onto your carving surface avoids the headache of trying to think in terms of mirrored images. Handprinting is hard, but I’ve found using a baren and thinner paper can usually improve things a lot. And, finally, being kind to other artists and sharing your enthusiasm for their art will lead you to smile a lot, feel warm inside and create opportunities to share thoughts and inspiration.

To see more from Alice follow her on Instagram.

My name is Bryan Angus, a visual artist specialising in lino printing. Originally from Aberdeen, I’ve travelled about the country a bit and now live in Banff, close to where my family roots are. I trained in painting in the late 70s in Aberdeen but spent most of my working life not making art. I started lino printing in 2012 while running an artists’ retreat and art holiday business. It suits my drawing skills and graphic sensibilities, the cutting giving me a great deal of pleasure as a skill in itself.

Describe your printmaking process.

Most of my work is landscape, so I get images from walking the amazing coast we have here. I look for strong compositional ideas, draw, take photos and distil the idea into an ink wash drawing. I transfer the image onto lino in the usual tracing paper and pencil way and then make a complex, quite complete ink wash (acrylic ink) and Posca pen drawing on the block. The process of re-creating the image in a detailed tonal way gives me a good handle on what I want to do with the tones – I’d say my work is more about exploring tones than colour. I like the directness of the reduction process so the tonal exploration on the block will show me the steps I need to take.

I use the standard grey artists’ lino for a lot of work but if I’m making a larger more complex piece I like to use contract Marmoleum, which has a tighter, firmer surface. I use oil-based inks – I have tried water-based but find the quality of the oil more satisfying. I have a Victorian pinch press/book press which I use for a large proportion of my prints. For the bigger ones these days I use the hand Slama Press. I also recently took my largest block (1.2m wide) to the print studio in Aberdeen, Peacock Arts, to get them to make the edition.

How and where did you learn to print?

I am largely self-taught. I didn’t do any printmaking at art college, although I did do some screen printing at school (over 40 years ago!). I wanted to make multiples as I was painting and drawing and found my work could only be sold once. I took up lino for two main reasons, it could be done without access to a print studio, and I loved carving. After a couple of years, I did do an evening class at my old art college, mainly to learn how to use the presses. There were a couple of printmakers that personally helped me, Michael Waight, who was the Master Printmaker at Peacock Arts, and Chris Pig, a friend, guide and masterful printmaker.

Why printmaking?

As I always had drawing as a core skill, it transferred into printmaking easily for me. The use of the cutting tool is a drawing tool for me so it is a good fit.

Where do you work?

I built a studio in my garden earlier this year. I was working in my house, lucky enough to have a spare room, but the new studio gives me so much more space and latitude.

Describe a typical day in your studio.

In the studio at about 9.30, right now I’m working on a couple of large linos for a new visitor centre for Arbikie Distillery. The piece I’ve completed is about A1 and will be scanned and blown up for the reception area. I spend the day cutting that, with the odd dog walk with Alfie the Border Terrier to the beach and break for food and end about 5. I can’t cut all day now though, arthritis in my hands is slowing that up.

How long have you been printmaking?

I started in 2012. It was actually during a painting holiday that I was teaching in the business my wife and I ran in Gardenstown on the Moray Firth. One of the people on the holiday took their own reduction lino printing kit and the other guests asked me to explain how it worked. I dredged up what knowledge I had (helped by the guest with the kit), and talked it through. I realised I had bought some lino kit, so I offered it around for people to try. I began to try it myself and got hooked.

What inspires you?

Light, interesting compositional shapes, and contrasts. For my ‘magical reality’ prints, which play with light, things and ideas, I think back on my time in the 80s/90s as a theatre designer. Many of those prints could be described as theatre sets I couldn’t build.

What is your favourite printmaking product?

It’s a split between a bright new Pfeil tool and a good Durathene roller. Both were leaps forward in my work when I started using them

What have you made that you are most proud of?

I most love the project I’m working on and think that’s going to be the best thing – whether it ends up being that or not. But I’m probably most proud of changing my life so that I could get back to making artwork. I started loving drawing and making things as a child and the process of going to art college had a negative effect on me and stopped me from making art, however, I was still creative in other ways. But making myself an artistic career later in life, I’m proud of that.

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

I sell in a couple of galleries near me in the northeast of Scotland, but this winter you’ll be able to see small groups of my work at the Rheged Centre in Penrith at the Great North Print Exhibition and at Horsebridge Arts Centre in Whitstable.

What will we be seeing from you next?

I have in mind some large prints, having made work at Peacock Arts, I’d like to make some big magical reality pieces that look at childhood, my family past and memories. Yeah, I’m an old bloke now.

Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?

Printmakers are better at learning from peers than painters, probably due to the print studio system, but I’d still say, keep asking questions of other printmakers and keep challenging your skill level.

To see more from Bryan follow him on Instagram and check out his website.

A rainbow roll is a great way of adding interest and depth to a linocut. By blending colours on a roller, we can add fading colours and rainbows to our work. Scroll down to watch a video or read on.

In this project we are using a jigsaw linocut block but you could use any linocut block.

We are using Caligo Relief Printing Inks which are oil-based but can be cleaned up with soap and water.

Choose 2 colours of ink that you’d like to graduate between. We started with magenta and yellow. Place a small blob of each colour at the top of your inking plate, slightly less than your roller’s width apart. Choose a roller that’s an appropriate width for the piece of lino you will be inking up. The placement of the rainbow will be important so we cannot move the roller around the block as we normally might.

Use the roller to drag the ink down. Lift up the roller at the bottom of each stroke and place it back at the top. Keep your roller in the same direction. Add a little more ink if it’s getting too thin or scrape some away if there’s too much.

At this point you should have two columns of ink with a space in between.

To blend the colours, keep the roller in the same orientation but start to slightly place it down a little to the left and right of it’s original position. Remember to lift the roller up and put it down so the ink applies evenly to the surface of the roller.

Continue rolling like this until you have an even colour blend.

When inking up the lino, think about the direction of the rainbow roll. For example, you may want a sky that blends from dark blue at the top to pale blue at the bottom, or a leaf that blends from red at the base through to green at the tip. You can also ink up your pieces in carved roller movements to blend from one colour in the centre of a shape to another colour on the outside (see the video at the bottom of the page for a demonstration of this at 5:24)

Hand burnish or press print your block as normal and peel back the paper to reveal your print!

For this project you will need:

• Inking plate
• Rollers
• Relief Printing Ink
• Carved Lino blocks
• Paper to print onto
• Baren, spoon or press

Jigsaw Linocut is a fantastic way of creating a multi-coloured print from just one block and just one layer. By cutting our carved block into jigsaw pieces we can ink them up separately before putting them back together and printing. Scroll down for a video or read on.

When using this technique, it’s necessary to choose a suitable type of lino block. Traditional lino is very tricky to cut up into fiddly shapes so opting for a softer lino like Softcut, Japanese Vinyl or Easy Carve is a better choice. In this project we have used Easy Carve (which is grey in the photos but we now stock the blue version instead).

Draw a design onto the block. Pencil can be tricky to see and can smudge so a permanent pen or permanent pencil is better. You could use a Sharpie but there’s a chance you’ll have transference to the print when using light coloured inks so a permanent pencil is ideal. Use red carbon paper to transfer the design from a drawing if you prefer.

To begin carving, go around the outer edge of the whole design (if it is a cut-out style design like this one) with a V tool. We are using our Japanese Cutting Tool Set and some Pfeil Tools for this project.

Next, carve in any detail with a fine tool. We are using Pfeil 11/1 tool here.

If there are any large areas (that aren’t around the outer edges) that need to be removed, use a large U tool to gouge these out.

Before cutting out the whole design with a scalpel, work around the outer edge with a large U tool to create a channel. This gives us a simpler outline. You do not need to clear the whole sheet of lino.

Next, use a scalpel to cut the design free from the background, cutting within the channel you have just carved, not right up to the design. Press lightly to work through the lino in a few shallow cuts rather than trying to press too hard.

When the main design is cut out, divide it up into separate parts using the scalpel. Each part can be inked up with a different colour. Try not to have any areas that have to fit inside one another (like trying to put the hole back in an O) as these will be hard to put back together once inky. Instead, try to cut shapes that can slide up alongside one another. Groupe fiddly shapes together if they’re being printed in the same colour. Leave the excess carved lino on the pieces.

Use a piece of plain paper (the same size as the paper you will be printing onto) as a registration sheet. Place each piece in the correct position face up on your sheet and draw around it in pencil. This will help you assemble the design later. Number the back of the pieces too if that will help you.

Roll out a small square of each colour ink you will need. You will need a roller for each colour. These small rollers are ideal for the small pieces. We are using Schmincke water-based ink but you could use oil-based like Caligo instead to give yourself a bit more working time.

Ink up each piece of lino in turn and place it face up on your registration sheet.

Carefully lay your printing paper on top using the registration sheet as a guide. Carefully hand burnish the print using a baren or a spoon. Use your free hand to hold the paper still.

Peel up your paper to reveal your print.

For this project you will need:

• Sheet of Easy Carve, Softcut of Vinyl
• Pencil, Sharpie, Permanent Pencil or Red Carbon Paper
• Cutting Tool Set, Pfeil Tools or other carving tools
• Scalpel and cutting mat
• Inking plate
• Rollers like these small wire handled ones
• Relief Printing Ink (like Schmincke or Caligo)
• Paper for registration sheet
• Paper to print onto
• Baren or spoon