Meet the printmaker: John Joseph Lynch

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work…What sort of prints do you make? 
Hi, I’m John Joseph Lynch, I’ve made a variety of types of prints since I began print making.

I mainly concentrate on fine art and experimental printmaking and have an MA with distinction in Multidisciplinary Printmaking. For my final show I took the Multidisciplinary aspect quite literally when I made a body of hybrid prints that re-synthised classic Iconography in relation to consumer philosophies. I made hybrid luxurious pieces of print work combining linocut, digital, and flock velvet print along side screen printed enamels. I screen printed acid resists then deep etched copper plates and finished this with a cloisonné approach to create printed relics made of copper and coloured glass, I used etchings onto plaster casts and continued to combine methods and print approaches.

The MA was a explosion of experimental adventures, combining a range of print processes over the three year duration of the course, in which I was also awarded a two week residency in the states studying the art of fine paper making. I have always enjoyed an experimental approach to my work and have often pushed in the other direction from ‘the norm’.

False Paradise, Ed 5, Lino Cut, Digital and Flock

After the MA I won the 'Neo Print Prize' for 'New Media In Print' and went on to be awarded the 'Peter Reddick Bursary' for 'Contemporary Relief Print' which allowed me to spend a year developing a relief print practice. It was a great time to make mistakes and develop from them.

This has recently ended and I would now say I have developed a unique and complex style of woodcut printing to take forwards and create new work, in which I use the photographic or digitally produced image in a hand-made fashion, combining traditional and contemporary methods for making art.

I really enjoy working with wood and the challenges this presents. It’s like paper: always changing. Sometimes it’s a real pleasure to work with, and other times it is a pest.

Key Block for Royal Mail.

My work is often conceptual as I have a contemporary fine art background, practice and interest.  I really enjoy the methods and possibilities within this context to explore, combine and create new types of imagery. Along with this, I love the science and elemental factors involved in fine print and the types of inks and papers that always give new results.  Sometimes it’s a feeling like painting where the elements are working with you, which is a lovely mood to be in.  

I’ve been printmaking for 16 years now and teach screen-printing and relief printing along with the odd visiting lecture, and really enjoy sharing my print knowledge with other printmakers and artists. This exchange of knowledge is really important for any creative development. 

This is why I’ve really enjoyed being part of the organising team for The Print Shop, and meeting so many great printmakers, helping to raise the profile and public understanding of print and also getting in touch with some true masters in the field, like Yuji Hiratsuka. 

Are you solely a printmaker or do you work in any other creative fields?
My first degree was fine art Painting and printmaking. Back then I used to really enjoy painting but it wasn’t long until the lure of printmaking grabbed me and I ended up producing a final show which was heavily print centralised. I even remember using oil based inks with screen printing to make dramatic abstract works in my teens. So, I’ve always been very attracted to Printmaking.

All the while I’ve always been really into making music and performance. After university some good pals and I soon got ourselves into a pretty outrageous band called Pink Grease. We got signed to Mute Records and toured the world, making our mark in the underground scenes and playing hundreds of shows. I love live music performance as it’s so immediately expressive and fun. I’ve put together a few music formations whilst in Bristol and had some fun gigs. I’m currently having a bit of time out of the live scene to work on new ideas, but I would say I prioritise printmaking as my main creative process these days. 

Mostly all of my work and practice is focused on driving forward my printmaking these days and recently that’s also included driving forward the profile of printmaking with projects such as The Print shop and connecting Bristol printmakers to friends at the Hong Kong Open Print Shop.

Printmaking is a language of imagery and production that suits my needs the most, I love it’s immediate historic reference and the connotations it has to so many aspects of art and modern culture. We’re surrounded by print and I’m a big believer of art being rooted in the real and reflecting society, so for me print is perfect.

Some Proofs made during the work of Royal Mail: V1

I teach printmaking and this is also a creative process to me, as I’m always surprised what people - with little or no experience in these processes - can come up with. The results of loads of mistakes and happy accidents can teach you things you’d never expect.  I think teaching and the learning of new skills is a really important aspect of all creativity. Sharing your practice is essential to it’s development and also another creative part of it. 

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more?
Foot Prints in the mud: making a mark of your own presence and place.

What inspires you and are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work?
I am usually inspired by the things that go on around us in the world, often by media and the news. I like my art to have a reflection to how I perceive the world or a given theme within it.  For example, my Criminal Prints showing a hybrid president of the united States, a mix of four presidents to create a fictional yet familiar figure head. This was also inspired by fiction such as '1984' or 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'. I love a good story for new ideas, which is why I often slightly dramatized or over fictionalise, real places or events.

Wesley, Ed2 in variations, woodcut. 

My newest print, which I have, at times been working on in the shop and is now on display in The Print Shop and the Old Fire Station in Oxford, is Royal Mail: V1.

This print was inspired by a number of things, firstly it has reference to a copy of a 1950’s post card of East Berlin I found. At that time, the vision of a utopian new lifestyle was offered and the postcard showed these amazing new flats in Technicolour. I loved the double sided edge to this image and the forced enthusiasm of the colours.

In my new print the image is an adjusted version of the old post office centre by Temple Meads, which to me stands, in its way, as an iconic monument, yet in may ways it is useless, unsellable, impossible to develop. It is places like this that always remind me of Satre’s Nausea, where he writes about the consistent forces of nature always ready to reclaim and take over wherever it can, purely acting on existence.

To me there is a poetic beauty in this type of place and a reflection of human conditions, the kind of place that can trigger hundreds of daydreams, yet in itself is the shell of it’s former purpose - like an empty crab.

Royal Mail: V1, Woodcut

Could you give us an insight into where you work – your studio/workspace and where you print?
I work in three places mostly: Firstly, at Spike Print Studio, as since being awarded the bursary there I’ve really been able to push my work and develop woodcut printmaking. It’s a truly great studio and I recommend it to anyone interested in print. The staff are all great and there is a real public approach to making work, with amazing print work happening mostly every day it’s a great place and we also do really good courses.

Secondly, I have a shared studio space at the Island Art Space where I have acquired a great screen printing set up and we also make a bit of music here. My friend Danny Le Guilcher is a great portrait painter and he paints here too. All the team running the art space are really clued up to getting the old building off the ground and I run workshops in the space too. There are always new shows, exhibitions and events happening there, so it is a great place to work, plus it’s right in the city centre.

Thirdly I must say there is nothing like a bit of sunny woodcutting in the cratch back home on the boat.

Which other printmakers' work do you admire?
Being heavily involved with the starting and keeping of The Print Shop since the outset has meant that I’ve met some really great printmakers in Bristol, who make some really amazing work. I’m so happy the shop has really brought together a range of approaches and talents in the art, raising the bar for printmaking in Bristol. It was also really great to get one of my favourite known printmakers involved for volume one. Yuji Hiratsuka’s work is truly beautiful and it was great having a Skype interview with him in the shop. 

There are so many printmakers I really admire the work of. I really like the prints by Katsutoshi Yuasa, Christiana Baumgartner, Chuck Close, Carol Summers, Thomas Kilpper and naturally I love the work of Andy Warhol and the pop art printmakers like Rauschenburg. The list goes on and I’m always finding new artists I really like. Artists have always used printmaking as a strong point for visual communication in the arts. I also really love the traditional Japanese Woodblock by artists like Hokusai, Kuniyoshi and Hiroshige and wish I could be this good.

Skeleton, Kuniyoshi, Woodcut. 

Local artists like Ian Chamberlain, Emma Stibbon, Martin grimmer, are all amazing at what they do and artists we’ve had in the shop like Hannah McVicar, Gillian Thompson,  Holly Drewett, and Coo Geller all make really interesting work with print and push it in different directions.

Our last guest also works like this. Peter Williams’s monumental woodblocks are a real homage to traditional print. He’ll be in the print shop talking about his work on the 21st.

Maybe it’s clear by the above list that I like artists who push common associations to an art and create new and exiting approaches.

Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?
I share loads of printing magic on my courses and in the studio. Learning from others is always a good one. Most importantly, enjoy what you are doing and always stay calm when printing, although sometimes this isn’t the easiest.

I’m always booking new workshops for artists in my studio and other print studios so if you want to learn more you can get in touch with me through my website, jjlynch.org

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?
It’s a constant development for me, so I hope this continues. I always like to move out of the safety zone and see what’s new to learn so I always look forwards to the next piece of work, I hope this doesn’t change.

Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?
Printmaking Today, and exhibition catalogues.



Thank you for taking the time out to answer our questions John. It's inspiring to have not only your input and direction with the running of the shop, but also your incredible multidisciplinary approach to print-making.

John has a range of brand new work currently for sale in the shop, which is open from now until Christmas. Come and purchase his prints, while stocks last. A great personal treat or the ideal gift for a friend.

The Print Shop 

Unit 6 

Quakers Friars 

Cabot Circus 

Bristol 

BS1 3BU 

Open Daily 

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm 

Sun 11am - 5pm

Meet the printmaker: Lucy Davey

We catch up with illustrator and silkscreen printmaker Lucy Davey, who's back for Volume 4 of The Print Shop.

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work…What sort of prints do you make?

I'm Lucy, I make screen prints and I work as a freelance illustrator.

Are you solely a printmaker or do you work in any other creative fields?

Most of my work is commissioned illustration, mainly book covers and images for magazines. Its nice to do some printing occasionally and focus on my personal work

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more?

When I was a teenager I started making my own stamps from the polystyrene packaging that comes with pizzas! It works surprisingly well.  At college I got into monoprinting – I would layer paper over rolled out ink and draw on it. Then I started screen printing a bit at university.

What inspires you and are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work?

I think landscape and nature are my main inspiration.  It's usually filtered through something else though; a film, book or a photograph will spark off an idea.  I love early photos of American landscapes, places I've never been. My prints are of imagined landscapes really.

Could you give us an insight into where you work – your studio/workspace and where you print?

I've been in the Drawn in Bristol studio since March.  It's great having the printing facilities here as well.  Before that I was at Snap studio and I've done a bit of printing at the excellent Spike print studio.

Which other printmakers' work do you admire?

I've got a couple of Jonny Hannah's screen prints up on my wall at home. I also love Japanese woodcut, especially Hide Kawanishi and Saito Kiyoshi. Edward Bawden is a big inspiration too.

Printmaking is made up of lots of different processes, which aspect do you enjoy the most?

I like it when you do your first pull and it actually works!

Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?

Its not really a secret, but keep your old cardboard rolls that parcel tape comes on.  They make excellent squeegee stands.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?

I'd quite like to re-visit lino cut at some point. And there's a lot more to learn about screen printing!

Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?

Nobrow.

Monochrome or multi-coloured?

I like colour, but no more than three please.

Thank you, Lucy!  We love your bold, graphic prints and will certainly be using your squeegee tip.

Lucy Davey returns to The Print Shop for Volume 4, which is open from now until Christmas.  Come and snap up one of her vibrant prints or handprinted Christmas decorations while stocks last!

The Print Shop

Unit 6

Quakers Friars

Cabot Circus

Bristol

BS1 3BU

Open Daily

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm

Sun 11am - 5pm

Meet the printmaker: Abi Ponton (Pigeon Illustration)

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work? What sort of prints do you make?

I am lucky enough to be a member of Drawn in Bristol and make use of their screen-printing studio in Hamilton House.  I love drawing and generally make bright and colourful prints of the charismatic creatures I draw.  I like the freedom drawing gives me as a starting point and love the challenge of having to restrain this is a number of ways for screen-printing.  The more I print, the more I learn about the medium and what a range of things you can do with it.  I’ve learned to think in print and get excited about experimenting with the medium in different ways.

When I’m not drawing or printing, I’m always looking forward to my next drawing trip, which generally involves hiding myself away in dark corners of museums and discovering exciting artifacts that kickstart creative ideas.  I’ll draw anything that catches my imagination at the time, whether it’s because of its form, texture, colour or historical/narrative content.

Are you solely a printmaker, or do you work in any other creative fields?

I love working in a range of media. I experiment with different techniques depending on what I think best fits the idea I have in my head, which could be drawing, print, collage, textiles, sculpture, an impromptu tap dancing performance or the occasional painting.

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more? 

Apart from potato printing in Primary school, my early memories of printing are from college and university, and looking at my mum’s borrowed library books of Edward Bawden’s beautiful prints.

I have always loved hand-printed work, but it took me a while to get into printing as a technique because there is so much that can go wrong and it is so time consuming.  I wanted to make everything quickly in a fit of inspiration, but two of my tutors at university were avid printmakers and showed me the beautiful, earthy and soulful art that they made and I loved it. 

I was soon drawn to the mysterious Victorian machinery and the smells of the inks and equipment of the campus print room.  I began to love the flow of the processes, the unpredictability of the outcome and admire the happy accidents.

What inspires you?  Are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work?

Animals and pattern are an obvious theme to my work, but I also think a lot about character and colour when making my work.  I like the details that can bring the charm and character out of a living creature or an inanimate object, such as the damage on an ancient artefact, the asymmetry of a cactus, or the wonky eye of a badly stuffed hare!

Could you give us an insight into where you work;your studio/workspace and where you print?

I really enjoy drawing from real life, so I go on a lot of drawing trips to galleries, museums, parks, cafes and anywhere I can get out of the house and wander around, gathering sketches, information and ideas.  I develop these drawings by experimenting in different materials at my desk at home, before planning the layers of colour, if they are destined for the print room.

Which other printmakers' work do you admire?

Locally, I love the work of Jane Ormes, Simon Tozer and Charlotte Farmer, because their work is full of colour and character.  I've also come across John Kilburn's work in this volume of The Print Shop, which I love for the same reasons.

Printmaking is made up of lots of different processes.  Which aspect of printmaking do you enjoy the most?

I like planning the layers and mixing printing inks; it gets me excited to envisage how the print is going to turn out.  Colour is very important to me and I don’t start to print until I have a vivid image in my head of the exact tones I want to use.

Do you have a favourite tool or something you find invaluable when printing?

Patience and strength of mind.  Printing is a physically and mentally demanding process!

Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?

Save some cake or a snack for when you’re almost finished to see you through the final processes of cleaning, tidying and packing up.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?

I'd like to experiment more with texture and over-lapping colours...and also learn how to be tidy and organised!

Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?

I like buying Vogue and Home Magazines to read and dream about that perfect life, before cutting them up for collaging!  Zines are a little obsession of mine too.  I don’t buy a specific one regularly, I just like to pick up the lesser-known names that have caught my attention, for whatever reason.

And finally, monochrome or multi-coloured?
Multi-coloured for sure!

Thank you, Abi!  It's great to know more about your love of colour and your love and enthusiasm for printing.

Abi Ponton (Pigeon Illustration) will be at The Print Shop for the rest of Volume 3.  Come and snap up one of her vibrant prints, while stocks last!

The Print Shop

Unit 6

Quakers Friars

Cabot Circus

Bristol

BS1 3BU

Open Daily

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm

Sun 11am - 5pm

Meet the printmaker: Katharina Nyilas

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work? What sort of prints do you make?

I have been living and working as an illustrator in Bristol for one year since graduating from University of Westminster, with an honours degree in Illustration.

Nature, wildlife and our environment inspires most of my work, which I believe is of vital importance.  My illustrative work is intricate detailed and delicate, which is why I love to explore with screen printing, which by the nature of the process creates much stronger bolder shapes and lines, allowing my work to make a different impact.

Are you solely a printmaker, or do you work in any other creative fields?

I also work in the field of illustration, and as a creative workshop coordinator.

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more?

My earliest recollection of printmaking was at the age of 16 at Somerset College of Art and Technology.  The printmaking tutor, Chris Tucker, chose me from a group of students studying fine art to produce an etching.  It was a long process, as most printmaking processes are, and took a lot of time, attention to detail and methodical precision.  The process suited my work as, with etching, very fine lines and details can be produced.  I enjoyed being absorbed by the process and the excitement of seeing the outcome of the first print.  I still enjoy this aspect of the print-making process including the opportunity to experiment.

What inspires you? Are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work? 

The influence and control people have over our environment intrigues me and I like to research different aspects of this, whether it happens to be regarding fishing policies, our urban wildlife, pollution or poaching.

I am also interested in re-using and recycling materials, and have been experimenting with utilising them in my printmaking.  I have used found wood, fabrics and ripped sheets of billboard, which I have found hanging billowing in the wind and littering the ground.

Could you give us an insight into where you work (your studio/workspace and where you print)? 

Over the last year I have been creating illustrations from my desk at home. Since joining the Drawn in Bristol illustration collective over the summer, I have been hot-desking and screen-printing in the studio at Hamilton House.  I am now looking forward to joining the Drawn in Bristol studio at the beginning of November.

Printmaking is made up of lots of different processes. Which aspect of printmaking do you enjoy the most?

I mostly enjoy planning and drawing the print, experimenting with materials and the excitement of seeing the outcome!

Do you have a favourite tool or something you find invaluable when printing?

Being organised and clear from the start with the result you are trying to achieve is very important.  Creating a good print involves a lot of planning and work before the print can actually be made.  For example, pulling a screen-print is the fastest part of production after the methodical process of preparing.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?

At the moment I am experimenting with screen-printing, and using different found materials to work with.  I would like to carry on experimenting with screen-printing for the time being, as it is such as versatile technique. Almost anything can be printed onto, which suits me, as I enjoy making my own illustrated products.  In the future, I may take up a printmaking course and learn other processes.  The variety and versatility of the other printmakers' work at The Print Shop has definitely intrigued me and inspired me to learn more!

Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?

Wrap magazine is one publication I love to look at, for the variety of colourful work.  I like the fact that it gives artists and printmakers a slightly different platform to showcase their work, in contrast to other illustrated publications.  The artwork is showcased on its own in a large format.  The best thing about it is that it also doubles up as wrapping paper.  Although, I always think the work is too beautiful to use as wrapping paper and could be used to decorate your walls instead!

And finally, monochrome or multi-coloured?

Although some of my prints are in monochrome, most of my prints utilise colour.  Mostly I tend to use monochrome alongside colour.

Thank you for giving us some insight into the environmental inspirations behind your beautiful work, Katharina!

Katharina's work will be appearing in The Print Shop for the rest of Volume 3, ending on 3 November.  Come and experience Kati's work for yourself at our shop in Quakers Friars!

The Print Shop

Unit 6

Quakers Friars

Cabot Circus

Bristol

BS1 3BU

Open Daily

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm

Sun 11am - 5pm

Meet the printmaker: Jill Spence

We re-visit Jill Spence, who's back to join The Print Shop's Volume 3 team!

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work?  What sort of prints do you make?

Hello, my name is Jill and I’m a silk screen printer.  I hand print in small quantities large and small scale prints, greetings cards and gift items such as cotton bags.  My prints have a graphic, stylised feel.

Are you solely a printmaker, or do you work in any other creative fields?

I’m a Graphic Designer by trade, and having recently been made redundant, I thought it would be an exciting opportunity to develop and follow my passion for screen printing.

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more?

At primary school where we had to cut out a paper stencil and put it on a screen to print with. I thought it was like magic when the picture emerged!

What inspires you?  Are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work?

I’m inspired by the Moorish art found in Andalucia, Spain, from a visit there a couple of years ago., I love shapes and patterns which are stylised, symmetrical as well as repeat patterns.

Moorish art and patterns inspire Jill's graphic designs

Could you give us an insight into where you work; your studio/workspace and where you print?

I have a fantastic studio space in Hamilton House in Stokes Croft. There is an eclectic mix of artists, from painters, illustrators, and milliners to puppeteers, so it’s a very creatively indulgent place to work.

Jill's workspace in the eclectic Hamilton House in Stokes Croft

Which other printmakers' work do you admire?

I really like the work of Sanna Annuka, a screenprinter and designer from Finland. I like her stylised animal forms and colours.

By Jill Spence

Printmaking is made up of lots of different processes. Which aspect of printmaking do you enjoy the most?

I enjoy the first pass of my design, as you never quite know how the print is going to look. It always looks a little different hand printed than it does on a computer screen.

Do you have a favourite tool or something you find invaluable when printing?

An old rag! I'm a messy printer, and a dot of paint on my hand can mean a write-off, so I always have a cloth rag to hand to wipe off any paint..

Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?

Make sure the consistancy of your ink is 50% acrylic and 50% mixing medium. If it's too thick, the paint will dry quickly. Also, if you have to leave your printing, wet a tea towel, wring it out and gently lay it over your screen to prevent the ink from drying out.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?

I’m relatively new to screen printing, and see my style evolving at the same time as developing my printmaking skills. I’d like to use different textures and colour overlays to achieve a variety of effects. I want to experiment and see what I can achieve and how far I can push my printmaking skills.

Monochrome or multi-coloured?

Multi-coloured at the moment, although I plan to develop a range on monochrome Christmas cards.

Thank you, Jill!  We can't wait to see your monochrome Christmas cards in the shop, and look forward to seeing how your print work evolves!

Jill will be at The Print Shop for the rest of Volume 3, with all of the above work for sale (while stocks last!). 

The Print Shop

Unit 6

Quakers Friars

Cabot Circus

Bristol

BS1 3BU

Open Daily

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm

Sun 11am - 5pm

Meet the Printmaker - Anna Harley

The latest of our artist interviews... we were delighted to catch up with Anna Harley. Amongst other things, Anna gives us an insight into her ancestry, influences and love of print...

Please can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your work…What sort of prints do you make?
I completed a Masters Degree in Printmaking at UWE about five years ago and have been building up a body of work ever since, predominantly screenprints. While the work I make is rooted within the Landscape tradition, the fabric textures in my prints are an echo of my Scandinavian Arts and Crafts background and nomadic childhood. I now live with my family at the foothills of the Mendips, just South of Bristol and divide my time between my studio at home and Spike Print Studio in Bristol. I sell my work through galleries in London, Cardiff and Bristol and also have recently exhibited in London at The Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, Bite: Artists making Prints and Battersea Affordable Arts Fair.

Catkins ( 76cm x 56cm)

Are you solely a printmaker or do you work in any other creative fields?
I now almost exclusively produce screenprints, though I have done a lot of painting in the past, mainly in oils and acrylic. I make a lot of things for my home – ranging from home made curtains and upholstery to the hand printed ceramic tiles that line my shower room! Working as a part time mathematics teacher ensures that there is a regular pay-check coming in and both mathematics and teaching are very creative processes.

What is your earliest recollection of making a print and what made you to want to do more?
I owe my preference for print to my Swedish lineage – my Great grandfather’s sister, Maja Fjaestad, was a well known artist in Southern Sweden. Maja’s paintings and prints decorated the walls of the houses of my relatives and I now even have a few of my own. I grew up surrounded by her work and that of the other Rackstad Artists; equivalent to the Bloomsbury group in England of the same time. The Rackstad colony and grounds, near Lake Racken in Sweden, are now preserved as a museum and art gallery. During an HNC course, I began to make very large scale (150cm x 100cm) woodcut prints. As a result of the large amount of cutting away necessary, I developed trigger finger, a RSI, and looked for another less damaging and quicker print method to use. Screenprint proved to be a flexible alternative print medium that had the added benefit of enabling me to incorporate digital imagery in my work. In a hangover from the relief print production, I still often create stencil cut outs from black card for screenprint exposure and use wood like textures as background to the silhouette imagery: I like the feel of a hand cut line and wood grain effect of chiffon moiré.

Mini Print - Gold Leaf 

What inspires you and are there any themes or ideas that often run through your work? Inspirations for my work include; how it feels to be outside, tree silhouettes, passing seasons, the sky and how it changes from sunrise to evening, the weather..... Like a Jackdaw, I love things that sparkle and twinkle. I often use metallic pigments and, in a move that fully embraced my inner kitsch, I have recently made a snow print using white glitter.

Could you give us an insight into how and where you work?
I constantly collect material and ideas for new prints while gardening, or out walking in the countryside around where I live, in the foothills of the Mendips. I am lucky to have a North facing studio set up at home, where I draw and prepare artwork for printing. Once everything is ready, I make my screenprints at Spike Print Studio, in Bristol, where I have been a member for the last five years. Thanks to Spike Print Studio’s 24 hour access, I have been known to print through the night!...but the best time of day for me is early in the morning. I have a routine – apron on means it is time to work.

Mini Print - Sunrise

Printmaking is made up of lots of different processes, which aspect do you enjoy the most?
The screenprinting process suits my practice, because it allows me to build images in fine layers of ink, printing layer upon layer until I am happy with the final print. I use a combination of drawing, digital photography and objects directly exposed on the screen, to create these individual layers. I enjoy the tension this creates in my images – is the print based on a drawing or photograph? Is it attached to fabric, pencil marks or ink? While engaged in the creative process, I try to stay open minded about how the finished print will look, to allow the print to make itself – print is an extremely process led way of making art and allowing the unexpected to happen and taking advantage of these happy accidents allows the work to stay fresh and exciting. I love the drama of proofing a print; when suddenly everything comes together with the final layer of ink – and the print starts to sing. Once I am happy with the initial artists proof, I will then screenprint an additional number of limited edition prints, each matched against the artist proof, which I sign and edition (1/25, 2/25 etc). Because prints are produced in multiples, high quality prints are much more affordable than other forms of original art. I believe that original art belongs in people’s homes every bit as much as it belongs in public galleries and communal spaces, and with this in mind, I have recently made a series of mini-prints - small landscapes printed in editions of 80, with intention of making artwork that is affordable for all. These will be on sale in the shop during July and August.

Do you have a favorite tool or something you find invaluable when printing?
For the last few years I have almost exclusively printed up to the deckle edge of the paper – I think this is a more contemporary approach to print. Historically a paper margin of around six inches was left around the edge of the print and used to attach the print behind a mount ready to frame - all my work is now ‘float mounted’ so the print appears to float in its frame – celebrating, rather than hiding the print and the paper. The longer I spend as a screen-printer, the fussier I become about my materials. Where I was once perfectly happy with standard acrylic printing inks, I am now only really happy with the expensive higher quality pigment inks available from Lascaux..... I am also a real paper nerd – and love the quality of specialist, acid free, 100% cotton papers like the French artisan made, ‘Arches 88’ – expensive to buy, but worth every penny because of the print quality and archival features.

Starry Night

Can you share a little printing trick or secret with us?
Don’t work in isolation - Community is really important. The best thing I ever did was to become a member of Spike Print Studio, this gave me a base to work from and a readymade artistic community of fellow print makers, to spur me on, bounce new ideas around and help with advice and guidance when I come up against problems.

How would you like to develop your printmaking skills in the future?
Where to start? I make sure I enroll on at least one new course a year and I spend time each week talking to other members at Spike Print Studio about what they are making, in order to keep my work fresh and continually evolving. If I could introduce a few more days to each week, I would experiment across more print mediums. In the near future, I would like to mix embossing, laser and chine collé with screenprint. Anything that involves breaking a few rules – in spite of my Scandinavian upbringing, I am secretly quite subversive…

Which printed publication do you most look forward to thumbing through?
Anything by Deborah Wye

Monochrome or multi-coloured?
Both

A selection of six mini prints, all screen printed

Clockwise from top left: Gold Leaf, Autumn Beech, Sunrise, Starry Night, Sunset, Moon Fruit

Thanks Anna for sharing so much with us, your prints are truly beautiful!

Anna Harley is one of the many talented printmakers contributing to Volume 3 of The Print

Shop, October 2nd - November 3rd... Why not come along and have a look for yourself!

The Print Shop

Unit 6

Quakers Friars

Cabot Circus

Bristol

BS1 3BU

Open Daily

Mon - Sat 10am - 6pm

Sun 11am - 5pm