Lino Printing Workshop

A couple of months ago, I had a go at lino printing for the first time - apart from school attempts on rock hard, scratchy lino that left your fingers bleeding!

I attended a workshop run by printmaker Janice Earley. Janice is a great teacher, she takes you right through each step, demonstrating and encouraging you along the way. It was a very different working process for me so I had to feel the fear and do it anyway. She was very patient as I fiddled around with my design before committing it to the lino - I realise now you can make changes along the way.

I chose to do a 2 colour design so the first step is to cut away anything you want left white. I printed the first colour in a pale blue.

 

I made the mistake of drawing my design in red biro which printed out as well - you can just make it out. Hey, I'm learning.

More cutting, leaving only the areas that you want printed in the darker colour. I tried a dark grey first but at Janice's suggestion switched to a dark blue which gave the finished print a much warmer look.

I really enjoyed it and would thoroughly recommend one of Janice's courses. I learnt loads and only wish I had more time to do more printing.

Coastal Designs

This year is already slipping by so fast. As my two boys get older, in some ways their demands are greater than when they were small. School projects and weekend activities seem to take over your life.

However, I have penciled in 5 or 6 Summer Art fairs as well as the Guernsey Arts Festival so the creative wheel must keep turning! Here's a peek at some new designs I'm working on for a set of new coastal inspired cards. Right, back to working on the rest!

Elizabeth College Workshop

Way back in 2014 (!) I held a series of workshops at Elizabeth College with a group of Yr 7 boys - I blogged about the process and creating collage papers here .

Well, here are some pictures that I took during the workshops and some of the end results.

I loved making those collage papers - and I think the boys did too judging by how many they created. I hope to use some of the textures in my own future work.