My printmaking journey

My printmaking journey began in 2020. I had inks, lino and some basic cutting tools that I’d dabbled with years before, but it was in 2020 that I finally found the time to explore printmaking in depth and really develop my skills.

I make original hand-pulled linocut prints, relief prints and collages, drawing inspiration from the rural landscape around me, gardens and allotments, vintage and antique vessels, still life, and the places I encounter on my travels.

I live on the River Welland on the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire border, and my surroundings have always been an important source of inspiration. There is something endlessly interesting about the everyday things around us: a collection of old vessels, a plant growing in the garden, the changing landscape on a cycle ride, or something I’ve collected on a walk. As the seasons change, there is always something new to see and be fascinated by.

All of my work begins with drawing. I make sketches while out walking or cycling, or by setting up still life arrangements at home. Some remain simply as observations, while others become the starting point for a linocut, relief print or collage.

More recently, I have also been exploring the possibilities of screen printing and collage. I particularly enjoy giving materials a second life, creating still life collages entirely from papers produced while cleaning my printmaking tools. What might otherwise be discarded becomes part of the artwork itself, with the marks, colours and textures created during the printing process becoming an unexpected source of inspiration.

I am also enjoying an ongoing series of small black-and-white relief prints inspired by my travels, made using my Adana Eight/Five press. Each little linocut is a reminder of a place and a particular moment I have visited and enjoyed — much like a photograph, really, but with more imagination.

For me, printmaking is a way of slowing down and really looking: at the landscape, at everyday objects, at the changing seasons and at the places I visit. I enjoy the transformation from an initial sketch or observation into a handmade print or collage, where the marks of the process remain part of the finished work.