Pressing Matters – Issue 13

As you can see with our cover choice, we’ve decided to ‘bring the brightness’ with this issue. That doesn’t mean all of the art featured in this issue’s pages are  day-glo, more that we want the publication to be a positive and uplifting moment for our readers in increasingly uncertain times. Whether it’s the bold and bright works of Emma Fisher, Kate Clarke and Hannah Brown, fizzing with energy and brilliance, or the surprising colour choices of Robert Tavener’s landscape prints, there’s something about using bright colours that makes you smile and breathe in the vibrancy of the artwork a little longer. 

Early in the planning for this issue, we were lucky to visit print legend Norman Ackroyd at his London studio (socially distanced of course) and learnt how the normally well-travelled artist had been revisiting his trips to the far edges of the UK via his sketchbooks. Drawing from memories and the feelings that his sketches evoke allows him to travel back to these amazing places – a bit of a magic trick in our time of restrictions and regulations.

And with our printed work being made increasingly from our homes, it was exciting to talk to illustrator Rosie Leech whose One Inch Etchings project sees her making mini prints from her home studio at the smallest of scales – tiny masterpieces that conjure up so much more feeling than the small marks made in creating them. We are all considering what we have and how we can use it to make work – Andreas Brekke’s article talks about just that notion – embracing the limits, making the work even better. 

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Featured artists/studios:

Norman Ackroyd • Awagami Factory • Andreas Brekke • Hannah Brown • Nathan Catlin 
Kate Clarke • Kate Dicker • Jill Dunn • Emma Fisher • Stephen Fowler • Rick Griffith 
Lieven Hendrickx • Jesse Kirsch • Rosie Leech • Ruttiporn Leepanuwong
Neu Haus Press • Print Club Torino • Robert Tavener • Alina Tyshchuk

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Format: 

100 page perfect bound publication, printed by Park Communications on Edixion Offset paper (including 2 page insert with art print by Rick Griffith printed on GF Smith 135gsm Colorplan Chine White stock.)

Wow, issue ten! It certainly feels like quite an achievement to get to double figures – it doesn’t seem that long ago that the first issue was coming together and we were excited to share it with those who might be interested. In the last three years it’s been a real joy to dig deeper and immerse ourselves in the world of printmaking. And the community we’ve met has always been so sharing and encouraging in equal parts – something that’s so important with any ‘leap of faith’ project – just ask Macy Chadwick, who tells her story of founding the brilliant In Cahoots residency in this issue. 

As we start a new year, new ideas and projects come to the fore – exciting experiments and the appetite to take on a new technique or push a style further. Whether you are like our minimal, monochrome cover stars Jollygoodfellow, or Mark Wheatley and Chris Sleath with their fizzy colour prints, it’s clear there’s plenty of space to explore in your given field and you printmakers seem to be doing this in ever more creative ways.

There’s also a sense that printmakers are getting more aware of the impact of printing on the environment and looking closer at sustainability in their practices. Artist Sarah Gillespie’s etching of moths highlight the steep decline of these wonderful insects and a group of masked letterpress disruptors list the re-use of materials as a key point in their manifesto. Even ideas can be recycled and re-defined, with Nanette Wallace’s haunting monoprints a reminder that working with what you have can make for richer narratives in prints and surprising, unplanned moments.

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Issue 10 featured artists/studios:

5X Letterpress • Laura Boswell • Macy Chadwick • Mary Dalton • Chad Danieley • Melvyn Evans • Sarah Gillespie • Hello Marine • Jollygoodfellow • Libri Finti Clandestini • Lucy McLauchlan • OMG Press • Edie Overturf • Graeme Reed • Fiona Rimmer • Society of Wood Engravers • Anastasia Suvorova • TYPA • Veloset Press • Nanette Wallace • Mark Wheatley

If there’s a theme running through issue nine, it’s one of community and resilience – be it the fierce friendship and ‘commitment to the cause’ found at East London Printmakers or the search for a new place to print like the adventures of Sinclair Ashman’s US residency or Kay Van Bellen’s more permanent move to a new country.  Stories that speak of togetherness, but are never without an element of mild peril. 

We hear from a host of makers taking inspiration from their surroundings and creating their own personal narratives, such as John Fellows’ epic mountain prints and Fenne Kustermans’ zines that explore her need for solitude. And, by taking a look at the positive effect that creativity can have on mental health, we shine a light on the importance of making personal work, just for yourself, as much as showing it or selling it. 

Continuing our journey into the far corners of the printmaking world, we talk to US artist Don Kilpatrick III about his unique shoe prints and out-of-this-world woodcuts. Around the time of the launch of this issue, I signed up to a relief printing course and I’ll be thinking of all of these great printmakers whilst trying my best at linocut, woodcut and more – no doubt they’ll help me to build up my own resilience, to keep printing and make the most of being part of a vibrant printmaking community, both near and far.