Leeds Print Fair

On 6th November I visited Leeds Print Fair. There were numerous printmakers exhibiting and selling their prints. I looked at all of the stalls but spent relatively less time looking at the work of the screen printers and the letterpress stalls. I concentrated on printmaking techniques that are directly relevant to my course and other techniques which attract me such as etchings. Some of the artists were quite open and friendly others were more reserved . I enjoyed chatting to some of the artists and picking up tips.

There were some good examples of collagraph work by Jane Duke and Suzie MacKenzie. With Jane Duke's work the star-out feature was the fact that the plates seem to have been trimmed to a shape in keeping with the subject rather than using rectangular plates. 

Suzie Mackenzie's work construed of landscape with animals present. The textures she puts into the work are great as well as the colour combinations. However both of these artists were quite reserved and didn't really want to chat. I had a good chat with another artist (Robert Battams - I think although I didn't note down his name) He was working one. some very industrial looking collagraphs - it was a work in progress and he shared with me a bi about the process and showed me a couple of his collagraph plates which are things of beauty in their own right. I am filed with enthusiasm now to get on to the collagraph section of my course - although I am sure it isn't as easy as it looks. 

Cards Illustrating Collagraphs by S Mackenzie

I also introduced myself to Janis Goodman because I had stayed with a mutual friend of ours the night before and she encouraged me to do so. Janis started off as a printmaker by attending evening classes and fell in love with the technique of etching. I love the stark blackness of etchings . Her subject matter us often birds in the landscape - I particularly liked the design and composition of her prints depicting murmurations. 

Cards of etchings by Janis Goodman and
Lino cuts by Helen Roddie

There were also several artists working with lino cut at the fair, including Helen Roddie who produces complex linocuts with a botanical theme and Rachel Knowles whose lino prints also originate from a botanical theme. I was able to pick up some tips on how to get multiple layer lino prints to dry quicker between layers as after several layers they do seem to stay tacky for a very long time. 

Cath Brooke was the artist whose work I found most intriguing and she was very generous with her time in explaining her process. She is currently working mainly with industrial landscapes and her prints use a combination of drypoint, chine collé and monoprint. She is presenting a 'printmaker's toolkit' session at West Yorkshire Print Workshop in the near future which is a demonstration of her techniques so I have booked to attend that to get more of an insight into her process.