Hi, my name is Jenny O’Leary and I am a textile artist and tutor living in Shropshire. I work with batik (hot wax resist), mainly on tissue paper - combining it with bleach, ink and dyes. I sometimes stitch to create beautiful surfaces and textures. Collage and layering are an important part of my work... More ..read more

Originally from Sicily, I grew up in Australia; however, having settled in the UK in 1996, it has been my home for the largest part of my life. I love the outdoors and I am drawn to open landscapes with big skies. I am an artist working mainly with various forms of printmaking. I use a variety of techniques and sometimes combine them. In recent years I have gravitated more towards monoprinting, reduction linocut and collagraph printing.  Describe your printmaking process. I am currently employing monoprinting more than any other way of working. It allows me the freedom to experiment ..read more

Batik is a fun, dynamic way of creating bold and beautiful designs on cloth but did you know batik can be made on paper too? We used some Tej Prakrtika paper (as well as testing some others) to create a colourful, abstract batik.  You'll find lots more batik projects here. Begin with your paper on a plastic cloth or board. It might stick so it needs to be something it will peel off. Heat the batik wax in a batik pot. It needs to be hot enough to penetrate the paper (we like to have our Tixor Malam wax pots on a 5 or 6 on the dial). Heat up your tools by leaving them in ..read more

I am Olesya Dzhurayeva, Ukrainian artist. I was born in Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, but I moved to Ukraine as a child. Now I live in Kyiv. Despite the war, I am staying in Ukraine and continue to work. I am an active member of the international printmaking community, participant and winner of many international exhibitions and competitions dedicated to printmaking. Last year, the Victoria and Albert Museum acquired three of my works for its graphic collection, which was a big surprise and encouragement for me. Since 2023 I am an Associate Member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printma ..read more

 When it comes to painting onto fabric, there are a few differences to consider. Does the paint need to be opaque? Can it be diluted? Would you like metallics?  Aimee has tested three different fabric paints: Jacquard Textile Colour, Lumiere Metallic Paint and Handprinted Fabric Paint. We have experimented with painting onto light and dark fabric. First, painted onto white cotton. We first experimented with Jacquard Textile Colour using Florescent Pink, Scarlet, Black, and Super Opaque White. We found that the Jacquard Fabric Paint held a lot of pigment, is quite opaq ..read more

My name is Fiona Black and I am an artist, folk musician, writer, history geek and lover of stories. Home for me is the Highland village of Evanton, just north of Inverness on the shore of the Cromarty Firth. I am happy to have returned to live and create in the Highlands, and I am constantly inspired by the landscape, history and culture of the area. I've been very lucky to be able to travel the world playing the accordion with my Folk band, The Outside Track; I always came home from tours inspired by different places I'd been and art I'd seen, as well as wee books full of sketches and doodl ..read more

Hi! I’m Jo, working as a printmaker under the name 'Strangford' in Northern Ireland - though I’m originally from South London. Describe your printmaking process. I make large, bright, unusual relief prints from my home studio; mostly of animals. I carve into flooring lino - it’s a pain to sand but it comes in huge rolls. I roughly sketch out an outline of the design directly onto the lino, but I never include too much detail. Partly because I’m not a very accurate drawer, but also it’s fun to let the carving loose a bit. I use Pfeil and Flexcut tools… I like both. I print with Caligo Safe Was ..read more

Drypoint is a fantastic intaglio technique as it requires limited equipment to create a plate. It's a great way of creating a printed drawing and is one of the printmaking techniques where the positive mark is the one that prints (unlike relief printing for example). There are lots of plates to choose from for making drypoints, and they all provide different results. We've tested six types of plate here to help you choose which is right for your project: aluminium, zinc, enviromount, drypoint plastic, mirror card and tetra pak (the inside of drinks cartons). Aimee used one of each type of pla ..read more

Originally from Florence, Italy, I'm a printmaker and tutor now based in London for the past 10 years. I work mainly on abstract art, and I am especially interested in the possibilities that printmaking offers when experimenting with colour, shapes and textures.   Describe your printmaking process. I typically begin my process with geometric shapes or a selected colour palette, which I enjoy manipulating and distorting through chance or digital methods. I love merging the precision and technical rigour of printmaking techniques with unexpected and spontaneous elements, to create images th ..read more

When you’ve created an aluminium or zinc plate etching, you’ll want to have a go at pulling your first print. To do this, you’ll need to learn how to prepare your paper and how to set the correct pressure on your press. This blog is part of a series featuring tips and techniques to get you started with aluminium or zinc plate etching. This post will demonstrate how to prepare your papers and how to set the pressure on an intaglio press. Blotting Your Paper When it comes to printing intaglio methods, your paper needs to be dampened and blotted prior to printing. Bl ..read more