Monoprinting using an open screen is a wonderfully creative way of using your screen printing equipment for speedy, painterly prints. Neocolor Pastels are a great material to use when mono screen printing - you can draw directly onto the mesh and print your drawing through the screen.  A 90T screen is ideal for printing onto paper. Arranging your screen on a hinged board helps you to register your prints, whilst holding the mesh the perfect distance from the paper when printing. We're printing onto cards, just in time for Mothers' Day! With the screen on a hinged board, lay something small under one corner (like a pencil) to hold the mesh slightly further away from the board underneath. Use the NeoColor pastels to draw directly onto the open mesh screen. We have used parcel tape on the back of the mesh to mask out an area an appropriate size for printing onto a card. You don't need to fill the whole mesh area if you don't want to.  When the design is finished, apply a well of Acrylic Screen Printing Medium above the design.  Use a squeegee at a 45 degree angle to push the medium through the mesh and on to the paper underneath.  On the first print, some of the pastel may act as a resist, giving you interesting marks and textures.  Some pastel will remain in the mesh, so print again onto another piece of paper to get another print. Each one will give a slightly different strength of colour and texture. If you're using the same medium to take a print each time, it will become muddy with the colours from the pastels, giving a coloured background - you can either embrace this, or replace the medium on the screen regularly. When you're finished with the design, wash it off with a soft sponge and cold water. Wait for the mesh to dry, and then go again with a new design! For this project you will need: Neocolor Pastels 90T screen Hinged Board and Hinge Clamps Squeegee System 3 Acrylic Printing Medium Spatula Paper to print on - we used cards  Soft Sponge to clean

I'm Tina Hagger, otherwise known as haggytea, a Printmaker based in Faversham, Kent, England. I have been making linocut prints for about ten years now, and have begun making Tetra Pak prints in the past two years. I make my own work to sell and I also deliver workshops.  I'm very much in love with all things print. Describe your printmaking process. My printmaking process is very DIY and very handmade, and has limitations which I both accept and embrace. For my linoprints, I use the multi-block method, and have lately been using a handmade registration jig utilising a transparent right angle sewing ruler and masking tape. I used to print wet-on-wet, but a year or so ago I decided to try letting each layer dry before printing the next layer, which I found to produce cleaner prints, and much less stressful print days! My prints are usually printed with up to a maximum of five blocks. I have a full-time job so this often means there is a week between printing each block so it can take quite a while to get a print finished, but more and more I am appreciating this slow way of making. I print my linoprints using my lovely old Victorian book press which limits my prints to A4 size. Occasionally I print larger than A4 and on those occasions I have walked around on the back of the paper on top of the lino using my sock adorned feet as the press! For my Tetra Pak prints I print using an Xcut Xpress with the Handprinted conversion kit, and have so far only printed using a single colour (blue-black) but have plans to start incorporating a little colour in these too. How and where did you learn to print? I learnt to linoprint at a one-day workshop with Nick Morley in Margate, followed by a two-day colour workshop a few years later. Unlike many people, I had never linocut at school, and so had no previous experience, but instantly fell in love with the method and process, and it quickly became my ‘thing’,  taking over most of my thoughts and much of my life. I find it incredibly addictive. I taught myself to Tetra Pak Print about two years ago from observing printmakers on the internet and intuition. Why printmaking? My passion for linoprinting and Tetra Pak printing is largely based upon the thrill of the DIY nature of these kinds of printmaking. The fact that an idea can pop into my head and I can set it down in a drawing, and then carve a linocut or engrave a Tetra Pak, and then print multiples of that design, is truly thrilling to me. The process relies on me and my hand-controlled presses, and that’s it, nobody and nothing else. The idea that I have seized the means of production really gets me going! I also love the DIY look of linoprints and Tetra Pak prints: the marks, the textures, the handmade nature; particularly in contrast to the abundance of digital images we now see everywhere. And then the big one, the absolute magical joy of seeing the first print pulled. When everything (hopefully) comes together, but also the surprise element there is in seeing the finished print for the first time. That moment of wonder is never lost on me, and I sincerely hope it never will be. Where do you work? I work in my home studio which is in the basement of my partner and I's little Victorian house. Our house is on a hill and so the basement is only half underground and has a window which looks out on our tiny front garden and the street. I have packed a lot into this room: a table in the middle of the room with an old glass shower screen on the top which I use to mix and roll out ink, and then around the walls: a cabinet with my book press on, two desks - one for drawing and one for admin, a chest for paper storage and a set of large drawers for packaging, and a bookcase for art books and to store my prints! I have also stapled inspiring postcards and prints all over the walls. I love being there, and can get quite grumpy if things keep me from it. Describe a typical day in your studio. A typical day in my studio is unlikely to be a full day unless it is a weekend day. Generally, I draw, linocut or engrave Tetra Paks in the evenings after work. I find all of these activities immensely absorbing and relaxing, really getting into a flow state. I usually reserve printing (which I find a little bit more stressful) for a weekend day when I can feel like I have a good amount of time set aside to print, and problem solve, as necessary. How long have you been printmaking? I pulled my very first linoprint in 2013, but didn't start in earnest until 2016 after I had learnt how to make colour prints using the multi-block method. What inspires/influences you? Many of my prints simply stem from a desire to see if I can realise the image in my head in a print, and my desire to make the things I want to see in the world.  I take a lot of inspiration from nature and places I have visited and loved. Often my prints incorporate both of these elements.  I have also made linoprints of artists who inspire me. My artistic influences are wide and varied. What I most admire in other artists/makers is an ability to move along their own trails, to make art and live on their own terms. As such artists/ makers I really admire are Derek Jarman, Barbara Hepworth, Grayson Perry and Maggi Hambling. They were/are unequivocal about expressing themselves and making art. My admiration for this kind of stance and the state of the world has also recently inspired me to make some more political prints. In a more practical way, there are many linocut artists I really admire and strive to be as good as. A historical influence is definitely the master printmaker and illustrator Edward Bawden. A current linocut artist I admire is Nick Morley. Nick taught me to linocut, and he basically created this monster! I have kept in touch with Nick since he taught me and I now attend a monthly Print Social at his studios in Margate which is run by him and another amazing linoprint artist, Mat Pringle. It is a real boost to be able to meet up with other linoprint geeks and talk about all things print. What is your favourite printmaking product? That has to be Caligo Safewash Relief Inks - I love the fact they can achieve such lovely pigmented colours, but are vegetable oil based and can be cleaned up with just soap and water. What have you made that you are most proud of? I can really appreciate the progression I have made in the years I have been linoprinting. I have kept one of every linoprint I have ever made since I began, stuck into various sketchbooks, and the progress is undeniable. Over the years, the execution has become more and more refined, the cuts more precise, and the prints cleaner. It is satisfying to witness this, and it is testament to the saying ‘Practice makes Printmakers’. I am really proud of this progression. I recently made a linoprint which I feel is a realisation of this. The print is of Coronation Farm, which is a derelict farm just off the track to the Men-an-Tol in Cornwall, and is a location for the film 'Enys Men'. From the moment I pulled the first print of the final layer I felt like it was the best print I've ever made, and I didn't immediately see all the things I could have done better, which was refreshing! Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? I sell my work on Etsy, and in exhibitions, and the occasional fair. I hope to exhibit more and get my work out there more in the future, but this is increasingly challenging for all artists, and having a full time job is also an inevitable limit on this. For the moment, the best place to see and buy my work is Etsy. What are your aims for the future? I guess my aims for the future are just more, more, more. More of everything print related. One goal I have set myself for 2025 is to try to convey in my prints, the wonder at and delight in nature I feel. I also want to take even more time on every print, not to rush, to gently love every part of the process and for every stroke of my pencil, cut of my gouge and roll of my ink to show my love of the subject and the practice. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives? Take your time, make things you want to see in the world, and just keep going.  To see more from Julia follow her on Instagram

Hi! I’m Beth (Bethan) a printmaker who found a love for linocut relief printing. I’m based in a little village in the middle of Derbyshire.  Describe your printmaking process. My printmaking process probably isn’t as traditional as others, I draw my designs digitally and transfer them to my lino block. For some, drawing my designs on my iPad might be seen as cheating, and that’s fine! It works well for me as I often don’t have a plan when I begin a design, and I make numerous changes throughout the drawing before transferring it to the block. I have a Woodzilla printing press which both me and my dodgy back adore! But I still finish most of my prints by hand, using my trusty candle lid as a barren. How and where did you learn to print? I’m an entirely self taught printmaker - is that the term you use for “kind of making it up as I go along?” I have always been a creative person, and in 2019 I fractured my spine and was left bedbound. To help with my struggling mental health while in bed I began painting and illustrating, it kept my mind busy and truly got me through such a difficult time (still does!). Then on a random trip to Hobbycraft, I saw an Essdee printmaking starter kit, and decided to give it a go. A few hours later my first, wobbly (and backwards) print came to life. Since then, my love for printmaking has just grown and grown and my process has expanded through lots of trial and error to find ways that work for me.  Why printmaking? I loved digital art (and I still do!) and put dozens of hours into drawings, but even after all of that time, just printing the pieces on my desktop printer didn’t feel overly rewarding. With relief printmaking, each print is a labour of love and the feeling you get knowing that the entire printing process was done with your own two hands just can’t be beaten. I find carving meditative, I adore the excitement of being close to finishing a piece knowing you can take the first proof print and see your hours of work come to life. Where do you work? At my home office/studio, it isn’t the most organised space because it’s one relatively small room packed with possessions from my different hobbies over the years. It’s just me and hundreds of plants in a (slightly) organised chaos.  Describe a typical day in your studio. My days always start with taking my dog, Max, for a walk across the fields. Once we get home and finish the small business admin I'll make a start on packaging orders. After that, it’s different each day! Some days I'll be printing for hours on end, others will be drawing or carving new designs. I really wish I could be the type of printmaker that will just carve for a couple of hours a day. But when I start a new design, I’ll spend 10+ hours carving because once I start, I struggle to stop. How long have you been printmaking? My first print was in January 2022, so it’s been 3 years of learning! What inspires you? Plants and nature are the main inspirations within my work, but more specifically, my love for houseplants. Over the years I’ve collected a couple of hundred different species from all over the world and met some incredible people along the way. I began my botanical garden lino series because I wanted to capture not only the beauty of the plants, their resilience, and the way they grow within the architecture of the beautiful glasshouses, but also the feeling of walking through them—the humid air and familiar sounds and smells—all of which I aim to capture in my prints. What is your favourite printmaking product? Pfeil tools and Caligo Safe Wash, hands down. You just can’t beat the quality of the Pfeil tools or the amount of detail you can bring to your block with them. Caligo Safe Wash speaks for itself, you’re a printmaker and somehow haven't used it yet, it will change your whole printmaking experience. What have you made that you are most proud of? It has to be my print of the Palm House at Kew Gardens, it was my first really detailed block because I'd finally got my hands on the Pfeil 11/0.5 and could actually carve tiny details. It isn’t my best work to date, but my designs before this had only taken a maximum of 8 hours to carve. This one took me 26 hours to carve so the feeling of rolling that first bit of ink was incredible. Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? My work is available on my website and my Etsy. You can also find some of my work at a few independent shops around Derbyshire. What will we be seeing from you next? If I'd written this a couple of months ago, I’d have said my absolute dream would be to have my botanical prints sold in one of the corresponding botanical gardens. But my work is now stocked at Birmingham Botanical Gardens! My next goal is to expand my series and have them stocked at more gardens! I also want to start using more colours in my prints, black will be my one true love but I'm really enjoying experimenting with more colour. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives? Do the thing you’ve been wanting to try! As a creative you’re told to ‘stick to what you know’, but if I’d have done that I’d still be trying to convince myself to continue with my mediocre watercolour paintings. Being seen as a jack of all trades isn’t a bad thing, especially if it leads to you finding your passion as I did with printmaking. To see more from Beth, follow her on Instagram and TikTok

Hi, my name is Angela Chalmers. I am a visual artist living in North Yorkshire. I work with cameraless photography techniques and the cyanotype process producing 2D and 3D artworks on paper and textiles. Cyanotype dates from the early days of photography and produces beautiful eye-catching images with a distinct rich blue colour.   Describe your printmaking process.  Working with cameraless photography, also known as a photogram is a magical and fun process. I love to push boundaries by being experimental and enjoy exploring materials to create alternate colours. I will pre-visualise an artwork, and then prepare everything I need, especially when planning 3D sculpture or bookmaking. Each piece I make is unique, similar to a monoprint. How and where did you learn to print? I started life as a painter and graduated with a fine art degree from the University of Hull about twenty years ago, so coating paper with a light-sensitive solution feels very much like watercolour painting. At the time, I explored cyanotype for a few projects, but since my course was primarily a painting course, and all my tutors were painters I had to push it aside. I picked it up a few years later, and through continuous practice, I have developed a large body of work. Why printmaking? I adore the tactile qualities of paper. Even when I was a painter I worked on handmade cotton rag papers. I like the immediacy of the cyanotype process and can achieve so much in a short space of time. You could say I’m obsessed. Where do you work?  My studio darkroom is located inside a beautiful old listed building, which is full of other inspiring creatives. I have been working from there for ten years and will probably never leave. Describe a typical day in your studio. On a normal day, I start with a walk to the studio collecting leaves and flowers that I will work with, and then mix the light-sensitive chemicals and hand-coat my paper. After the paper has dried, I will compose nature on top of the paper, and expose it outside in the sun, or under ultraviolet lamps. The development of the print uses only water, which removes the residue of chemicals leaving behind a beautiful blue and white print. What inspires you? My biggest inspiration comes from pioneering artist Anna Atkins, who employed cyanotype to create the first-ever photographic book of botanical specimens, in 1843. I have a deep fascination with 19th-century history, particularly stories about women and the art of the Pre-Raphaelites. What is your favourite printmaking product? I sometimes use foam brushes to coat paper, but my favourite brush is a Japanese Hake brush. They touch the paper gently with soft fluffy bristles made from goat hair stitched and glued into the head. This brush soaks up the solution well, perfectly blends, and eliminates streaks on your paper. It cleverly holds the liquid and allows you to coat the support for a more extended period without stopping to re-dip. Brusho powder paints are amazing when adding vibrant colour to wet cyanotypes! What have you made that you are most proud of? I am the artist in residence at a Pre-Raphaelite church close to where I live, and I have been researching the life of benefactor Mary Craven when the church was consecrated in 1863. During my time there I have produced several artworks inspired by the woman. The first called ‘Something About Mary’ celebrates her feminine energy and is a piece I’m most proud of. I’m so happy that it is on permanent exhibition. Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? I have originals and reproduction prints available to buy from www.chalmerscreative.art  What will we be seeing from you next? I am addicted to making cyanotypes and also dedicated to sharing this passion in my workshops. Before my Creative Cyanotype book was published, I was already thinking about writing another. However, the next one will be largely based on my art residency and the forgotten stories of Mary Craven to put her back in the spotlight where she deserves to be. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives? Botanical cyanotypes are a great starting point when learning the process. Masterful prints can materialise from the study and contemplation of the natural world. It is an outstanding visual reference to work from. Always observe your surroundings with a curious eye. I love to immerse myself in a beautiful landscape, such as a wonderfully scented forest or a lakeside walk. On a sunny day, I notice how sunlight casts shadows through leaves and trees on the ground and when I travel, I will photograph the colours and textures of trees and plants and write notes about anything that catches my eye.   Join Angela Chalmers in the Handprinted Studio for a two-day cyanotype printing workshop on Saturday 12th & Sunday 13th July 2025 or Monday 14th & Tuesday 15th July 2025 This engaging workshop will teach you all the essentials, including chemical mixing, hand-coating paper with brushes, correct exposures and the final development. Using ultraviolet lamps, you will create cyanotype photograms from three-dimensional objects, such as flowers, leaves, feathers, or lace. You will learn how to enhance cyanotypes through double exposure techniques and the skilful layering of hand-drawn images and text using acetate. Follow Angela on Instagram or head to her website www.angelachalmers.com  www.chalmerscreative.art