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 Fei, a printmaker and designer working in Beijing. I make cards, prints, and run workshops in the city.  I have a day job as a brand designer, and I use my spare time to grow my printmaking practice.  Describe your printmaking process. I start with simple sketches in my head or on my sketchbook, if an idea keeps coming back, I will realize it by creating it into a design. I then transfer the best design onto a piece of lino block, and start carving. Usually the majority of the heavy-lifting is done at sketching stage, so I let myself enjoy the comfort of carving, often with a podcast and a pot of tea next to me. How and where did you learn to print? I studied printmaking and illustration at university. It felt natural to me, using a gouge, pushingmy way through the material. Why printmaking? It felt like the sweet intersection of control and spontaneity. Printmaking loves to create unexpected shapes, textures, and surprising results, it's a lot like watercolours, you need to havefun with it, if you control it too much it will lose life, if you accept the flow of the medium, itrewards you with abundant amazingness. I never get tired of seeing what the result/processoffers me, no matter how much I plan every step, there is always surprise.  Where do you work? I work in Beijing, China. Describe a typical day in your studio. I divide my process into carving days and printing days. In printing days I would first cut paper, Iuse rolls of luscious Japanese hand-made printmaking paper 90cm by 70cm, I make editions of8-10 prints, size 50x50cm, so I spend almost a day just cutting paper. Then I would pull out thebig roller, hand print and burnish every edition. I stop after all the paper is finished or there's no wall space left in my small loft studio. How long have you been printmaking? 8 years or so of constant effort. What inspires you? I'm inspired by textures, odd shapes, organic, rough-on-the-edges things and un-finished things.Such as odd looking gourds, uneven pottery, etc. What is your favourite printmaking product? I recently created a piece about my neighborhood, I live in a metropolitan of 22M people, it'shome to countless ancient archetectures with rich history. One of the historic sites is Drum &Bell towers around where I live. They are more than 750 years old, that's how people used to telltime by listening to the drum and bells ring. This piece is my favourite because I did the leastamount of planning, I just painted with an ink brush onto the lino, then started carving. It felt like something unique to me. It shows how my mind thinks, filled with visual details, nature and man-made objects blending into each other, losing their boundaries. What have you made that you are most proud of? This relates to my printmaking practice, but not a printmaking product. Sometime ago I spent afew days in south west of China, learing yet another of my favourite techniques, batik dye. It wasa 7-day course condensed into 3 due to lack of time. I spent the first 2 days learning how toindigo dye using threads, then the 3rd day the teacher introduced me to batik. I felt something erupting out of my chest due to excitement. I love drawing, so I lost all concept of time and sense of self, batiking from morning to late night. Where can we see your work? Where do you sell? My instagram is @feifeiart, I sell mostly in China, but if you see something you like on my page, my DM is open. What will we be seeing from you next? Probably more batik :P, and larger scale prints. Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives? Art is a devotional act. Your purpose is to produce the best work you can and leave others to judge. Feel stuck? Look within, you have the answer, you are just looking at the wrong place. To see more from Fei 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