On a chilly July weekend, a small group of members met at Deborah Wace’s studio in the heart of Hobart to experience printing using several different techniques. Simply being in Deb’s studio is inspirational.
The first run of prints on the printing press used an acrylic plate as the base with inked dried leaves, grasses and flowers applied. Deb gave us the following advice:
Print 1- be sparse
Print 2- go off the edge of the plate.
It was impressive how gently and precisely Deb applied ink to the leaves. Most of us are still looking at traces of ink on our hands and nails which were often very black.
Next was a direct print where foliage was inked and laid directly onto the plate of the printing press which resulted in crisp images on a white background.
Now that we all had the skill to ink up and operate the printing press there came time for experimentation. We were all keen to try Deb’s technique of applying interest to the background and it was fascinating how each member approached this so differently.
On the second day, prints were finished off and experimentation continued. Deb also demonstrated another technique using tissue paper and a pen to create a print.
It was a great weekend with Deb being very generous with her knowledge, equipment and advice. Everyone took home a stack of prints that are just the start of exciting new works. There is still colouring, stitching, beading, cutting and manipulating to go until they are complete.