In this post I'll tell you more about one of my favourite places in the world, my printmaking workshop. Welcome behind the scenes and I hope you feel inspired to go and create your own art!

THE SPACE

The printmaking workshop is where I do all my larger collagraph and linocut prints. It is part of a much larger space where there are several workshops including photography, ceramics, wood, textiles, metal, a digital printshop and a huge space for monumental art. It is a collective space where an artist or creative person can apply to become a member. I pay a yearly membership fee and a smaller fee for every hour that I use the workshop. The space is quite rough and dirty and I love walking in there and seeing all the creative projects that are going on, the sounds from the machines in the wood workshop and the smell of ink in the printmaker section. Unfortunately we have to move to another part of Stockholm next year, which is sad because it is an amazing space and it is located just five minutes from where I live and next door to my kids' school.

The photos show what I usually do in the workshop; Carving linoleum sheets on the hot plates, which makes the lino easier to carve, and printing linocuts and collagraphs. It's all very well organized with all the tools I need to make a print and the supplies to clean up the mess afterwards. Printing paper and ink is not provided, I keep mine in a drawer I rent so that I don't have to transport everything back and forth.

THE PRESSES

We have three big presses in the printmaking workshop. They are old and have such a fantastic patina. The biggest one, a Krause press, is for copperplate, drypoint and etchings and may not be adjusted to print a collagraph or linocut. I use a slightly smaller one, a Domeij press, when I do my prints. Still I can do prints with maximum width of 70 cm, which is not bad. In the printmaking area there is also a litography press, and a smaller handpress for relief prints. Beside the presses there are several vacuum machines to make silkscreens or screenprints and two long tables to print textiles. I am very grateful to be able to be a member of such an inspiring and creative community and each time I visit here I learn something new from other artists working around me.

MAKING A COLLAGRAPH PRINT

In this video you can see what a day when I make collagraphy prints looks like. The process involves inking, wiping and printing.

Below you can see some of the collagraph (or collograph as it is also spelled) prints that I've made during the last year in the printmaking workshop.

MAKING A LINOCUT PRINT

In this video you can see what a day when I make linoleum prints looks like. If I've carved the linoleum at home the process in the workshop involves rolling on ink and printing. What you can't see is the cleaning up process, which normally takes around one hour to complete.

Below you can see some of the linocut prints that I've made during the last year in the printmaking workshop.