….and even better they don’t disappear but are there whenever I want them”

This testimonial from student Debbie Leech, whose work heads this post, filled my heart with joy! It encompasses everything I aim for with my online workshops. Not just a course, but a valuable resources for years to come.

If you could slice me I half lengthways one half would be a painter and the other a printmaker. For me the two ways of working are inextricably linked, I paint like a printmaker with rollers and layers, I print like a painter with mark making and mess! My adventures into either enhance the other.

So, having run a number of online workshops in painting, composition and abstraction it was clearly time to run an in-depth printmaking workshop. But where to start? It’s such a huge subject with so many possible avenues. In addition the students would need a press, but with the availability of craft die cut machines such as the Xcut Xpress and the Sizzix Big Shot Plus intaglio printmaking is now available to all. I have been using these machines in my workshops for the last few years, so running an online course using them was the natural next step. (there’s a youtube video here)

After a lot of reflection it was clear that if I wanted to run a course that was challenging I would need to set a pre-condition that students knew the fundamentals of how to ink and print an intaglio plate, otherwise the course would stop and start and lose momentum. So, last year I designed Discover Collagraphy as a self-paced course dealing with all the basics of creating and printing plates by building, reducing and adding drypoint. My beginners courses tend to have 2-3 hours of content and I should have guessed what was to come when it finally went live with nearly 4 hours of content!

My aim for the next level course Make Plates Make Prints was to provide students everything I could think of to enable them to create exiting, dynamic and creative prints that I have gleaned from decades of research and practice, basically the contents of my head! It ran as a four week course from January to February and a lot of the Discover Collagraphy students signed up. I was only a couple of weeks ahead of them in terms of filming content as I wanted to respond to what they wanted, and I was delighted to add in things that I hadn’t thought of.. melting plastics and tetrapak printmaking being just a few.  What was initially intended to be a four week course with around 7 hours of content grew to 13 hours of content. But I was happy to do so as the development, ideas, and sheer joy and energy that was coming from the group made it into an amazing experience for us all. When it runs again in SEPTEMBER it will be a SIX week course…..

My aim is always to encourage students to see what’s possible and find their own ways of working, not to create work like mine. I was amazed and delighted by the diversity of the work they produced, how they embraced my ideas about experimenting creatively and taking a painterly approach to printmaking. Some of the students were still essentially beginners, others had been printmaking for years but wanted to refresh and enhance their practice. Everyone was supportive and generous with their comments and suggestions to each other.  Not everyone wanted to share and comment and that was fine, but those who did enhanced the experience for them selves and other. About half of the students had taken Discover Collagraphy and wanted to move onto the next level.

So, what did they do? After the initial introduction to the course and materials they embarked on a series of plates using reductive techniques; scoring into card, scratching drypoint and additive techniques; building plates with papers, paints, pastes and gels, and melted plastics.  Having created a number of plates they were then shown a range of ways to push them to their creative limits! This included inking a la poupee, silk aquatint, combining plates as layers, cutting them up and reconfiguring them, masking areas and adding colour with chine colle.  Before the course I created a downloadable booklet of prints from over 30 test plates showing the range of materials that can be applied to build a plate. In addition, each section introduced them to artists that use that particular way of working. No wonder we ended up running over the four weeks!

Make Plates Make Prints will run again in the Autumn..as a six week course! You can sign up for an alert if you want priority notice of enrolment and the early bird discount. I’m also planning another short self-paced course in printing from recyclables called TETERA ETCETERA.

Below is a gallery of the work they produce, but before that I’m sharing a few testimonials….

I worked in HE and Adult Education for 20 years and I know how challenging teaching by distance learning can be; and what hard work it is to develop courses.  I can honestly say your approach is brilliant and the video workshops fit my learning style very well.  I can’t tell you how refreshing it is to be taught by someone who is so knowledgeable and encouraging. I also liked the fact that you are willing to try new things yourself as you go along.  Anne

You have been an inspiration and a lifeline. I feel as if I have a big box of chocolates there for me to dip into whenever I choose to….and even better they don’t disappear but are there whenever I want them. You are an inspirational teacher – your honesty and humour are infectious and make the lessons so relatable. Anyway, gush over!! Back to my plates and prints.  Debbie Leech

I am blown away by how much you have put into this course and how you are sharing all your experience and information. I am so pleased I signed up, it has got me back into printmaking after quite a long break. It’s all I want to do at the moment!   Marian

I love the detail and thoroughness of your explanations and demos. So well thought through and taking nothing for granted. I have no formal art training so found the idea of posting my work with such talented people rather daunting but the positive comments and your encouragement have been most appreciated.  Alan

Thank you very much! It’s a great course which I will go on enjoying and learning from. I have a lot to still work through. Your on-line workshops have been a godsend during this most extraordinary year. Well worth the money and super teaching and support     Rachael

What can I say!!?? What a brilliant course. Thank you so much for opening myself and my practice up to the wonders of collagraphy. As an educator I am well aware of how much time, energy and head space it takes to organise a course such as this and you have done this magnificently. You have covered everything through the videos, the booklet, the troubleshooting guide, the supply list and your feedback online. Your attention to detail and delivery is second to none. The Ruzuku platform is excellent, I had never heard of it before, but what a great way to deliver an online course and the fact that we can all share our work and learn from each other ad infinitum is just wonderful. Fran

Thank you so much for putting together such a wonderful course. It was so well structured and delivered with good quality videos, easily accessible links to resources and photographic examples of work at various stages of completion and finish. I learned so much about new techniques and ways of working and presenting my work – information which I will continue to use and integrate into my art work    Rhona

You have covered so much, been very responsive, adding activities, answering questions and commenting so quickly that it really didn’t feel like ‘online learning’ – you really made us feel connected and encouraged. And an extra thank you for making the course contents free to access beyond the initial period – so useful for going back over the videos and looking at examples. I also found it a great balance between teaching skills / techniques and showing how you would approach making a plate – it’s that bit that I always wanted to see in action. Looking over your shoulder as you make decisions and comment on what you are doing has been the best bit for me.   Kate

As an artist I have so enjoyed exploring collagraphy. You have generously shown us so many techniques and methods that you have developed over many years, pinpointing things to look out for, discoveries you have made along the way and tips and shortcuts that I know take years of research and development. I am delighted with what I have learned so far and I have only just begun! You have opened a door into a world that I am so excited to explore. My mind is bursting with ideas and potential from the few techniques that I have tried and there is so much more that I have yet to try and explore. The possibilities are endless!  Frances Law

This course has been brilliant. I have taken online courses, as well as having done quite a bit of collage work, and some wood and Lino cuts.  Your course has been a wonderful bringing together of all of these elements, which ties in brilliantly with where I’m at!  I love your mantra of “what if…” and have learnt that having spectacular failures are just fine.  Necessary in fact!!  The amount of content as well as your generous and supportive method of teaching are really great.  Who knew there could be so much scope!  Thoroughly look forward to implementing more of these techniques.   Tricia

WOW, you really have provided a fantastic content packed course. The discussion group has been excellent and seeing the groups work and reading their process, successes and failures all adds to the learning experience. Thank you for sharing your experience, knowledge and enthusiasm. Whilst I would love to have met you and the other students in person having this resource available to me is use is absolutely fantastic as we’ve covered so much, my head would explode!     Sam

GALLERY

In no particular order, thanks to all students for letting me use their photos, if yours isn’t included (or you want to change it!) then email me a photo and I’ll add it to the gallery……

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