Highland Print Studio

As Alison has already started delving into our project archive, I thought I could take us back even further – to 1996, when we were known as Highland Printmakers Workshop & Gallery. I always felt that last bit was a clumsy add on, and ironically one of the most memorable works produced during this period didn’t require a gallery. Impotent. …

We are delighted to have a guest blogger, Michael O’Donnell. We have fond memories of Mick’s time in the Studio seven years ago, and it is great to see he is finally putting his printmaking into action. What took him so long?… John Greig & Sons, Edinburgh 1810 (later becoming D & J Greig). In 2013 I was to spend …

Block printing is one of the oldest and most immediate forms of printmaking with the earliest surviving examples of printing onto cloth originating in China around 4500 years ago. However it was in India where people really began to experiment with natural dyes and pattern taking block printing to greater heights. Specific patterns and colours became synonymous with distinctive areas …

There is a reminder of the art of letter writing in this final episode, as I cut and print the final two colours of the reduction cut print. Linocut is a slow way to write a letter, unlikely to challenge digital technology, and it has to be cut back to front. But it keeps me happy. John

I’m unashamedly highjacking this blog because I really feel that the digital world could do with another cat story. Also, it was a year ago today that Missing, Presumed Dead became Missing, Presumed Fed. Last February, after a year of saying “never again”, I left the office one day, drove to the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to …

With the new registration system working well, I have the courage to push on with another two colours. In this episode I at least manage to fill most of the paper, instead of the pathetically small amount of the first instalment. Just in case the paper waste polis have tuned in… John

Another wee dip into our archive has thrown up a project with the grand title of ‘A Brief Lesson in Caledonian Antisyzygy’. We refer to it as our ‘unsung heroes’ versus ‘much sung zeros. John and I had already been thinking about projects inspired by unsung heroes, when one evening we went to a talk by the historian, Sir Tom …

It has been so difficult to prevent spoilers getting out before this big finale. But here it is at last, the big reveal. The technique in this final part is unusual. Maybe through laziness, I am not cutting away everything I don’t need. Instead, there is final cutting on the figure, and local inking of the figure with a small …