MAKING OF: Our print making studio

Printmaking Workshop

Earlier this year we got the keys to a new studio which we have slowly developed into a home for our printing projects. It is a beautiful space with grand double height ceilings and massive Georgian sash windows overlooking Clew Bay.

Now we can watch the tide draw in and out while we work... cutting, hand carving, sketching, mixing inks, rubbing, printing and washing up. Now we have this beautiful space we can really enjoy the slow rituals of our printmaking processes. The inks for each print are mixed by hand on a glass plate. Using only natural daylight we can push and pull the inks, looking for subtle and gentle variations in hue. No two prints will ever be the same.

At high tide on a Summer's day sail boats float past the open window. In Winter the huge old windows rattle and white sea horses rise up on the slate grey sea. It is always changing, always different, never the same and it suits us perfectly.

LISTEN:

What we listen to while we work….

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05vsv6y

Check out this BBC radio podcast about seaweed culture in Ireland. We especially enjoyed Ella McSweeney’s interview with seaweed foragers in Clew Bay (the beautiful bay our studio overlooks).