Lino Printing Classes - How Rosie Learned to Lino Print Like a Pro

I’ve been teaching regular Lino Printing classes at the Bristol Folk House since January 2016 and it’s been such a pleasure to be able to pass on my skills to others. I often get students coming along with various abilities. Many are complete beginners, some have some printing experience, many have no art background at all and some have lots and are looking for specific help in their lino printing journey. All are very welcome and It’s great to have a mixture of talents coming to my classes

From time to time, I will get a student who from the beginning I can tell they have a natural ability and flare with the Lino printing medium. One such student was Rosie from The Wild Print Studio. Straight away she produced lovely work and has gone on to create and sell her stunning ocean inspired lino prints

So, I caught up with Rosie and asked her a few questions

Can you introduce yourself? What did you do before attending my Lino Printing classes?

Thanks for the kind words, Kerry - I miss our sessions at the Folk House! They were so good

Anyway hello world I am Rosie. Avid diver, tea guzzler, marshmallow snaffler and summit seeker. When I am not in my studio, I am outside somewhere. I’ve lived and worked in Bristol for the past 9 years and my small handmade venture (The Wild Print Studio) grew from my time with Kerry at Bristol Folk House.

I also ‘‘work work’’ where I help universities to spend their money in more innovative, novel and creative ways to help support important things like the economy, society and the environment. I love my job, but I also hope to win the EuroMillions one day

Why did you choose to learn Lino Printing? Did you have any printing experience before the class?

I was in your first class of 2020 (just before the world went crazy!), where I started the New Year wanting to learn something new. As someone who is very outdoorsy and grew up in the countryside, I do not winter well in a city. So, this was a great way to keep me sane and sociable whilst making me make time to be creative. This was my first experience of printmaking, so I was really walking into it blind.

Bristol is such a hot spot for creatives, I've seen so much beautiful print work in and around Bristol by local artists and overtime it has really sparked my enthusiasm to explore it as a different medium to work with. I’ve done a lot of painting so printmaking felt like a natural direction for me to step in. Just put ‘the thing’ on the paper, right?

Looking back, what was the best thing you learnt from the training you did with me?

I think having you there, so wise and knowledgeable about materials and ‘what works’, was really helpful. I was able to use some of the sessions as a troubleshooting opportunity when things didn’t go quite as planned at home. It was also super fun to meet other people on the course. We’d exchange ideas, motivate each other and problem solve together.

I have often found ‘spatial mechanical thinking’ a real challenge - which are skills you definitely need to be able to understand what a lino cut will look like in reverse - or how to go about creating something called a ‘reduction print’, which is the process of creating a multi coloured print whilst peeling away bits at a time from a single block (I still haven't been brave enough to try it out yet!)

As a visual learner as well as someone who learns through doing, having you directly walk us through how to execute those techniques, and/or explain what was going wrong, was really valuable in terms of being able to properly understand, explore and cement new skills

What inspires your work?

I grew up near the Jurassic coastline and so, I was regularly by some body of water throughout my childhood. My parents used to bring back spider crabs, mackerel, lobsters etc for the cooking pot when I was young, so I have some pretty vivid memories of what life was like back then. I am an advanced diver now and my art is inspired through my underwater travels & adventures (UK & across the globe). My pieces often reflect some burning ambition or underpinning desire. Sometimes they are inspired by my dreams, or even my mood. 

I have a real need to be able to express myself creatively. As a deep thinking, deep feeling, marginal introvert, being able to project my inner world outwardly helps me to communicate and feel connected to the world. It helps me make sense of my thoughts and emotions, whilst allowing me to feel seen

Tell us where we can find you and buy your work?

No website yet, and hopefully a YouTube channel in the future.
But for now, I share all my processes, new ideas and shop updates on Instagram at The Wild Print Studio

And you can find my work in my shop at Etsy The Wild Print Studio

Thank you Rosie for taking the time to answer some questions, for the lovely words and it’s great seeing your Lino prints develop

Fancy attending one of my Lino Printing classes?

If Rosie has inspired you to give it a go yourself then good news I have regular classes running at Bristol Folk House

Next classes are currently full and I will post when the next lot are available soon

If you’re unable to attend one of my Lino Printing Classes then I do have a host of free tutorials over on my

Kerry Day Arts YouTube Channel and here’s an example of type of videos I produce

And if you would like some peer support too then please join my Lino Printing With Kerry Facebook Group where you can ask questions, support each other, show your work in progress as well as getting access to my tutorial videos and exclusive content for members only

I also have a host of useful Lino Printing Tips Blog posts for you to have a good read, including Lino Printing Tips: 3 ways to line up your lino prints when printing a very useful and popular guide on registration methods for your Lino Printing projects