The Five Blog
A showcase for some of our latest work, investigations and ideas. Influences, materials, techniques, problems/solutions and more
May 1, 2024
Kay Senior: current work
My works are process led, experimenting with form, feeling, movement, absorption, essence, forces, fragility and resilience. Above: Vortex. Blotting paper, ink Vortex 2: Somerset paper, ink BIO Kay Senior (b. 1958 Leeds) is a British artist working and living in London. Her work moves between drawing, printmaking, and sculpture to discover gestural and expressive forms. […]
April 22, 2024
The Young Moon
I was helping out with some collagraph print demonstrations at The Ropewalk Print Fair (Barton upon Humber , Lincolnshire) last weekend. In between demos, I had the chance to print a plate I hadn’t used in quite a while. Luckily, the combination of carborundum and varnish is one that is easy to print. The plate […]
April 21, 2024
The excitement of possibilities
There is always something exciting and energising about discovering a fresh method of working which opens new possibilities. I recently spent a weekend with Dr Ralph Overill (@between_the_images on Instagram), an enthusiastic and generous tutor who introduced his students to the magic of paper lithography. The process, as with traditional stone lithography, relies on the […]
April 10, 2024
Inspiration: the built environment and working spaces
Sarah’s current work combines her interest in the built environment and working spaces with a use of collage which includes old print proofs, specially printed papers, photographic imagery and materials such as vintage book cloth. She makes these elements into pieces which she calls Print/Collages. Sarah Mander, April 2024 At the Quayside Old Dock
February 3, 2021
Metallics 2
When I created my first Metallics, it was important to me to quickly move the idea from concept to reality. After creating more pieces, I began looking at how two or more might be juxtaposed as a composition, or whether a single fragment might work alone. I also considered the practicalities of presenting the work […]
June 16, 2020
Chine collé on burnt plates
I have been trying to find a way of perfecting a chine collé technique for around three years (yes, really!). I have probably read dozens of articles and blog posts by other printmakers, outlining their preferred technique. These have involved different types of glues and ways of applying paper or pieces of metallic foil to […]
April 20, 2020
Metallics I
For the last few months, my investigations into the individual processes within printmaking have led me towards the use of metallics. This work began with a desire to create new decorative elements or embellishments for use in traditional collagraph prints. These large, torn pieces or smaller fragments would be made by bonding faux metal leaf […]
April 7, 2020
Frank Bowling
Back in June 2019 I was in London to meet up with an official from the Center for Contemporary Printmaking (CCP) in the U.S. This was ahead of my residency at CCP the following month. I was to meet up with her at a gallery in central London showing some contemporary printmaking. I knew in […]
March 27, 2020
The Complete Collagraph
Alongside all of the interesting conversations on printmaking I had with tutors and fellow printmakers on my USA residency, perhaps the most important thing to come out of the visit was a book. Chris Shore, the Master Printer at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking, had a copy and recommended it to me. It is ‘The […]
March 3, 2020
Coating plates
For around three years (yes, three years) I’ve been struggling with how to properly seal my often highly-textured collagraph printing plates. When I first started printmaking, I used shellac to seal my card or mount board plates. The plates were relatively small in size, so it didn’t require a large amount of liquid to coat […]
February 12, 2020
Large scale monoprints
Back in June/July last year, just before my trip to the U.S., I had started begun experimenting with small-scale monoprints, using my little XCut XPress print press at home. Those results were so encouraging that, on my return to the UK, I wanted to try some larger prints using brayers on acrylic sheet at around […]
January 25, 2020
Crisp packet plates
I’m always looking out for different materials and methods for making collagraph printing plates. Included in my regular sources of inspiration are the blog postings of fellow printmaker Emily Harvey, aka The Curious Printmaker (Instagram: @thecuriousprintmaker). Following her instructions, I used an ordinary household iron, plus a hand-held heat gun and soldering iron to apply […]