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What is a limited edition print?

Ever wondered what those numbers in the bottom corner of an artwork really mean? Is it a good thing if the number is small or big? Editioned prints can confuse people… even those who have been working in the art industry for some time.

I’ll explain how I go about editioning my own lino prints and it might help shed some light.

When I design a lino artwork I decide how many copies of the print I will make. I print exactly that amount and no more. Each print is then labelled in the bottom left hand corner. The first print is labelled number 1, the next number 2 and so on. The number is written in front of another number which states the total amount in the edition so the owner knows exactly what they have bought. For example 1/20 means they have bought the first print in an edition of just 20.

Why is it important?

If an artist’s work becomes significantly valuable then this is vital information for valuers as a print from a small edition is going to be worth more than a print from a large edition due to its relative rarity. Not many printmakers are expecting their work to be valued at Christie’s, however it is still an important responsibility when selling prints to let the buyer know exactly how many other copies exist in the world and therefore how unique their purchase is.

Big editions or small?

Some artists sell in huge editions, particularly if their work is popular and they can satisfy a large market of buyers, but also if their prints are made by a process that easily produces large quantities eg digital printing. They may even have technicians to help with the workload. This is all great news for the artist and doesn’t really de-value the print itself to the current owner.

When I print my editions the numbers are a lot smaller. I choose an edition of around 20 for my smaller pieces and as low as 5 for the larger artworks. This is because printing by hand with a baren is hard work and I have chosen a career as an artist and not a machine! 

Printing in small editions does mean that the artworks are pretty special… there’s not many of them in the world. But then, I would argue that what makes a piece of art truly special is what it means to you, regardless of any numbers, price tags or editions.

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Small Wonders

The lino printing project I am currently working on is a small one.

After spending the last two years producing large prints for the walls at Chalk Gallery in Lewes, I have recently returned to working on a more intimate scale, similar to that with which I began my work as a lino printer and first became absorbed with this addictive process.

The subject matter I am studying at present also lends itself to attention on a smaller scale, with a quiet and gentle focus; Snails, and garden insects, small creatures going about their daily business, easily overlooked but so important in the part they play in the larger story of biodiversity.

The idea came to me while I was walking alongside the local riverbank one morning after the rain.

I live in a beautiful part of the countryside and find inspiration easily in the natural landscape around me. Unlike many of the other local artists who I am friends with however, I find myself drawn to the detail. While they paint outside in all weathers, recording the undulating hills of the South Downs, the swathes of grassland or vast seascapes I tend to find myself gazing at a single blade of grass. My countryside walks are never long ones and I have usually found something to draw or photograph within a few yards.

On this particular morning it was the brilliantly coloured baby snails which caught my attention, straggling across the path (I rescued a few) and winding themselves up cow parsley stems. The contrasting pale yellow and deep brown stripes on their shells is an excellent design; eye-catching, high in contrast and almost hypnotic. Perfect for printmaking. It wasn’t long before I was crouching among the wet grass with my mobile phone and some curious looks from passers by. The idea to create some small works, celebrating small wonders, was fully formed

The project is currently in its very early stages with two potential linoprints begun this week. Carving designs on this scale presents some challenges of it’s own. The temptation would be to use smaller and smaller tools in order to capture finer and finer detail. However for me it is always the “maker’s mark” which appeals in linocuts, so apart from a few very fine marks, the main image has been carved with my favourite pfiel tool number 9. Carving with this approach means simplification is necessary, and conscious choices have to be made about what is truly important to the image and helpful in the design.

Re-creating a small subject on a small scale is satisfying in it’s symmetry. The final pieces in this project will be small, and will need small frames, and a quiet space to be enjoyed. They would be lost on a feature wall. I like the thought that one day in the future, when someone pauses on a staircase, or a landing, to look into the frame, they will be greeted with a special and intimate moment, rather as I was that morning on the riverbank with the snails and the rain. It will feel meaningful.

Maybe art doesn’t always have to make large statements. Sometimes it can make connections instead.

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INK at Colonnade House

What a treat! To exhibit alongside fellow printmakers from Sussex in an exhibition dedicated solely to matters of printmaking. “INK” is curated by Peon Boyle of Sussex Printmakers and showcases the work of artists working in the medium of screen print, lino print, collograph, monoprint, etching… It’s all here.

While exploring the work on display it struck me how apt the name for this exhibition is. The medium of ink is present and is important in every aspect. Sometimes thick and raised from the surface of the paper, sometimes machine-smooth in it’s application. Resonant, moody tones created through intaglio, versus opaque colour blocks made with relief printing methods. What is it that drives our obsession with this colour-infused and oily substance which often clings to our hands and overalls as much as to the plate?

Printmaking is, in essence, the act of transferring a colour from one surface to another by pressing. It is a coming together of surfaces. Touch is the secret ingredient and is the method which creates the image. In the case of print, it is not necessarily the movement of the artists hand, the gesture or the mark so much, but a meeting between paper and plate whereby an image is produced. It is a record of something that has taken place. A good example of what Roland Barthes referred to when talking about photographic prints as a depiction of ‘what was’ and not “what is”.

In ancient times Japanese fishermen inked the bodies of fish they had caught and pressed the scaly surface to paper in order to record their catch. In even more ancient times the earth pressed tiny sea creatures into soft sediment creating fossils. Pressing then, is a process of fixing things, catching time or preserving a moment? Perhaps this is what draws artists to the press and the plate, and the medium of ink.

A seed head, a skull, waves fixed in mid-motion, pebbles on the beach and the turning screws of the press itself. It’s all here, ready for you to contemplate, in your own time, at INK.

“INK” at Colonnade House in Worthing, runs from 14th September to 1st October 2021.

Exhibiting Artists;

Anna Vartianinen, Barbara Byars, Sue Hawksworth, Rosemary Jones, Sarah Sepe, Melissa Birch, Martha Harris, Hattie Lockhart-smith, Nora Young, Vicky Gomez, Nicola Brewerton and Peon Boyle.