by Nichola Goff from the Yard Print Studio
In amongst the busy time of organising the Inked Print Fair and exhibition I had the joy of collaborating with Sara Rickard from Canopy to spend the day outdoors being creative with a lovely group of people on a Walk and Print workshop; part of the Inked Festival workshop programme.
This was a printmaking workshop with a difference. Drawing on Sara’s wonderful experience of leading groups on walks in nature that encourage responding to the environment and experience through creative exercises, we went on an exploratory wander around Newent lake trying different mark making tools and practices that encouraged being expressive and spontaneous.
This led on beautifully to a printmaking session in the afternoon where we got to spend time in the Secret Gallery monoprinting. The Inked festival theme is ‘Patterns in the Forest’ and the expressive drawings people had made in the morning were perfect as inspiration to explore monoprint; an intuitive and spontaneous printmaking process where you transfer drawings onto paper with ink, transforming the drawing into a lively inky print.
It was a real treat to take time to slow down, be in nature, connect with others and mark make with ink. No pressure, just play.
The workshop was also in the run up to Canopy’s ArtsFEST in Newent and so offered a fantastic opportunity to bring people into Newent to discover the Town and find out about the arts festival and what was on. A rich collaboration on many levels.
Canopy Creative Network 