I was interested in exploring printing techniques, particularly drypoint and monotype, neither of which I had previous experience with. I had been following the work of painter and printmaker Emerson Mayes, and was particularly drawn to his animal study monotypes. The DYCP gave me the opportunity to join him in November 2024 on a 3-day workshop, learning how to work with these two techniques.

I felt immediately at ease with monotype. Firstly, it was a sensory pleasure. Working negatively, wiping away the paint to create an image felt incredibly soothing, and watching these birds ‘emerge’ was utter joy. It was smooth, gliding, steady. And it made a single print. It captured a moment. It felt so natural a process, my body simply said ‘yes’. Back in Herefordshire, I began to research how to make oil paint using natural pigments and thought about the long-term possibilities of producing my own oil.

I met Nichola Goff at a Queering the Wye event in early 2024, screen printing with inks she had produced from earth pigments. Planning the DYCP, I knew Nic would be a brilliant artist to learn from, both in terms of sustainable materials and printing techniques. In the new year, I visited The Yard Print Studio to chat about her practice and discuss the DYCP so far. In March we had a letter press tutoring session and I began to consider the use of embossing. As my DYCP year drew to a close, I spent time in the studio creating monotypes prints for the incorporation of text and embossed some shorter poems/lines using the letter press.

I look forward to further developing my use of monotype and building a larger collection of natural oil paints for this purpose.