Inspired by my wild country garden, the birds which inhabit it and also by buildings and chairs, I use pencils and ink pens to create my initial sketches. Designs are transferred onto printing blocks using tracing paper or a light box. As well as a variety of carving and etching tools, I have a number of rollers for applying inks, sometimes using a fade across a block to achieve variation in colour.
Depending on the size and complexity of the print which I am pulling, I have a choice of presses:
An old book binding press, my hand-held Slama or baren ( perfect for large prints) or my new multi-purpose printing press.
I use a variety of techniques including:
Relief prints from traditional lino, monoprints using foliage from the garden, dry point etchings from acetate and etchings using tetrapak. I enjoy combining all forms of print and may add chine collé, a fine overlay of print bonded onto another print.
sallycunis printmaker 