Floral Impressions Relief print workshop at isle print studio
- Lisa Takahashi
- Jan 11
- 2 min read
I started my teaching schedule for 2026 yesterday with a workshop entitled Floral Impressions: A Relief Print Workshop. It was a total joy to run and having been very thoughtful about not packing my schedule with too many workshops this year, I'm now itching to add a few more in!!
This workshop was a new concept for the studio; to base the day around a certain subject. I chose floral themes prints as I felt participants could take the theme in any direction - from meticulous botanical studies to wild and rugged interpretations of nature. It was a delight to see exactly this happen!
We worked with pink Speedycarve instead of my usual favoured choice of traditional battleship grey lino. Speedycarve is a joy to cut into, and unlike grey lino, stays easy to cut even on the coldest of days. Somerset is experiencing a cold snap at the moment and everyone seemed to enjoy working with Speedycarve - and indeed, designs seemed to be ready for printing much quicker than I expected. Speedycarve by name, speedycarve by nature....
Once designs were refined and then transferred to the block the group of 9 cut their images and then printed, rolling ink on with brayers. We used Caligo oil based ink - beautiful hues at just the right consistency for linocut. The inks help to achieve vibrant and richly coloured prints.
Workshop attendees always seem to love working with the Albion printing press - it has a satisfying action that results in lovely results.
Soon enough beautiful prints emerged, and there was time left for everyone to explore alternative colour ways.
For the first time on a workshop, I gave everyone a window mount and cellophane sleeve so that they could see their favourite print within a frame. It can really help to see the work in its best light, and seemed to be a popular idea. I hope to offer this on all future intro courses to help build artist confidence.
Thank you to the lovely group who attended the workshop - i hope to repeat this workshop soon - email takahashiprints@Gmail.com if you'd like to sign up!
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