Misprints! – Letterpress Workshop with Fiona Hamilton

Saturday 18 November 2023

10am-3pm

Make letterpress business cards and postcards using your offcuts and misprints!

A fun eco-friendly workshop for participants to make business cards and stationery using paper offcuts, misprints, damaged prints and seconds cut down and printed with letterpress type. Letterpress can be used as a very low cost way of creating beautiful stationery using the metal type and ornamental type in letterpress corner, along with recycled paper offcuts.

You will gain confidence and skills using the letterpress type and presses. It is useful but not essential to have previous letterpress experience.

In this workshop you will learn how to handle and set lead type, be shown where the best type is, to print it on the presses at SPS, to clean, store the form you have made for future reuse, and how to put it away afterwards!

You can  bring old prints, test prints and offcuts of paper. Ideally around 250-300gsm and heavier. Please cut down to the following sizes before the workshop: 55x85mm for business cards, 108x148mm (A6) for postcards. Sort them based on paper weight. Eg: all Somerset Satin 300gsm together. There will be blank card cut and available so don’t worry if you don’t have anything suitable.

Fiona Hamilton is a multi-disciplinary printmaker and artist. She is knowledgeable in a number of mediums including screen print, etching, lithography, letterpress and wood engraving. Her practice explores the ecological sublime and an appreciation of the majesty of nature. 

Fiona has an MA in Multi-Disciplinary Printmaking from UWE. Previously she studied Graphic Fine Art at UCA Canterbury and established Soma Gallery in 2004, a specialist printmaking gallery, running the physical gallery spaces for 13 years and online side for 19. Fiona has extensive experience producing and curating exhibitions, projects, workshops and events.

Fiona creates her work at Spike Print Studio and sells artwork through numerous galleries and shops in the UK, as well as art fairs including Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and Wells Art Contemporary.