This woodgrain print is the largest I have completed so far – the slice of timber is about 80cm across, so it needed lots of sanding, burning, inking and burnishing! Ella Webb, my wonderful framer, has complemented the image with a charcoal mat and Victorian mountain ash frame. This piece was chosen as the winner of the Contemporary Art Prize at the recent Hamilton Rotary Art Show, which was very exciting! The judge is the new curator at the Hamilton Gallery and I was pleased to see some other printmakers amongst the prize winners.
It has been quite a while since I posted here, but if you follow me on Instagram (@brittgow) or Facebook, you will know that I have been very involved with the start up of a new community gallery at 38 Bank Street, Port Fairy, in SW Victoria. A group known as South West Makers began advocating for a maker space, retail gallery, exhibition space, studios and workshop rooms in 2021. We found an ex-solicitors’ rooms that has huge potential to fulfill all these functions. So far we have textile artists, glass blowers, jewellers, ceramicists, printmakers, painters, eco-dyers, patchworkers and even a staff and wand maker! So, if you are in the area, be sure to come and visit.
What a wonderful couple of hours of gelatin plate mono-printing at “Off the Rails” in Dunkeld! Eleven lovely ladies, including three mother/daughter pairs, brought their creative energy and enthusiasm to a restored railway station, re-purposed as a community venue. The following testimonial was posted on the OTR Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/100064447221744/posts/pfbid02EUAtbGoEcZKtQgRKTPsV3ckoVs3pNFUYma6LyKywPwnACqjwT78ofwWf9hTAJv1Ul/) along with lots of great images of the workshop.
Wow! What a mesmerizing dive into creative expression! Britt Gow led a fantastic workshop yesterday and everyone left with beautiful, one-off artworks! Thanks so much Britt! We are looking forward to Beginner’s Lino Cut printing with you next Saturday!
Here’s one take on Saturday’s creative adventure….
Hosted in the cozy, sunlit creative space that is Off the Rails Dunkeld, this workshop proved to be a captivating journey into the realm of gelatin printmaking. Under the expert guidance of Printmaker, Britt Gow, participants were treated to an exploration of techniques that fostered imagination and resulted in stunning, one-of-a-kind artworks.
The workshop began with an engaging introduction to the art of gelatin printing and how to make your own Gelli Plate at home. Clear and concise explanations made the process accessible to both beginners and seasoned artists, setting the tone for an inclusive and supportive environment.
The heart of the workshop lay in the hands-on experience of creating gelatin prints. The tactile nature of the process was incredibly satisfying, as attendees experimented with different tools, paints, textures, and stencils. The atmosphere was abuzz with excitement and curiosity as vibrant colors danced across the gelatin surface, ready to be transferred onto paper.
One of the workshop’s standout features was its emphasis on creativity and individuality. Rather than adhering to strict guidelines, attendees were encouraged to unleash their inner artists and embrace spontaneity. Watching as each participant’s unique style emerged was a testament to the workshop’s success in nurturing authentic expression.
Guided with the expertise and talent of Britt Gow, the workshop was not just about mastering a new technique; it was a holistic artistic experience that rekindled a sense of childlike wonder and curiosity. Participants left the workshop with an array of exquisite prints, each a testament to their journey of self-discovery through art.
Definition: “Collagraphy (sometimes spelled collography) is a printmaking process introduced in 1955 by Glen Alps in which materials are applied to a rigid substrate (such as paperboard or wood). The word is derived from the Greek word koll or kolla, meaning glue, and graph, meaning the activity of drawing.”
Usually, a sheet of matt board (rigid cardboard) is used as the base and a variety of textured materials are applied with glue. When the plate is completely dry, it is coated with two coats (minimum) of shellac, to seal the plate and make it waterproof. Then ink is applied in the same way as an etching plate – ink is applied with a spatula or piece of card, spread and pushed into the grooves and recesses with a tarlatan cloth and then polished with fine paper (a page of telephone book is great).
Damp paper is placed over the inked plate and then rolled through a printing press to transfer the image to the paper. The key concept is that rough materials (carborundum, scrunched tissue paper, sandpaper) collect the ink and create a dark tone, while smooth and shiny materials (PVA, foil) allow the ink to be polished off easily and therefor create lighter tones.
Over four consecutive weeks, I will be running Beginner’s Collagraph workshops at Port Fairy Community House on Saturday mornings between 10am and 12noon. Contact PFCH for bookings.
I am also offering Gelatin Plate Monoprinting and Linocut Workshops at “Off the Rails” in Dunkeld. Gelli-printing will be from 1.00 to 3.00pm on Saturday 26th August ($50) and Lino-printing will be from 10.00am to 3.00pm on Saturday 2nd September ($80 – bring your own lunch or purchase in Dunkeld). Bring your own aprons and ideas! Contact me at brittgow(at)gmail.com for bookings.
I created the design for this linocut plate in 2018 when I was completing my Diploma of Visual Arts at SW TAFE in Warrnambool. It has been one of my most popular prints, with an edition of 20 in light blue (called ‘Upwelling’) and a second edition of 20 in dark midnight blue, called ‘Upwelling at Night’. I have recently recovered the plate from my map drawers and reprinted in a deep, dark purple, called ‘Indigo Upwelling’. The paper I selected is Arnhem 1618, 100% archival cotton rag paper in warm white, with Caligo Safe Wash ink. Due to differences between screens/ monitors and camera quality, it is difficult to see the colour accurately. However, if you go to the Senior’s Art site you can see a colour sample for Carbozole Violet, which is the ink I used. https://seniorart.com.au/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2478_2480_2703
If you are interested in purchasing this new print, the price is $150, including packing in a cardboard tube and postage.
I usually set up a stall at the Port Fairy Community Market in December and January, but this year I have my artwork at several galleries and the Maker’s Market at The Hub in Hamilton. I dropped in there today and was amazed at the wonderful, varied collection of products available, made by local artists and craftspeople. Ceramics, leatherwork, photography, textiles, jewelry, wine, proteas, bags and many more items grown, designed and made locally. The Makers Market is open seven days a week until Christmas Eve. If you are interested in purchasing any of my original, hand-pulled prints (including linocuts and collagraphs), they are also available at the following galleries:
Two Rivers Gallery, Tyrendarra
MOCO Gallery, at the Halls Gap Cafe and Adventure Golf.
Lake Bolac Community Bank and Business Centre, Lake Bolac
Garage Gallery, Dunkeld
Merri View Gallery, Warrnambool
F Project, Timor Street, Warrnambool
Or contact me for commissions, printmaking classes or other enquiries.
Monoprinting is a spontaneous and somewhat unpredictable process that can be easily achieved at home, without specialized equipment. The gelatin plate is a soft and malleable surface that can hold the detailed impressions that you make on it with brushes, botanical materials, stencils, masks and stamps. In my gelatin plate monoprinting workshop you will learn how to make your own gelatin plate and use it to create unique, layered artworks that can be enjoyed alone or used as backgrounds for multimedia, card creation or cut into collages.
The next Gelli Printing Workshop will be held at the Lake Bolac Community and Business Centre on Sunday 11th December (2pm – 4.30pm) and will focus on festive printing to create gift tags, gift boxes and Christmas cards. You will be provided with templates to make your own christmas crakers, decorated with paper you have printed yourself. All materials and equipment will be provided and you will go home with a variety of printed papers. Please use the contact form here to make a booking.
These four original, hand-pulled linocut prints are on display and for sale at the Lake Bolac Community and Business Centre over the next few months. There are a total of ten framed, limited edition artworks available. I am also planning to provide a Gelatin Plate Monoprinting workshop at this venue, prior to the end of the year.
Monoprinting is a spontaneous and somewhat unpredictable process that can be easily achieved at home, without specialized equipment. The gelatin plate is a soft and malleable surface that can hold the detailed impressions that you make on it with brushes, botanical materials, stencils, masks and stamps. In my gelatin plate monoprinting workshops you will learn how to make your own gelatin plate and use it to create unique, layered artworks that can be enjoyed alone or used as backgrounds for multimedia, card creation or cut into collages.
These creatures in hollows are the result of several printmaking processes – woodgrain prints, linocut, heat-press botanical prints and brown onion skin dip-dyeing. Creating a wood grain print requires lots of sanding, charring with a blow torch and then cleaning the wood slice with a wire brush. I have used three different linocuts – numbat, Krefft’s glider and Sooty owl. Finally, arranging eucalyptus leaves on the paper, sandwiched between wet wool blankets and ‘cooked’ in the heat press for about two minutes to transfer the images to the paper. The orange colour is obtained from a woolen blanket soaked in iron solution and the yellow from a brown onion skin ‘soup’. The aim is to achieve a variety of natural colours and textures to complement images of our native fauna.
On Sunday 3rd July, 12 participants came along to my Beginner’s Linocut Workshop at the Merri View Gallery, hosted by Warrnambool and District Artist’s Society. We had a busy day (9.00am to 3.00pm) learning about the tools and materials, the design process, carving the linoleum block and printing on paper. I was pleased that everyone had the opportunity to carve at least one small block and produce one or more printed cards.
As there were people unable to attend on that date and several on the waiting list, WADAS are pleased to host another workshop on Sunday 18th September. Jenny Adams is taking bookings, but we are limiting it to ten places this time, to give us a bit more elbow room! All linocut tools and equipment supplied, except bring your own apron, lunch and drawing materials.
I never imagined I would be invited to exhibit my artwork in a gallery, but when MOCO gallery in Halls Gap suggested I should book an exhibition a year ahead, I thought ”Maybe I’ll be ready then”. My work with wood grain and linocut prints has developed over this time and I am pleased to be able have them on show. Hall’s Gap, in the Grampians, is the ideal location for this exhibition, as the bush environment has many examples of fallen limbs and trees, stumps and hollows in the trunks of living and dead trees. These hollows are vital habitats for many bats, birds, possums, gliders and other marsupials. Hollows take many years to form, starting when limbs fall and organisms start to break down the wood, creating a cavity in the limb or trunk. Large hollows, such as those needed by black cockatoos for nesting, can only form in trees that are over two hundred years old. Due to land clearing and habitat destruction, there are very few of these old trees left, so there is much competition for hollows.
My woodgrain prints are created by firstly selecting a suitable piece of salvaged timber, perhaps firewood or a slice cut from a fallen tree. A thin slice is then sanded flat and burnt with a blow torch to raise the wood grain. For each print, the relief ink is rolled onto the wood, damp paper is placed over the inked wood and then the back of the paper is pressed with a glass baren, to transfer the ink from the wood to the paper. For my ”One Forest” series, I use an ink pen to draw tiny little trees all around the perimeter of the wood grain print. For the ”Hollows” series, I print over the woodgrain with a linocut print.
Britt Gow 