In print

Yesterday I did something I've wanted to do most of my adult life. Finally I got the chance to try screen printing. I went on an induction day course with those really nice people at Print To The People in Norwich. And, oh what fun it was.

It was very much a last minute decision to go on the course, and I am so glad I did. I hurriedly took a pen and ink drawing I'd done back in 1983, scanned it, and then made some alterations in Photoshop Elements including adding some blocks of colour to make my template design.

There were eight of us on the course and I think it's fair to say we all had a good time. We were playing with a new toy, and we were having such a good time. Experimentation was encouraged and we all went for it. As a consequence we all produced some wonderful prints. If you live within striking distant of the fine city of Norwich I'd recommend that you go on one of Print To The People's courses. You don't need to be 'artistic', just enthusiastic. I came away with a big grin on my face and some very pleasing prints.

As soon as I get the chance I'm going to work on an image or two with a view to using their open access facilities to print some mores. It's a medium that offers loads of creative possibilities and I'm keen to go down that road.

Here are a few of the prints; I'll put some more on my Facebook page.

John Jarrold Printing Museum

Last Saturday we had the pleasure of visiting the John Jarrold Printing Museum in Norwich. Spending a fascinating couple of hours there. The museum which has limited opening appears to be staffed mainly by retired folk. Nothing wrong with that I might add. Many of whom worked in the printing trade. I’ve been in love with printing since my first John Bull Printing Outfit as a kid.

The museum has a really good cross section of exhibits from early letterpress to latter-day offset-litho, as well as examples of ancillary equipment related to the printing and bookbinding world.

The print museum is housed in part of a very fine building, a former yarn mill. In many ways the museum undersells itself but that’s also part of its charm. Having said that they could tweak the presentation a bit to improve the experience and no doubt increase revenue.

In my early years as a buyer I worked for a firm of manufacturing stationers, Swallow Manufacturing Co Ltd, which did its own printing. I was charged with buying the printing supplies. I loved that bit of my job.

If you ever find yourself in Norwich on a Wednesday with an hour or two to spare you could do a lot worse than going to this fine establishment.

“With twenty-six soldiers of lead I have conquered the world” – this saying has been attributed to a number of famous people over the years, including the great Karl Marx and it adorns the museum brochure.