Boatyard: Exploring boat building heritage through linocut printing

The workshop will be focussing on Lowestofts maritime and boatbuilding tradition using a selection of source materials and images gathered from the Lake Lothing boatyard which is home to Excelsior, a 1921 timber built sailing trawler, which is maintained in fully working traditional condition as a sail training ship for young people from across East AngliaLino has been used for over a hundred years as a creative form of relief printmaking.

Its a technique which has been explored by famous artists including Picasso and Matisse, alongside its use in schools.

East Anglia has its own long history of linocut printmaking from the stylised 1920s images by Sybil Andrews to works by James Dodds that revel in the forms and lines of traditional timber boatsYou will use images and resources sourced from the boatyard to create your drawings.

After transferring the image onto traditional thick hessian backed grey Lino, you will carve out your design using a selection off linocut tools to produce your printing block.

You will then be able to make printed copies using a professional pressIn addition to being able to take away your own print.

The collection of prints made in the workshop will be collated and published as a zine which will be made available to all participants after the workshop.This workshop is led by Lisa and Hugh Davies of the Lowestoft based printmaking workshop paper-works, with the cooperation of The Excelsior Trust and is offered free of charge thanks to the support of Messums East and the East Suffolk Community Partnership.