Festival of Print - Printmakers of Scotland

I was lucky enough to be involved in the first ever Scottish Printmaking Festival in Stirling (16-18th August 2024) I exhibited and sold my work and was on the organising committee, with responsibility for the design work (flyers, banners, exhibition catalogue etc) The project was the dream of printmaker Deb Wing and her drive and vision and leadership over the year has been astonishing. It was incredible to meet her and the rest if the committee, who are from all over Scotland, after meeting with them on Zoom all year.

The whole weekend surpassed all my expectations. Visitor numbers were incredible, and the hall at University of Stirling was hoachin’ (as we say up here) the whole time. Sales were good and I met and connected with some amazing people - printmakers and visitors. I even met a lovely artist, writer and photographer who bought some of my work and wrote about the event in her online diary.

I exhibited the wall hangings I’ve been working on recently (and was lucky enough to be given a VACMA award to help me create) I was the only stand not to frame their work, which surprised me, but I have found that not using frames has been really freeing in terms of the size of paper or fabric I can work on, and the whole look of a piece (I generally don’t like a frame to constrict the work) It also saves on materials and is more environmentally friendly. Although I would say reaction can be mixed, I am sticking with this policy for the foreseeable future.

One of the best bits of the weekend was staying with my good friend Cat Moore in her transit van camper van. It was amazingly comfortable and we were able to chill out and drink wine there in the evenings.

A top weekend in all.. I’m hoping to be back next year!