Inky fingers and sun-blushed noses at West Dean

Over the bank holiday Easter weekend, I and a wonderfully committed team of assistants, have been helping children print their own jigsaw lino-cut Easter egg. It has been a hugely enjoyable experience for all and also one that reassures me why printmaking and gardens are, well, awesome. Even better, if you get to combine the two as the hundreds of children who came through our doors did, you are surely onto a winner.

West Dean gardens in full daisy glory.

The children were sent on a rather beautiful Easter Trail across some of the spectacular West Dean gardens (in glorious sunshine), which ended with them coming to visit the pop-up printmaking greenhouse. Thankfully due to the heat we were not operating in the actual greenhouses, but one of the old mushroom stores, which was incredibly cool in both heat and coolness, like awesomeness, levels. We had many an excited child running in in their Easter best to be promptly offered a protective apron (which to many childrens’ amusement were raincoats on backwards. But they did a great job). After they were suitable dressed and the lovely white Easter frocks covered, they got to construct their very own Easter Egg from pre-designed strips.

The pre-cut lino strips before they got inky.

The lino-cut strips were cut by myself with varying Spring foliage based designs upon them, and they tessellated together like bands across and egg. There were 20 designs for each child to choose from for each strip, so hundreds of potential opportunities of varying egg patterns. Once an egg had been constructed, the child was able to assist in the inking and printing of the egg within the pre-printed borders (see previous blog). Thanks to the West Dean workshops and their staff we had three beautiful Nipping presses set up in our greenhouse so that each child was able to use professional equipment and turn the press themselves.

Pria with her alternative exploding egg.

(from top down): Lilly wonderful printmaking assistant, Harry, 5 and Charlie, 3.

We had the whole operation down to a fine art, even when we had a full quota of 20 children in the greenhouse on the particularly busy bank-holiday Friday. Even with these levels of crowds, the smiles upon each of their faces, perhaps sometimes also shock, as they pulled their print, is something that is joyous to watch. It is complete and utter wonderment at the process that has just happened and that is why, as a printmaker, I think printmaking is worth all the inky high fives I gave out. And finally, before they left with their unique print, each child’s hand was meticulously individually cleaned from the home-made ink. I feel they all left more spotless then they all came in.

A snippet of part of the Easter trail set near the pergola.

During the quieter times, it was always lovely to talk to the adults accompanying the children as more often than not, most of them remembered cutting lino at school. So for many of them, this brought back memories and many questions about the ink making, the presses and the lino itself. We had some wonderful discussions in the greenhouse, and I even learn the difference to hay and straw, had a debate about the inventor of the printing press, found out why mirrors are inside some cameras, how to turn a printing press having had a Special K breakfast, and most importantly how to have a lot of fun.

The whole weekend was a huge success, and I hope there will be many more like it in the future. The gardens were in spectacular display as always, and the ducklings and lambs were all out on cue. To be honest, and if you were one of our lovely visitors, I would hasten to say you would agree, it was pretty idyllic. Thank you to West Dean for letting me have the chance to partake this year, to bring printmaking into the lives of so many young people, and to allow the opportunity for hundreds of visitors from all walks of lives and generations the chance to visit this majestic estate.