The Cattle Dog Printmakers are a small group of amateur artists who have an interest in the processes involved in the production of printed artworks.
Printmaking is an artistic process based on the principle of transferring images from a base surface onto another surface, most often paper or fabric.
Traditional printmaking techniques include woodcut, etching, engraving, monoprinting, and lithography, while modern artists have expanded available techniques to include screenprinting and collagraphy.
One of the great benefits of printmaking is that multiple impressions of the same design can be printed from a single original base surface or “plate”.
Plates are traditionally made from wood, metal, lino or stone but modern printmakers also use cardboard, glass and polystyrene.
As children, many of us were introduced to printmaking through potato prints – with designs carved into a halved potato which was painted and dabbed onto paper.
To print their artwork, artists use tools to create pressure to transfer the paint/ink from the plate to the paper.
The most controlled way of achieving this pressure is by using a printing press, which the Cattle Dog Printmakers purchased via a grant in 2016, and use in the Warwick Artists Group Studio on Willi Street.
In addition to the exploration of the craft of printmaking, the group has extended their practise to include eco printing, papermaking, and the creation of other paper work such as artist books and small three-dimensional pieces.
Warwick’s Cattle Dog Printmakers celebrate their seven year anniversary with this exhibition titled Bespoke – Print, Paper and Process.
Exhibition coordinator Jill Birtwistle explains how the craft of making the plates and paper for printing inspires the group.
“Through the exploration of various printmaking techniques, we produce handcrafted, unique images that showcase the diversity of this form of visual art,” Jill said.
“We all enjoy the craftiness of this way of making art.”
Bespoke: Print, Paper and Process will be on display in the Orange Wall Gallery at Warwick Art Gallery from the 14 April to the 21 May.
The official opening will be by renowned paper artist and bookmaker Sandra Pearce on Saturday 16 April at 10.30am.
