In my monotypes I combine traditional hand printmaking methods with my own creative techniques to achieve unique marks.

I paint or roll out my ink directly onto a plexiglass plate. I then tease paint away in areas with a cotton rag or tiny dabs of solvent. In some images I create texture by pressing twisted thread or scraps of fabric into the inked surface.

The ink is still very dense after this stage, so I continue with the plate on a light box which enables me a clearer view of the details I’m creating. For some images, I use two plates, one for background and another for the detailed areas.

Once I’m happy with my image it’s ready to be transferred onto dampened paper and run through a simple press. The dampened paper fibres more readily absorb the ink than dry paper, and this is also what creates a subtle embossed border round the image.

Often if I’m using a particular paper, generally more delicate papers, I will transfer the entire image without a press. This is done by hand burnishing the back of the paper with a printmakers’ baren. These can be made of glass, wood, plastic or steel, and sometimes incorporate ball bearings which glide across the paper surface.

A simpler monotype technique I often use, is that of transferring line. This can be done by placing the paper directly onto the inked plexiglass surface and drawing on the reverse of the paper.

The image can only be transferred once (hence the term monotype) and so my work on the plate must be perfect. Any traces of ink left on the glass are washed off and the plate is ready to create a new and different artwork. These are original, one off works.

So why use this technique and not draw directly onto the paper? There is simply no other process which creates the same depth of tone, quality of line, and such subtle nuances created by allowing solvent to nibble away at the edge of the ink. It makes my heart skip a beat!