Workshops

This workshop will introduce participants to letterpress printing, specifically using the popular tabletop press, the Adana 8×5. After an introduction to the type case and instruction on how to set type, each participant will set their own business card or similar sized piece. The day will also include a demonstration of the Peerless treadle platen press.

6-hour workshop, €110 per person.

Using the museum’s collection of wood type and your own hand-carved blocks, you will print images combining type and pattern. We will look at composition, colour mixing and colour combinations and learn how to hand-print our designs using linocut and letterpress. In this way, you can create a modular design and/or background and create different combinations and variations with typography and pattern.

6-hour workshop, €110 per person.

In this workshop, you will be introduced to the authentic fundamentals of Japanese woodblock printing. Participants will engage in a process that includes transferring their own design, carving, printing, and editioning their first print. A simple design is important for your first print, and you will be shown the Kento mark for registration. Watercolour, gouache, and Sumi ink will be used to print your images with a handheld baren rather than a press. This course is suitable for complete beginners.

6-hour workshop, €110 per person.

This course demonstrates relief printmaking techniques using the lino block. Participants will learn how to transfer an image to the plate, use of tools, inking up and printing on the press and by hand. We will also discuss the history of relief printing and its many possibilities as well as explore contemporary artists that work in this medium. Individual tuition will follow as students go on to produce their own prints.

6-hour workshop, €110 per person.

In this workshop, participants will make a book using the Button Hole stitch. This softback book has a distinctive exposed spine which enables the book to lie flat when open.

Beginning with simple structures, participants will learn about paper and other materials and tools needed for creating books. By the end of the day, participants will have created a very versatile book with a wide range of possibilities.

6-hour workshop, €110 per person.

If you are a lover of lettering or want to learn a new skill, we would love you to join us in learning the basic techniques of modern calligraphy. You’ll start by learning how to use your pen holder and nib and what materials work best. Then we will get working on exercises to practice making shapes and strokes, and then move on to letter forms. By the end of the class, you will have started to develop your own style with plenty of time to practice and one-to-one help when needed.

4-hour workshop, €85 per person.

In this workshop we’ll use LEGO bases and tiles to create fabulous designs to print with our Adana printing press! Happy with it? Print more! If not, break it down to make another.

Children ages 6-12.

During this workshop, children taking part will learn about and explore the basic principles of letterpress printing and discover how, through combining letterpress with tinkering and making, they could express themselves creatively in word and print. Using the Sizzix die-cutting machine you will cut out your own letters to create a poster, ink it by hand and print it on the proofing press!

Children ages 8-12.

Play around with the fun shapes of P22 Blox, and put them together to make letters, pictures, or just fun designs! You’ll then get to print your creations on a printing press.

Children ages 6-12.

In this workshop, we use the four traditional printing colours of Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black with wood type from the Museum collection. We’ll be doing lots of hand inking with large letters to create different colours, shapes and patterns!

Children ages 4-7.