You'd be forgiven for thinking that science and art are worlds apart. 

Think art, think emotions. 

Think science, think facts. 

One woman who mixed the two beautifully was the botanist Anna Atkins. Born in 1799 she lived during a time when women were denied the opportunity to take up science as a profession. However, botany, in particular botanical art and illustration, were considered a “suitably genteel subject for a woman.” And that is where she made her mark. 

Anna was a talented illustrator. Before becoming a botanist she made over 250 scientifically accurate studies of shells using graphite and watercolour. It’s clear from her illustrations and paintings that she had a love for the natural world and an eye for detail. Perhaps it was this that drew her to the cyanotype printing process. 

A cyanotype is a very basic form of photographic print that produces a blue print. Without getting too technical it’s a good idea to take a quick look at the meaning of the two words: 

Cyanotype; cyan meaning blue and type meaning imprint so we get BLUE PRINT 

Photograph; photo meaning light and graph meaning drawing so we get DRAWING WITH LIGHT 

And that’s essentially what a cyanotype is, a blue print drawn or created with light, specifically UV light from the sun. This is why cyanotypes are also referred to as sun prints. Still with me? Good. 

To make a cyanotype you need one part Potassium Ferracyanide and two parts Ferric Ammonium Citrate. Although these chemicals sound quite alarming they are quite common place. Potassium ferricyanide is used in blood glucose meters for diabetics and Ferric Ammonium Citrate is used as a food additive. 

The chemicals are mixed with water and once combined become light sensitive so everything you do until exposure time has to be carried out in a photographic dark room. The resulting liquid is used to coat a porous surface such as paper then left to dry in the dark. 

The coated paper is laid flat and natural elements like leaves, flowers, feathers are placed on top. A sheet of clear acrylic is placed on that and held down with clips making sure that the paper and natural elements make contact. This is then placed in the sun. 

Exposure time varies depending on the light intensity and can take between 2 minutes - 20 minutes. Once exposure has taken place the natural elements are removed and the print is washed out in cold tap water. This is known as fixing the print and where the magic happens. 

Because the natural elements stop the UV light from getting through they will show up as ghostly silhouettes and the background, where the sun was able to permeate, will be blue. 

​Rewind back to the 1800s and Anna Atkins has just been shown this process by her friend, the astronomer Sir John Herschel who uses cyanotypes for reproducing notes and diagrams *yawn*. It won’t come as much of a surprise that creatives like to push boundaries and manipulate processes until they’re unrecognisable from their intended purpose. Anna’s head must have been absolutely buzzing with possibilities. I can’t imagine she got much sleep that night wondering if she could use the same method to turn her specimens into ethereal photographs. 

And it turns out she could, to amazing effect, becoming known as the first person to illustrate a book with photographic images. These volumes were self-published and contain plate after plate of ferns, seaweed and algae all accompanied with handwritten scientific names. The impressively detailed botanical prints are not only good enough to distinguish one species from another, but they are imaginatively composed even the text pages are thoughtfully arranged using what looks like seaweed to design the lettering. What an innovative, methodical and creative mind Anna Atkins must have had. 

If you’d like to create your own cyanotypes this Medway Print Festival then Rachel Moore from iPrintedThat will be showing you how during a Summer Solstice Sun Printing session via Facebook Live on Saturday 20th June. For full details and to order your ready-to-use cyanotypes please go to https://summer-solstice-sun-printing.eventbrite.co.uk

PRESS RELEASE: ​ANNOUNCING MEDWAY PRINT FESTIVAL - MPF20 LOCKDOWN   6 - 21 JUNE

The 5th Medway Print Festival was poised to bring you 47 events in 15 Medway venues this June. Sadly we have had to cancel these face to face activities this year. But fear not Print Fans! Thanks to fantastic support from Medway Council Arts Development, the team have developed an exciting online festival #mpf20lockdown and will be bringing you a host of online print treats from Medway and beyond across social media and our shiny new website throughout 6-21 June.

Talented Medway artists and the MPF team are busy creating video demos, live how to's, features and conversations encompassing all things print. There’s something for everyone, from printing with kitchen cupboard items and family activities, to discussions with artists, features on makers, a look at forthcoming and past print shows including this years Dickens 150 Print Open Call (taking place at Rochester Art Gallery when it reopens) and a guide to a host of print techniques.

We are delighted to have so many of our regular contributing artists and venues on board and would like to thank them for helping us to make this happen.

We are inviting the public, families and children as well as more amateur and more experienced printmakers to join in the event and create their own prints and tag them during the festival using #mpf20lockdown So whether to you make potato prints or lithographs we'd love you to share your prints with us! 

Watch this space, follow us on Instagram or Facebook or visit our website for more details of what to expect www.medwayprintfestival.com 

email: arts@medway.gov.uk

#medwayprintfestival #mpf20lockdown #enjoymedway #medway_council_news #deathdickensdrood  #keepprinting @medwayprintfestival @rochesterartgallery @intra_arts @iprintedthat @nucleusarts @hazelnutpress @huguenot_museum #medwayarchives #medwaylibraries #medwayfineprintmakers

​I'll be honest, there hasn't been a lot of printmaking going on during lockdown but you’ll be pleased to know that I haven’t been totally idle. Amongst getting the growing season going on the allotment I joined hundreds of other women (and a few men) who have been sewing scrubs for the NHS. 

This felt a bit different to my usual sewing-just-for-myself. There are strict regulations as to fabric, making up and fastenings. For example, did you know that the ‘wrong sort’ of Velcro causes a static risk around high oxygen flow? No, nor did I! Quite simply they have to be perfect. The wearers are putting themselves and families at risk so if they’re not up to the job then they can’t be used. I was a bit nervous at the beginning... 

It meant something to know who we were making them for too. The scrubs our group made went to Medway Hospital’s Covid-19 testing unit and the isolation gowns were for the respiratory team. The letters of thanks we received back from the hospital staff via our Facebook group spurred us on to make more.

Definitely my favourite course with the Huguenot Museum is Pattern Exploration - two days devoted to design and printing. Day one covers linocut printing onto wallpaper and day two is all about screen printing onto fabric. Here’s what happened... After introductions we looked at and discussed the 18th century designs of silk weaver and designer James Leman. Then, armed with sketch books, we went in search of inspiration from the museum’s collections - details such as fine silver work, intricate sampler stitches, woven silk and jewellery stood out.

Back in the museum’s learning space we worked on the sketches bringing them up to a standard that would translate well into print. A simple exercise using tracing paper helped keep the design symmetrical and it’s amazing to see how quickly the patterns evolved. As the designs are repeated over and over we were able to see how the negative spaces looked and how seemingly unrelated lines and curves took on new shapes when multiplied. Every. Mark. Counts.

Happy with our designs we transferred them to lino tiles and carved out what is just a small part of the pattern. At this point you might not have given many of the tiles a second look! They seem to be a series of random shapes and marks, but add ink, start printing and the patterns came to life.​

Everything that students learnt on day one is pretty much obsolete on day two! Screen printing requires a completely different process but the sketches from the previous week are still valid and after a demonstration of what they can expect for the day, students start to work on their designs.

Once happy the designs are traced onto the screens and Screen Drawing Fluid is use to paint the image. When that's dried Screen Filler is applied with a squeegee and left to dry again. Finally the Screen Drawing Fluid is washed out to reveal the stencil. 

After a few practise runs students buddy up and help each other with registering screens, holding screens, fetching inks and washing squeegees - it's a real team effort.

​And here are some of the results...

It's a Sunday morning in late August and I'm setting up for a festival lino printing workshop. People are milling around, shading tired eyes from the sun, slowly coming to life. The smell of wood fires and coffee drift on the breeze, thankfully disguising the unmentionable aroma of the Portaloos.

I rearrange the equipment once more and sit down, ready for my group to start arriving when a voice in my ear asks what I'm doing. Happy in my work, upbeat and smiling I start explaining the joys of printmaking but before I can finish, the person goes on to tell me what an expert lino cutter and exceptional artist he is. I smile. Nod. Still smiling, not really knowing what to say, he sighs, looks at me - head slightly tilted - and utters those rather damning words above. I'll be honest, it threw me a bit but I didn't have much time to think about it as people were arriving ready to start printing.

Now I'm the first to admit that there are many people far more talented than myself out there and I "do" quite well *thank you very much* but as I lay in my tent that night I got to thinking about why I teach rather than "do" and it didn't take me long to come up with the answer:

Firstly there's a buzz that I get from teaching that I don't get from creating my own art. That moment when it clicks in someone's head and you take them from knowing nothing about a subject to giving them the confidence to give it a go at home. People leave my workshops on cloud nine and I get a kick out of knowing that I've played a hand in that.

It can also be a humbling experience. There have been times, for example, when a student has rephrased an instruction far better than I did in the first place! I have to hand it to them, my students make me a better teacher.

You learn so much too - about people, about yourself, about your subject - the limitations and potential.

And to top it all off I teach because of the warm and fuzzy feeling I get inside when I receive emails like this one that landed in my inbox from Claire last month:

​Subject: Had to share xx

"Hope you’re well, happy and still smiling. So it’s been a year since you showed me the beautiful art of screen printing. I really enjoyed our time just chatting and art-playing. At Xmas last year I got screen print stuff off Santa however I’ve only just got around to using it. I'm so chuffed with the results. Honestly, it has given me a nudge and a the confidence to try more."​

And here are some photos of Claire and her prints

As part of his series, "These Hands", Joshua Atkins is celebrating the diversity and talent of makers and artists in Medway. So far his list of the photographed include; painter, distiller, musician, artisan, photographer and now me, printer.

All images are by kind permission of Joshua Atkins Photography
Website: http://www.joshua-atkins.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuaatkins/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuaatkinsphotography
Twitter: ​https://twitter.com/joshuaatkinss

I think I could get used to my celebrity status. People waving and calling out my name wherever I go, constantly being fussed over, repeatedly being asked if there's anything that I need...

No, I'm not dreaming, I'm just over half way through my time with the children and staff at Saxon Way Primary School. Over the past couple of days 300 children aged 5-11 have joined me to screen print their own t-shirts for this year's Griffin Arts Festival (GAF) and judging by the response they've really enjoyed it.
 
As a Griffin Trust school, every summer, two glorious weeks are dedicated to art and it's become a bit of a tradition that all the children print their own t-shirts to wear during the festival's finale when friends and family are invited to the closing showcase event to see all that the children have created.
 
A couple of weeks before the printing extravaganza I met up with Raydene Dunne, Early Years Team Leader, to find out more about GAF. The theme for this year's festival is 'Protest: Our voices in the world'. The children were particularly keen to raise the issue of plastic pollution, especially in our oceans and so I was looking forward to seeing how their designs would reflect this.
 
Raydene explained that although the festival takes place over 2 weeks she is keen to make art an important and everyday celebration within school life. The children are reminded of this daily since each class is named after an artist and the first term was spent exploring their work and creativity.
 
I left Raydene with some homework (finally getting my own back on those pesky teachers), sample t-shirts and stencil templates that would help explain to the pupils what they needed to do before my arrival.
 
So on a perfect summer's morning in June I was shown into the main hall of Saxon Way Primary school to set up the print station. Breakfast club was just finishing and lots of eager eyes were on me. All the children had been involved in designing their t-shirts and were excited to come over and see how it was done. With the first few workshops under my belt it was clear that the staff and pupils had done their homework. Each class entered the main hall armed with their t-shirts and stencils. With colours chosen and squeegees at the ready the children got down to the business of printing their own t-shirts.
 
As school was dismissed for the day the Caretaker and an army of teachers arrived in the main hall. I had prepared a number of screens with the GAF logo and we now had the task of printing onto the backs of the t-shirts. We quickly got a conveyer type scenario going - myself and another teacher printing, two teachers bringing the t-shirts to us, two taking them away, a number of teachers and the Caretaker hanging them up under the watchful eye of Raydene. It never fails to amaze me how teachers can, within seconds, analyse a situation, work out a plan, explain the process and then work as a team to get the job done. I am in awe of these ladies and gentlemen.
 
So with the t-shirts printed front and back, they were hung up, stretching the length and breadth of the main hall like oversized bunting. It looked amazing! Such a fantastic achievement by staff and pupils - 300 t-shirts, designed and printed in just two days. Packing up my kit and waving goodbye I'm reminded how grateful I am to have been included in such a special part of the children's festival.
 
You can see more photos of me and the children on Saxon Way School's Twitter page.
​

i-printed-that's fifth anniversary passed relatively quietly. I few glasses of fizz shared with my hubby, a little pat on the back and a moment of reflection.
 
When I look back to the beginning of 2013, my only plan was to run children's t-shirt printing workshops during the school holidays. That was it. I remember my first official day. I'd booked a local village hall for the day and planned four back-to-back workshops, with a total of 40 children printing their own t-shirts. It was going to be brilliant. Armed with some very expensive leaflets I visited all the schools in the area and they agreed to send them home to the parents. I'd run school holiday workshops for friends and family so I knew how much children loved the workshops, it was great value for money and it was something different that wasn't happening anywhere else locally. Parents would be banging down the doors to book their children on.
 
Except they weren't.
 
The four exciting workshops I had planned became two, well one and a half. The second workshop had three children on it; two were my nephews and one was a child from the local school who I had delivered leaflets to. I was heart broken. All that planning, all that hard work, all that expectation and to top it off I made about £2.50(!). Oh yeah, and I was exhausted.
 
But I was also determined. I knew I had a great product, I knew that the skills I was sharing with the children were bringing them confidence and they loved it too. I knew I had to carry on, so I did.
 
Well, that was five years ago and this printmaking lark has taken me down some unexpected avenues and I've met so many amazing, talented and helpful people. Who would have thought that I'd run printing sessions at staff training and team building days, hold courses at museums, provide entertainment at festivals and events, host hen parties and work on large scale school projects. Yep, we've come a long way, baby.

Think Arts & Crafts interiors and you think William Morris. The ever loved prints of willow leaves, honeysuckle twisting through trellises and plump pomegranates. A fine example of one such interior is the National Trust property of Standen House in Sussex. And so what better place to attend a linocut workshop exploring pattern and print a sample of wallpaper.

Led by Peter Thwaites and Rebecca Aird, the artists behind The Standen Collection, they have set up their design studio in the Servants' Hall and covered the walls with photos and sketches of Standen's architecture and gardens. It is from here that they designed and printed the re-imagined wallpaper and furnishings that decorate the Servants' Wing and it is from here that they ran a series of traditional print making workshops.

Our good friends at Lunar HQ were approached by a PR company in need of an unconventional space to hold their corporate business review followed by team building activities that were a little different from the usual run-of-the-mill-paint-balling. Being the creative bunch that they, Lunar HQ got planning and reached out to its motley crew of collaborators to lay on retro games, cocktail making and screen printing workshops. Cue i printed that.
​
Once the boring, but essential, data analysis was over and the company had congratulated themselves on yet another fantastic year it was time to set up the print station and get printing. 

Note to self; under normal circumstances it can take a while for some people to get their head around making up stencils for screen printing (hell, it still happens to me on occasions) but add a cocktail or three into the mix and the chance of this increases ;)