With Sligo Design Week in full flow, I attended the Lino Printing Workshop with Ian Jermyn and it took me right back to my school days! I have not done lino printing since secondary school and it was actually so much fun. I had forgotten how much fun it was and it actually ended up being quite therapeutic – an effect which I was not expecting.
Ian Jermyn was an absolute blast – he is hilarious and completely put everyone at ease which was great as the group was quite small with just 6 people. This meant that he really interacted with eveyone and he is quite the storyteller as well. He is an Australian born illustrator and the talent behind Organic Devolution where you can view some of his AMAZING designs.
The lino printing itself was really fun and and was held in The Model. The workshop was kindly sponsored by SG Education and we got to use brand new tools, multiple lino blocks and many other bits and pieces as well. It was great that the supplies were abundant especially since the workshop was free – it really is a credit to how organised the Sligo Design Week is.
Ian began the workshop with showing us different techniques that could be used and also shared a little history of the art as well which turned out to be quite interesting (art history was not my favourite subject in school!). One of the main tips that Ian had was always to cut away from yourself – this actually is harder than you think!! But very funny – all along the way Ian had us laughing and I would certainly recommend that if you see a workshop with him you should attend – it’s something different and is very enjoyable. We spent quite a hile experimenting with different tools and the effects that you can create. The only negative on the day is that we ran out of time and did not have the time to complete the 2 cuts that he had planned – we only had time to do one.
Ian can currently be found down at the Strandhill People’s Market in Sligo at the weekend. He can also be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram along with via his website.
