Colin Blanchard

I am first and foremost a printmaker and although every print I make has its surprises – from which I always try to learn develop – I do not like to rely on chance and strive for precisely controlled printing technique throughout. So, my prints are nearly always in uniform and consistent editions but are genuinely limited by the accumulative process and progressive nature of their making.
I am continually fascinated by image making that is a result of (often traditional) practical craft skills; and which create truly original prints which, although in multiples, are not in any way a reproduction or imitation of any other medium. However, as a student I explored (pre digital!) photo technology in printmaking, and some 50 years later I continue to benefit from an amalgamation of traditional and modern techniques and materials.
For example, I will generally use a computer in the first instance to sketch and compose images (and sometimes incorporate my own poetry). But I always then go on to work with direct, hands-on methods of drawing, painting, cutting, carving, inking, and printing.
And the thrill of lifting the paper from the block or from under the screen, time and time again, never leaves me!