I’ve just spent a couple of frenetic afternoons at The Printhaus doing 1-2-1 sessions with the ever patient Shaun. It was quite a task this time, squeezing five images into six hours of printing. The final bit – actually printing – takes seconds but the prep is something else!

After exposing the screen, we removed the excess by pressure washing to reveal the image. Once the screen is dried, it needs oodles of tape on both sides to ensure that nothing is printed that we don’t want.

Despite being pressed for time, Shaun did encourage me to print the image. It is not as easy as he makes it look, and given the scale of the images, the time constraints and the fact that I wanted good editions, I wimped out largely. However I did print two duds, and this lovely one. Very acceptable! Check out the box I’m standing on specifically designed for short people using the large press…

Each image was printed in an edition of 10 (plus a couple of extras) before cleaning the image off the screen so it can be used again. During this process I spent my entire time soaked or covered in ink. Except for the half hour where I managed to be both. Practice makes perfect, and less mess …

The half tone at 25 lpi (for printing geeks) gives gorgeous texture and an added abstraction which demands further attention. I’ll be cutting up my acetates now that the prints are finished, and look to playing with elements of the images, along with some funky colours. Wish me luck!