After months of hard work, development and building strong foundations for The Village, we opened our doors (hired from Carter at Scout Seas) and shared our ideas and vision with each other and close friends for our first workshop in the form of lino printing. The Birak Tuesday evening held a bit of humidity, and a lot of anticipation and excitement for our first workshop (well, for me, at least). As the year ends, The Village is just beginning.
Up until mid-way through the year, lino printing as a skill and process was something I had only encountered in Year 10 art class, with a faint smell of mould, and where I had giggled so hard I once got sent to sit outside. Earlier this year, I had the privilege of visiting a friend in Copenhagen, and with a desire to live out memories of Kinjarling and make new ones, we had a crafternoon. With a slight shift from our pottery days, we picked up the carving tools and a soft cut block, and created lino designs (and yes, new memories as well). Like all pleasant experiences, I couldn’t separate that afternoon and the craft of lino printing in my head, and upon my return home, I invested in my own set of tools, and embarked on a learning and creating journey with lino printing.
I love the initial mind boggle that lino printing brings, as I decipher negative space and how to turn an idea into a re-printable block. I also love lino printing as a process, how prints can be repeated but never replicated, how the art form is relatively accessible, and how finished pieces always look like they are on purpose (despite how wonky or blotchy they may be). I have spent much of my creative time and energy this year focusing on lino printing. Thank you gifts have been lino prints with matching cards, I celebrated and supported our Cabaret crew in the form of lino printed shirts, and Christmas is definitely looking a bit printed on for my friends and family this year. I must speak about it a lot, because when it came to organising our first workshop, The Village Sisters so generously trusted me with the gift of sharing this creative process with them, and a few of our closest friends.
In true Village fashion, the workshop planning and organising was done collaboratively. Each Village Sister worked incredibly hard and poured their own creative flare into this event, and it shone through in the set-up, the space, the resources, the flow of the workshop, and the feeling in the room throughout the evening. It has been such an honour working with my sisters, and incredibly humbling to see our vision (which has been predominantly theoretical up until now) come to life.
We are still in the process of reflecting and collating feedback from the people who joined us for the lino printing workshop, however, I can already say that we are incredibly proud and grateful for our first workshop experience. Although the lino blocks and prints created were incredible and unique, the true measure of success was in the confidence, excitement, collaboration, and pure joy that were in the words and actions of our friends. Every single person brought their own ideas and selves into the space, and the workshop felt like a comfortable, supportive, and creative space to be in, as a result. I extend my sincerest gratitude to those who joined us for our first workshop and am so humbled to have had the opportunity to share The Village and a skill I am passionate about with them.
I would also like to extend my warmest regards and biggest of thank-you’s to Carter from Scout Seas and the neighbouring business owner, Garry, for welcoming us into this space. Massive thanks and appreciations also to my partner, Sam, and a dear friend of mine and The Village, Dem, for sustaining us with tasty treats on the evening. I want to thank A, Kay and Dem, who’s hard work and inspiring ideas have led us to this point. To my Village Sisters, A and Kay - I'm so grateful to be here with you and can't wait to say where this journey goes.
With deepest of gratitude and the fullest of hearts,
Zoe xx
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