A Breath Of Fresh Air: Print and Ink’s Sarah Holden’s Silk Screen Workshop At The Place, Sherwood, Saturday 10th Feb

Sarah Holden is a real print enthusiast. With a degree in Illustration from Birmingham City University, only three years ago, she’s now set up her business Print and Ink to share more of her skills, experience and resources with more people, more of the time.

Above: Sarah Holden of PrintandInk who ran the Silk Screen Workshop 11th Feb

And Saturday’s workshop at The Place in Sherwood, 2-5 pm was brilliant because by the end of the three hours the range of people, skills and experience in the room had gelled into fascinating insights about printing and what might just be possible when you got home, or next time…

I’ve wanted to do a course in Silk Screen for ages, did a Facebook Search and found the course. It was ‘sold out’ so I asked if I could go along and observe.

The class was a mixture of people from all ages, backgrounds from a supply chain manager, a community art restorer, artists, mums, dads. Sarah is quietly inspiring and makes you want to listen, get involved and help her succeed. The classroom was good for the purpose, a long table that we set up with plastic covers. Sarah provides resources (print magazines, silk screen bases, inks, emulsions and squeegees and shows you how to make a frame from a basic canvas and silk mesh).

She explained that connecting people with a resourceful approach came from her own experience of graduating and missing the print room at university. At first she used embroidery hoops and tights….

Since those early days the resourcefulness of designing solutions to problems, logically, step by step, has resulted in a workshop service that is insightful and with boundless possibilities for growth and development.

What I felt as I observed everyone working was how interconnected everyone becomes: it was great to watch people learning the stages of a process and by the end of only three hours how understanding of each discrete step can have a real impact on what comes next and the final outcome.

Sarah sells DIY Printmaking Starter Kits, Lino Starter Kits and Make Your Own Paper Cut Card Kits

The most satisfying thing about work is how to become autonomous, skilful and productive. Sarah’s workshop event diary will be bringing those possibilities to more people, in more places, more of the time. Well done that woman!