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Our passions, philosophies, aims and research results
Our aim was to construct and make available a coherent and user- and environmentally friendly printmaking system that would enable artists to work creatively and effectively. We planned that these reliable systems for screenprinting, intaglio printmaking, and for making positives would be accessible, reliable, related to previous practice, economical and logical, as safe as possible to use, and that their terminology would aid teaching and learning.
Philosophy - a theory or attitude that acts as a guiding principle
for behaviour
Aims - a purpose or intention; a desired outcome
Research - investigation, experimentation, exploration, testing,
analysis, fact-finding, examination
Philanthropy - love for mankind
Results - outcomes
Passioniate about printmaking
We are passionate about printmaking and its rich history, and one of our key aims was to help printmaking techniques such as etching, collagraphy and screenprinting flourish in the future. We became highly motivated in the 1980s to create new ways of printmaking because we we were concerned that the toxic materials and hazardous processes used in printmaking were endangering its survival in schools, colleges and open access print studios. We believe in sharing information with anyone who has an interest in prints and how to make prints. And our priority has been to disseminate our knowledge as widely as we could and to make our knowledge and recipes for the new materials available to everyone.
We also were motivated by a concern that knowledge was being lost. We had both been fortunate to have trained to the highest professional level, and to have studied the art of printmaking for six years. At tertiary level we were taught classical, traditional and modern printmaking practice and theory. Over the years, as we gave away the information we had gleaned, we were often advised by other printmakers that we should keep the veils of mystery and 'magic' of successful printmaking secret and to aim to make money from our knowledge. Because this did not fit with our philosophy we chose instead, for example, to disseminate information before publishing papers on our research; to base ourselves at an open-access workshop; and to take a low commission for our books so that printmakers can buy them as cheaply as possible.
Printmaking practice and our philanthropic philosophy
We were delighted to work with Thames & Hudson as they publish internationally and share a similar philosophy and aims. They describe their philosophy in the following way:
"Thames & Hudson was founded in 1949 by Walter and Eva Neurath. Their passion and mission for T&H was that its books should reveal the world of art to the general public, to create a ‘museum without walls’ and to make accessible to a broad, non-specialist reading public, at prices it could afford, the research and the findings of top scholars and academics. Thames & Hudson has always prided itself on the very high standards of the books it produces, both in content and quality of production, and attracts many authors, artists, designers, illustrators and photographers who are distinguished in their own fields."
Links to Thames & Hudson and Lascaux websites are given below.
Being invited to work with Lascaux to research and make new materials for printmaking was also so wonderful as again their philosophy is similar to ours. They care for the health of the environment, the artisans who make their materials and the artists who use them. For example they explain on their web site:
"Water is life, and each Lascaux line of paints springs from water. Since its establishment Lascaux has consistently focused on water-based systems, and Lascaux paints are made primarily without the use of solvents. That is why they are certified as non-toxic in accordance with both Swiss regulations and US standards."
"Since the company was first established in 1963 Lascaux has grown into one of the world’s leading manufacturers of artist’s colours, with the emphasis always on water-based systems. Lascaux sets great store by the quality and provenance of its high-quality raw materials, which is why the vast majority is sourced in Europe. Our suppliers manufacture these raw materials in accordance with European directives. All the materials are tested and certified to the most stringent standards, in compliance with the latest environmental protection standards. It has been a conscious policy decision on the part of the company to dispense with low-cost raw materials from Asia, where little consideration is given to regulations pertaining to environmental safety and to occupational health and safety."
What we learned as artists was that Lascaux is one of the very few small independent companies who make materials for artists. They understand artists, listen to artists' feedback about the products, and make changes in response.
Our two books describe the printmaking materials and processes which make up systems for etching, collagraphy, and screenprinting. These have been tested by making art with a range of artists in different types of studios. Products made by many different manufacturers are included; however in general we did not include materials which are very hazardous or do not function well.
Carol Robertson's PhD thesis explains some of our thinking and research processes.
The Lascaux products (tusches, resists, screenprinting filler and screen painting fluid) enable artists to work safely and creatively in an ordinary artist's studio. The Lascaux product fact sheets, which can be found on the Lascaux website, provide user information. The products' MSDSs provide information about the materials themselves.
Research results
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