Handsome prints – the art of printmaking at City College Peterborough

…quite exciting, looking at maybe setting up a website, attending craft markets, branching out into cards or notepads, some soft furnishings, too. My name’s White and her name’s Fisher, so we call ourselves White Fish.’ Take note of that name…

As is clear from her work, Susan draws a great deal on the past for inspiration – especially the medieval period. ‘It’s the patterns more than anything – the lovely tiles you see in churches and so on, some of the backgrounds you see in the paintings, they are really gorgeous, I love those. Also Ancient Egyptian and Babylonian stuff, some of the animals… They really lend themselves to printing.’

But while the designs and processes may be traditional, Susan is finding that it’s modern technology that is making her business a really viable proposition, literally putting a world of customers at her fingertips.

After a period in this country when it seemed the manufacture of almost anything had ceased, the ‘Made in England’ label is once again making inroads

‘It’s easier now to connect with people. A few years ago you would have had to go out and find them, but now there are things like Etsy so you can even end up selling abroad – and Britain’s got a good reputation for making things.’ After a period in this country when it seemed the manufacture of almost anything had ceased, the ‘Made in England’ label is once again making inroads.

It’s tempting to say Susan is a typical student of Eddie’s class – and in some ways she is exactly that – but the phrase ‘typical student’ doesn’t really begin to sum up the range of people here. ‘Our students range in age from 20 to 92,’ says tutor Eddie Butterworth, ‘So quite diverse!’ In this classroom alone the age range is 30 to 82. The course itself has also grown and diversified over the years. ‘The initial course set out to give people experience in printmaking techniques,’ explains Eddie. ‘So it was a basic, initial course which has developed quite dramatically over the years. There are quite a few students who have gone on to think about selling their work and making products, so it’s not just about producing prints that don’t go anywhere. They’re building on having craft fairs and selling out in the public domain, really. The course has enlarged hugely.’

It’s ‘never too late’ to start learning, and  it’s perhaps 82 year-old Lois Wright who best demonstrates this fact

Susan’s story naturally prompts the observations that it’s ‘never too late’. But it’s perhaps 82 year-old Lois Wright who best demonstrates this fact. ‘She was only really able to do art in her later years,’ says Eddie. ‘She’d always enjoyed art, but I think that at the time she might have progressed, she wasn’t encouraged to go to art school, so it wasn’t until now that she was able to explore what she’s always wanted to do. If she were the right age now then she would certainly be going to art college and probably training to be a designer, because that’s inherently what she is. She’s very, very talented. When she came to my drawing and painting class it was obvious she was a designer rather than a painter, so she gradually developed her…