The art of printmaking Colin Coke says print is a medium in which you are constantly learning and even after 40 years of experience the process can be ‘a bit scary’ at times.
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olin, who runs Arthaven Gallery in Main Street, Greytown, creates limited edition prints using the medium of lino. Although lino is a commonplace household material comparatively few artists today use it as a print medium. Linocuts are a method of relief printing. Ink is hand-rolled onto the lino block and once an area of colour has been printed the block is hand-carved away to allow the first colour to show through when the next layer is printed. As Colin cuts away the block, working in reverse, he destroys it; so the edition cannot be repeated. The process is complex and calls for extreme accuracy and an excellent understanding of colour. It also takes a lot of time. Each colour must dry thoroughly before another is printed over the top, so creating a single edition can take several weeks, Colin says he enjoys the technical challenges of the medium – “the challenge of using one piece of lino to create a multi-coloured print”. It’s a totally different process to computer-generated prints and he admits to some frustration when people ask if the work has been done on a computer. Colin trained at fine art school in England where he was tutored by a leading English printmaker, John Brunsdon, and in the late 1970s he studied with leading New Zealand printmakers, the late John Drawbridge and Kate Coolahan. “I trained and worked as a secondary school teacher and after years of teaching I felt the need to refresh and upgrade my skills as an artist. So I went back to Wellington Polytechnic design school, as a mature student, and was fortunate to have John and Kate as tutors.” In the mid-1990s Colin and his wife, Merrill, moved to Golden Bay where he became a full-time artist and opened his studio to the public in summer. The studio was a success, but the selling season was limited and, after about 15 years in Golden Bay, Colin and Merrill were both keen to return to the Wellington region. “We came to look at the Wairarapa. When we visited Greytown, and I saw the foot traffic in the main street, I could see potential for
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opening an art business there. So I jumped at the chance to rent the current gallery. “ Colin describes Arthaven Gallery as a great space that offers the opportunity to showcase work he admires by other artists, as well as sell his own. The work includes etchings, pastels, pottery, sculpture and jewelry as well as reduction prints. In the off-peak months of May and September he runs printmaking classes for four students. “I enjoy the classes and I bring to them both my secondary school teaching experience and my extensive knowledge of linocut printing as an art form.” is inspiration and images tend to come from his immediate surroundings. Hence, landscapes inspired by Golden Bay have been superseded by images of Wellington’s urban landscape and Greytown. He has also created prints of Japan – a country he enjoys visiting. When he was invited to participate in a triennial printmaking exhibition in Paris in 2009 the Japanese images proved very popular. In fact, one was used on the official invitation to the exhibition opening at Montmartre. Colin sent work to Paris for the triennial again in 2012 and his only regret was that he couldn’t get over for the opening in November.
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Wet Day Queen's Wharf a limited edition linocut