Discover one of London's hidden art gems! The Southbank Printmakers is a co-operative of forty artists selling quality limited edition original prints at affordable prices through our gallery in central London and online. Read our newsletter to discover what's in the gallery this month and which of our printmakers is featured as an Artist in Focus.
September at Southbank Printmakers
Published 8 days ago • 4 min read
September 2026
Southbank Printmakers
Original fine art print gallery
We are delighted to be taking part in the Open House Festival this month, with a whole series of free workshops and demos in the gallery (full list below). We will also be rehanging the gallery walls on 8th September so do pop in to see a new selection of original handmade prints from our members. Our Artists in Focus are Paula Boyd Barrett and Tim Mitchell, who use quite different printmaking techniques but both demonstrate a love and knowledge of birds and wildlife in their work.
Open House Festival
We have an exciting programme of free demonstrations and workshops from 12th - 20th September as part of the Open House Festival. This is a London-wide festival that opens up and celebrates the city’s built environment. Every year, buildings and other sites across all 33 London boroughs open to the public, so that Londoners can explore them for free.
Thanks go to John Purcell Paper and Jackson's the art shop for donating materials for our demos and workshops:
Saturday 12th September WORKSHOP: Drypoint with Theresa Pateman 11am-1pm Please email theresapateman@hotmail.com to book a place
Sunday 13th September DEMONSTRATION: Woodblock carving with Alex Motiu 12-5pm
Monday 14th September DEMONSTRATION: Etching and woodcut with Tim Mitchell 12-5pm
Tuesday 15th September DEMONSTRATION: Mezzotint with Teresa Schippel Hales 12-5pm
Wednesday 16th September DEMONSTRATION: Screenprinting with Liz Whiteman Smith 12-5pm
Thursday 17th September DEMONSTRATION: Sustainable printmaking with Maureen Nathan 12-5pm
Friday 18th September WORKSHOP: Lithography with Diane McLellan 12-2pm or 3-5pm No booking required
Saturday 19th September WORKSHOP: Sgraffito with Roy Tonkin 12-5pm No booking required
Sunday 19th September WORKSHOP: Screenprinting with Martin Grover 12-5pm No booking required
New Southbank Printmakers blog
We have just published a fascinating article about Maureen Nathan in which she describes and explains her printmaking practice. You will find the blog on the homepage of our website, or follow this link https://www.southbankprintmakers.com/blog
If you want to hear Maureen talking about her sustainable printmaking techniques she will be in the gallery on Thursday 17th September as part of the Open House Festival.
If there any things you'd like us to feature or questions you'd like answered in the blog or newsletter just drop us an email at info@southbankprintmakers.com
When you visit Southbank Printmakers you will see one of our members picked out as the Artist in Focus, with extra wall and browser space given to their work.
PAULA BOYD BARRETT: 31st August - 13th September
Paula's handmade screenprints are inspired by her encounters with wildlife and are a visual diary of the animals she has seen. Her aim is to portray the characteristics of the creatures she feels so lucky to encounter. Paula has been sketching from nature since childhood and was encouraged by her grandad, who taught her the names of all the flora and fauna they saw. She still enjoys long walks – these days often on the lookout for potential subjects for her next screenprints!
Paula makes sketches and takes photos for reference and then works these up into detailed drawings. To create the final artwork she collages together my imagery created using a wide variety of mark-making techniques. Each colour on the final print requires separate artwork to be prepared. She then transfers the artwork onto silkscreens to make stencils. The final stages involve screenprinting and sometimes monoprinting through the screen to get painterly effects. She hand prints images, creating small, limited editions.
Paula's screenprints have been selected to exhibit at the Royal Academy Summer exhibition, RBSA, Chelsea Arts Society, amongst others.
Little Egret, 20x25cm, screenprint, edition of 10. £99 unframed
Siskins, 15.5x23cm, screenprint, edition of 12, £140 unframed
Heron on Thames, 20x27m, screenprint, edition of 10, £99 unframed
Autumnal Treats, 20x20cm, screenprint, edition of 10, £99 unframed
Tim Mitchell was born in New Zealand. His youth was spent immersed in the country’s natural environment and through the years his love of surfing, sailing and hiking brought him into close contact with the country's unique, rich and diverse flora and fauna. His love of the outdoors carried on into his later years where he gained his Bachelors of Forestry Science Degree. Then, later, Tim gained a Post Graduate Diploma in Teaching which lead him on to teach in NZ, London, Hong Kong and Portuguese schools.
He has travelled and explored extensively to many countries through the years.
Eventually there came a point when the balance between teaching and art overturned and he followed his true nature to became a full time fine print artist.
Tim was fortunate early on in his printmaking to come under the experience, expertise and guidance of master printmaker Nick Richards (Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers) who has mentored and led him on his etching path, still to this day at Thames-side Print Studios in London.
These days Tim’s year is divided between London, Kent and Northern Portugal.
He regularly exhibits in London and South-East England.
Between the Fish and the Moon, 28x38cm, aquatint etching, edition of 80, £120 (£165 Framed)
What is etching? The etching process dates from the 16th century, and no photographic aids are used. The artist draws through a resin resist (which is impervious to acid) on to a copper, zinc or aluminium plate with an etching needle. The plate is then immersed in acid so that it is etched along the needle lines. This etched linear drawing provides the foundation for all plates. The plates are then inked up and hand printed on to acid-free paper through an old intaglio press. The word Intaglio comes from the Italian for 'incised' or 'carved' and refers to the lines etched into the plate, which hold the ink.
What is aquatint? Another intaglio process using acid, in which the plate is carefully and evenly covered with a powdered resin dust and heated, so that each particle of dust becomes crystallised and adheres firmly to the plate. The particles leave small exposed sections of the plate, which are then bitten by immersion in acids. Through a series of resin treatments delicate gradations of tone can be produced. The aquatint is characterised by a fine or coarse grainy texture of tones.
Text and images by Tim Mitchell. Follow Tim on Instagram @timtheprintmaker
Discover one of London's hidden art gems! The Southbank Printmakers is a co-operative of forty artists selling quality limited edition original prints at affordable prices through our gallery in central London and online. Read our newsletter to discover what's in the gallery this month and which of our printmakers is featured as an Artist in Focus.
