BLACK PIG PRINTMAKING STUDIO

Black Pig has grown out of the independent printmaking studio phenomenon that has massively increased in the UK in the last ten years or so. Its aim is to combine professional printmaking through open access to studio space with teaching. Students can build up a body of work by “bolting-on” skills as and when they are needed at a fraction of the cost of an undergraduate degree and with much more thorough technical demonstration.

The Design

The studio is specifically designed to be an inviting space that works on a social level as well as a practical one. Too many studios have grey-painted concrete floors and strip lights, places where you do your job and then get out. Black Pig is laid out in such a way as to encourage people to interact and learn from each other as they work and after the day’s work is done.

For wood engraving and book binding we have two beautiful nineteenth century cast iron nipping presses. For everyday printing of smaller blocks of lino, engraver's plastic or etching we have a Catalan Reig etching press. For larger lino and intaglio prints we have a polymetaal JW-80 which has a very large travelling bed 80cm wide by 160cms long; it's a beauty and works like a dream with the lightest touch.

Our Ethos

Like many other independent studios in Britain, Black Pig Printmaking Studio is mixing professional practice with teaching. There are some people using the studio to edition prints in a commercial context and others learning some skills for the first time. With good practice we have found a balance between playfulness and discipline that ensures excellent results.

The Director

Chris Pig has been an artist printmaker for 40 years. After studying his MA in Barcelona with Winchester School of Art, he became principal lecturer in Printmaking at City and Islington College for seven years. He left to set up his own studio in Córdoba where he lived for six years before returning to London and working at East London Printmakers. He now lives in Frome with his family where he is director of Black Pig Printmaking Studio.

He has work in public and private collections throughout the world including Guangdong Museum of Art China, Douro Museum of Printmaking Portugal, Pallant House Chichester, the Ashmolean Museum Oxford, the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum.