Q&A Samantha Groom – Workshop

Manchester Open returns on the 4th & 5th October at the Museum of Science and Industry with a full program of workshops! Samantha Groom a Sheffield based printmaker, specialising in wood and lino-cut printing will be hosting 2 workshops during the Manchester Open exhibition.

Attendees will be able to take part in a 45 minute session to get colourful and creative with linocut and stamp printing onto fabric, producing a series of unique textile prints to take home and frame or perhaps use in a sewing project.

We caught up with Samantha to ask few questions and wanted to start off by sharing a brilliant clip of Samantha demonstrating her skills on Channel 4’s Craft it Yourself:

1.  Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I am a Sheffield based printmaker specialising in wood and lino-cut printing onto paper, wood and fabric although I really enjoy all forms of printmaking, particularly when they don’t involve too much technical equipment! I hand-print all my work in my home studio to make framed prints, free standing & wall hanging artwork and homewares such as lampshades.

I have a ‘see what happens approach to printing’. I like to play with different techniques, different colours, different textures and just see what works. I love that element of chance and surprise in printmaking!

I am inspired by what I see around me, my local community, the park, local buildings, changing seasons; and at home, the toys and books, some ordinary household items, a vase of flowers, an old ornament. I like to create simple, brightly coloured and playful prints that remind me of imagery from my childhood in the 1970’s.

2.  Where can we see your work?

I sell my work online, through my website samanthagroom.co.uk, I also sell my work in various shops ad galleries around Yorkshire and Lancashire including ‘Cupola Contemporary Art’  in Sheffield.  I attend lots of art and print fairs and I open my studio every year as part of Open Up Sheffield.

3.  What is your Manchester design highlight?

I have lots of favourite design highlights so this is a hard question for me and I am bending the rules as my choice isn’t in Manchester or Sheffield where I am based. I am going to go for the Yorkshire Sculpture Park! I regularly pop over there as it’s only 20 minutes from where I live, it is wonderful. Obviously much of the sculpture is in the open air amongst the trees or around the lake and is part of the landscape which is fantastic, but I also really love the way contemporary and historical architecture also exist together in the park and are used to house the really thought provoking and exciting exhibitions. One of my favourite areas to visit at YSP is ‘Deer Shelter – Sky Space’ by James Turrell which has been created within a grade two listed building; the Deer Shelter. The exterior is unchanged and blends in with the landscape of the parklands  but as you enter through a dark passageway you come into a large square chamber with plain smooth walls and seating all around the edge on which you can sit and look upwards to an aperture cut into the roof. Through this you can gaze at the constantly changing sky. It is a very peaceful and meditative space.

4.  What will people enjoy on your workshop?

On my workshop people will have the chance to try out forms of simple but really fun printmaking onto fabric. We will be carving into gorgeous rubber blocks and also creating some quick but very effective stamps to print our textile designs. I have lots of bright and colourful fabric printing ink for people to choose from and it will be really fun to see what folk come up with using these two techniques.

All welcome and all tools supplied. Just bring a bucket load of enthusiasm for rich visual cultures and let us help unleash your creativity!  Spaces are limited so make sure that you have booked your place, click here.