Our designs are lovingly hand-crafted, using a method called ‘block-printing’
An initial sketch of a wheke (māori octopus) that forms the basis for the block print.
It all starts with a sketch!
We use a method called ‘block printing’ to create our designs. But all of our designs start their journey as a sketch.
Our designs are sketched by Steph, wherever possible based on a photograph taken by Paddy (see ‘Our inspiration’). These sketches form the basis of the block print. Some sketches are extremely detailed, others just outline the main features of the animal.
Once the sketch is finalised, it is traced onto baking paper, and then transferred onto a stained block - ready for the next stage - carving!
A cromwell chafer beetle block being carved.
It’s carving time!
Steph uses rubber blocks for carving - it’s generally soft and easy to carve, yet can capture fine details such as fur or feathers.
The block is carved with a carving tool - Steph has one with five interchangeable nibs of varying types. Each nib is usually used for a particular stage of carving. She usually starts with the finest nib, which is used to create the fine details, while the widest nibs are used for carving out white spaces at the end.
Steph always starts with the eye (or ocellus!) of the animal - this is really the heart of the creature, and if it’s not right, then there’s no point in continuing! That said, rather miraculously - Steph has only ever had to completely redo one block!
We love the different textures that can be created with this method - and Steph is constantly experimenting and learning with this technique!
Inking up our Hamilton’s frog block.
Ink it up!
The ink we use depends on whether we’re printing onto fabric or paper. We use Speedball Fabric Block Printing Ink for our fabric printing - it means all our items are machine washable (on a COLD wash), and being an oil-based ink means it’s easy to clean up! For our paper printing, we use Fine Art Studios Block Printing Ink - which works fabulously, and gives lovely crisp prints.
Paddy starts by rolling out the ink with a brayer so it forms an even layer in the tray (and if there’s any blending to do, that happens too). The ink is then transferred from the brayer to the block print - usually several times to ensure a nice thin and even layer of ink on the block.
The block is then pressed against the fabric or paper - we don’t have a printing press, so this is literally just as much pressure as we can muster! And et voila - we have ourselves a print!
Our fabric prints take a week to dry, and then they are heat-set in the dryer, before a final cold wash and dry!