The Studio
The Leinster Printmaking Studio is an artist-run studio situated in Clane, Co. Kildare. The studio was the brainchild of Margaret Becker, stained glass artist and printmaker who, with several other artists, formed a company called the Leinster Printmaking Studio Limited in 1998, with support from the Arts Council and Kelt, (Kildare Enterprise Leader Teoranta).
It is a non-profit making company incorporated in the Republic of Ireland, limited by guarantee and not having a share capital. It has received charity status recognition from the Revenue Commissioners. The studio is presently funded by Kildare County Council, its members and associate members and friends.
The studio caters for anyone with an interest in printmaking, from the beginner to the professional artist. It offers facilities for producing prints by intaglio, aquatint, carborundum, screenprint, photo-etch and photo-lithography.
The Leinster Printmaking Studio is the first 'safe' or 'green' studio in Ireland - whenever possible, members strive to use safe and
non-toxic materials.
Over the years the Leinster Printmaking Studio has established links with other printmaking workshops and galleries in Ireland and further afield, including Seacourt in Co. Down, Limerick Printmakers, the Graphic Studio and Blackchurch Studio in Dublin, the Regional Print Studio in Wrexham and Lessedra in Sofia among many others. Member regularly exhibit nationally and internationally.
The studio comprises of a large work room with photo etch light box, a clean area which incorporates a quiet space for reading, drawing or as a place for holding meetings. Alongside is a dark room for developing the photo etch and lithography plates. A second large space serves as an inking-up and printing area and a smaller room holds the etching and aquatint facilities. There are two other small rooms, a kitchen and a cutting room.
The studio is bright and airy. It has five presses, a Little John (28x48), a Lilly and Hewitt, (19x48), a Tofko, (31x55), a Furnaival and Co (15x36) all with gears, (14x24). There is a guillotine for cutting metal and Axpect Polyethylene, a drying press, plenty of storage space for paper and materials.
