Saturdays are for Creative Freedom

Written By Erin Cunningham

I'm mid way through my second term at Applecross Senior High School as a lino print tutor for students in the specialist art program. The program runs on Saturday mornings during the school term providing the space for selected students to evolve their art skills.

In contrast to what life can be like during the week when sticking to tight deadlines, these Saturday art classes have been so creatively freeing. It's been so nice guiding my students to find their own creative answers through experimentation and making 'mistakes', and the results have certainly showed in their final pieces.

By chance, as students pick their own art course each term, my class this term is a group of all girls. It has been so lovely and made even more special in the context of the book 'Women Engravers' by Patricia Jaffé which details how, for over a century, the methods and techniques of wood engraving (before the time of linoleum) were guarded, and largely inaccessible to women. The book explores how many of the finest examples of print making in this century have been, and are women.

While traditional print making methods may not seem as practical in the pace of today's world, it's a practice that l've found to be so perfect in counter balancing the perfectionism of designing digitally. Yeah, you can always throw a stock texture over a digital illustration, but nothing compares to the satisfying, pleasantly unpredictable moment of revealing your first hand-carved print. Sharing this feeling with a group of talent young creatives has been such a highlight to the year so far.

Erin Cunningham