I was really happy that my three prints were accepted into the 11th International Miniprint of Kazanlak in Bulgaria. I was completely taken by surprise when a few days later I received an update saying I had been awarded First Prize in the Contemporary Printmaking category. The exhibition runs two prizes, Classical and Contemporary printmaking, so to have been awarded one out of over 450 exhibited works was very humbling,
I was then invited to submit another 12 prints for my solo exhibition as part of the winning entry. I had a few starts on different series of prints that I was able to build on. I submitted another two in the ‘Vista’ series, and created another three series. ‘Strata’, referring to the abstract notion of layering, but also referring possible geographical processes. ‘Threads’ referring to the use of line, and ‘Nocturne’ which simply places a poetic reference to abstract compositions with a particular colour process.
I started to plan for the miniprint opens, of which there are not many, in the middle of last year (2022), with the aim of entering the International Miniprint of Cadaques. I have found the format to be completely transformational in how I approach not just the development of smaller format prints, but in the experimentation of technique. What has been particularly interesting is that once you commit to the format, the best results are from ideas that are bound up with the dimensions. I have found that upscaling these ideas isn’t always successful. The prints work because they are small.