Linocut printing, a not-very promising start, but perseverance pays off for podcast guest Gerry Coles
Jun 09, 2022
Surrounded by sketches, gouges, inks and plates, I sat in Gerry Coles’ conservatory discussing her career, how she found printmaking, and what she plans on doing next.
You can listen to the full 30-minute podcast on Apple, Spotify, any podcast app, or here and discover how Gerry found her creativity. Here’s a snapshot of what we talked about…
Lots of children have the chance to try printing techniques during school art classes, but Gerry never did. In recent years, however, she fell in love with the process of making linocut prints, “I love the fact that when I make a print, I can make several, so I have ones that I can sell or give away. It’s just a magical artform and I absolutely love it”.
Having studied and trained in Environmental Health, Gerry went on to start a family, work in her husband’s business, and run their small-holding. Nothing to do with art! As she approached 50, she began to think about starting something that was just for her. Having loved the arts all her life, and with her children less reliant on her as they grew, Gerry’s reignited love for the arts coincided with an exhibition she visited at the Victoria Gallery in Bath. This exhibition, on printmaking, blew her away.
Starting where most people do, Gerry bought a linocut kit online, “So I’ve got this £20 kit from Amazon about the size of a tissue box. I had a go. I was really crap, and I thought ok, ok, this is not for me.”
Luckily, a year later, she got the box out and tried again. This time she copied the design from the kit and followed the instructions, and lo-and-behold, the love for linocut was ignited. There was no stopping Gerry now!
Find out how Gerry's uninspiring first attempt turned into a full-blown passion for printing, why she keeps her work seasonal, exhibiting and her fears at her first ever show, future plans and her favourite podcasts.
All episodes of the Creativity Found podcast are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and many other podcast apps, and at creativityfound.co.uk.
Gerry Coles is a member of the Creativity Found Collective.
Creativity Found Collective
The Creativity Found Collective is a membership for artists and crafters who share their creative skills with grown-ups through workshops, online courses, products or subscriptions. It is also a membership for business-support enterprises who use their expertise to help those artists and crafters to grow their businesses.
We promote their offerings on the website and connect them with a network of like-minded business owners.
All of this is backed up by the Creativity Found podcast, in which I chat with grown-ups who have found or re-found their creativity later in life.
You can find out more about the Creativity Found Collective membership here.
And don't forget, you can subscribe to the mailing list here.
