The Morley College Printmaking and Bookbinding Department has a London-wide reputation for technical excellence and inspirational teaching. With three well-appointed studios, we offer a fantastic range of printmaking, bookbinding and book arts courses suitable for students of all abilities. Complete beginners could join our Printmaking Beginners or Three Artists’ Books in Three Weeks courses. Longer course for more advanced students offer the opportunity to explore personal projects, make work for exhibitions, build portfolios and develop the experience and expertise to make applications to world renowned colleges such as the Royal College of Art and Camberwell School of Art.
When you join a course at Morley you will not only have access to excellent facilities and specialist equipment, but will also find yourself part of a community of like-minded artists and creative people. You’ll receive opportunities to take part in exciting projects, plus show your work in internal and external exhibitions. Friendships and working relationships made at Morley continue for years!
With a strong commitment to excellent teaching and expanding the knowledge and experience of our students, the department hosts regular talks and demonstrations. A highlight of the year is the popular Christmas event, where students and staff come together to see what each have been creating. Examples of projects led by tutors in the last year include working with recycled materials to make large prints, responding to the theme ‘The Planets’, making department box set of prints and a summer postcard project in which over 50 students and staff exchanged postcards on the theme of climate change.
Printmaking
The department offers courses in printmaking processes from traditional intaglio, lithography and relief printing, to photo and digital processes including photo etching, photopolymer and photo-litho. We are committed to exploring sustainable options in print and bookbinding, and tutors encourage safe working practices. You will learn a lot about professional practice and various working methods; experience that will enable you to become more independent in your own work.
Our printmaking tutors are experienced artists and professionals who exhibit their own work regularly and are constantly trying out new ideas and techniques which inform their teaching. As active members of the printmaking scene of London, they are well placed to offer help and guidance to students at any stage of their printmaking careers.
Bookbinding
Tutors in the bookbinding department have considerable professional experience working in museum and library conservation and commercial bookbinding studios. Classes in the department cover repair and conservation, learning and making traditional book structures and enclosures, to more creative projects. We can guide you to rebind classic books and artists books, create pop-up books and beautiful Japanese bindings. Students come to the department from libraries, archives or businesses, either as artists or simply to repair and rebind family heirlooms or grandchildren’s favourite books.
We also bring together Bookbinding and Japanese Woodcut in our popular course on Monday evenings.
Printmaking and bookbinding facilities
Our studios are designed for students to explore where traditional and digital techniques come together. Our equipment includes:
- Rochat Etching Press: Bed size 130 x 81cm
- Star wheel Etching Press Greig: Bed Size 108 x 38cm
- Bendini Intaglio Press- used for Collagraph and larger Relief Printing: Bed size 142 x 70cm
- Offset Litho Press: 69 x 48cm
- Direct Stone Litho Press: Bed size 80 x 60cm, with stones available in a large variety of sizes up to 52 x 42cm
- Adana (typesetting press): 3” x 5”
- Albion Relief Printing Press: Bed size 71 x 56cm, printing area 61 x 46cm
- Small Albion Printing Press: Bed size 53 x 38cm, printing area 45x 30cm
- Large hotplate
- A3 scanner and printer
- 2 x Apple Mac Desktop Computers with up to date Adobe software
- Photo exposure unit: 76 x 65cm
- Laser cutter: Bed size 55 x 27cm
Printmaker in Residence: Hannah Machover
Our Printmaker-in-Residence programme is a short 8-week residency for an MA Printmaking student from Camberwell UAL as part of an ongoing collaboration with the university. This residency supports an MA student during their study leave period, in which they can continue their work, acquire new skills and learn from our team of fantastic tutors and students. The collaboration provides a great link between our students and the Camberwell MA programme, offering an opportunity to learn about progression routes and elevating the conversation about contemporary printmaking in the department. In return, the printmaker will give a talk at the end of the residency, and donate one of each print to the department archive.
Our current Printmaker-in-Residence is Hannah Machover. She is exploring the work of Edward Bawden, and working closely with our librarian Elaine Andrews on her research.
Exhibitions
If you study Printmaking at Morley there are opportunities to exhibit work in the college’s exhibition spaces including the Barry Till Gallery, the Cardew Space and in Morley Gallery.
Tutor profile
Carol Wilhide Justin is a printmaker specialising in Japanese Woodcut. She learned the technique with Japanese senseis on a residency at the famous MI-Lab in Fujikawaguchiko.
On her return, she gained a place on the MA Print programme at the prestigious Royal College of Art. This gave her a chance to explore her understanding of the medium and make her own experiments with graduated cutting and viscosity printing.
