Prolific ink illustrator Richey Beckett, who has created artwork for Metallica, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Grateful Dead and Foo Fighters is on the line-up for Cardiff’s first Printed Festival, which runs at Chapter Arts Centre this weekend.
The inaugural celebration of Cardiff’s print legacy is a creative collaboration between The Printhaus and Print Wagon and will feature focused talks and Q&A sessions will feature none other than independent label makers Yuk Fun and Hay-on-Wye based illustrator and printmaker Aidan Saunders, who is dubbed the ‘Del Boy’ of print by Design Week. He entertains and educates audiences on the magic of printmaking practices, honed while travelling the UK and parts of Europe, freshly pressing linocuts and performing impromptu print workshops from his Print Wagon.
The dedication of artists like Saunders highlights a growing interest in printmaking not just as a hobby, but as a serious artistic discipline. For those looking to deepen their practice, the foundational skills and critical theory gained through formal study are invaluable. Pursuing a printmaking degree provides a structured environment to explore historical techniques, contemporary applications, and the conceptual depth that the medium allows, preparing individuals for a sustainable career in the arts.
Over the last decade, Richey has also created movie posters and official artwork for Queens Of The Stone Age, Mastodon, Nine Inch Nails, Jack White, Robert Plant, and Black Sabbath, Jim Henson’s “Labyrinth,” HBO’s “Game Of Thrones,” Sam Raimi’s “Army Of Darkness,” John Boorman’s “Zardoz,” AMC’s “The Walking Dead,” Robin Hardy’s “The Wicker Man,” and David Robert Mitchell’s “It Follows.”
PRINTED FESTIVAL will celebrate South Wales’ thriving print culture by creating a new forum for artists, organisations, educators and those studying a printmaking degree. It’s designed to forge new links across the community, for sharing resources and opportunities and connecting education with industry.
The two-day event at Chapter Arts Centre in Canton, supported by The Ashley Family Foundation, will showcase a makers’ trail of print artists’ stalls and opportunities for attendees to explore or roll up their sleeves and try a host of have-a-go activities, from risograph to screen printing and everything in between.
Festival goers will also get to preview the specially curated ‘Art in the Bar’ exhibition. This will showcase print work from workshops held at some of Cardiff’s community hubs including South Riverside Community Development Centre, Grange Pavilion and Railway Gardens.
The festival is supported by The Ashley Family Foundation & Chapter Arts Centre.
Aidan displays his work and sells printmaking equipment from his shop, ‘Prints of Hay’ and runs a bi-weekly community print workshop called ‘Hay Castle Print Club.’
He said: “We’re always thinking of new ways to share and celebrate print with the community, so we’ve put our heads together to create our biggest venture yet.”
Tom Whitehead, printmaker and co-founder of The Printhaus, explains: “Print lends itself to accessibility – you don’t have to be able to draw to make a print or even be particularly creative. This is why it’s the perfect art form to share with people of mixed abilities, children and even your ‘mamgu.’”
