Letterpress taster with Mary Plunkett

This introduction to letterpress will give participants a taste of the process with letterpress printer and designer Mary Plunkett. After an introduction to the type case and instruction on how to set type, each participant will have the chance to set and print a few words of text and print using the popular tabletop press, the Adana 8x5.

18+ Suitable for all levels, materials provided.

Mary Plunkett is a graphic designer and printmaker who specialises in letterpress. She designs and prints her own work, in particular book arts, and enjoys collaborating with other artists, writers and designers. When time permits, she makes limited edition books and prints at her own workshop, the Belgrave Private Press. Her work is in the collections of the National Library, Trinity College Rare Books, The British Library, Boston College Library, National Irish Visual Arts Library and private collections. While preparing prints for her Masters in Design in 2011, she printed at Black Church Print Studio and had the opportunity to meet with Cathy Henderson who was a member there.

She has run letterpress workshops at the National Print Museum, Graphic Studio Dublin and NCAD and has collaborated on a number of occasions with the National Print Museum, most recently to work with the designer Anthony Burrill for Design Week.

This event is part of the associated programme for the exhibition Thirty-Six Views of the Sugarloaf by Nell Regan & Cathy Henderson.

Thirty-Six Views of the Sugarloaf is funded by The Arts Council and supported by Wicklow County Arts Office through the annual Strategic Project Award Scheme.