Last updated December 2007
Please Note: To the extent permitted by law, Warringah Printmakers Studio, excludes any liability for any loss or damage which may result from any inaccuracies contained in the information provided on safer printmaking.
After becoming incorporated in 1997, safer & alternative techniques for producing original art prints were introduced to the Warringah Printmakers Studio. Workshops by visiting printmakers Keith Howard & Pauline Muir in 1998 as well as Dan Welden in 1999, gave a definite kick start to the Studio’s move towards safer printmaking.
Keith Howard, formerly Head of the Canadian School for Non-Toxic Printmaking at Grande Prairie Regional College, Alberta, introduced Studio members to ImagOn, a photopolymer film. He also demonstrated the use of ferric chloride to etch copper plate; acrylic resist to replace the usual asphaltum-based hard & soft grounds; & vegetable oil for the cleanup of oil-based printing inks.
An insight into the flexibility of solarplate as a printmaking medium was gained with a series of workshops by Pauline Muir, a biologist, teacher, printmaker & writer. Dan Welden, Master Printmaker from New York who first developed the solarplate printing technique in 1972, added further possibilities in the use of flexographic plate in printmaking.
Workshops by other artists, particularly Janet Ayliffe & Diane Longley from South Australia, have increased the store of knowledge & artists at Warringah Printmakers Studio have developed their own expertise & unique ways of developing imagery appropriate to the medium.
The internet has proved a valuable resource for information about the latest developments & research into safer methods of printmaking & links have been forged with artists who have completely rejected the use of hazardous chemicals & solvents in their art making.
Nik Semenoff is a resident of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. An artist, printmaker, goldsmith & educator he invented a number of new printmaking processes, such as the waterless lithographic process. He has also developed an etching process using a solution with copper sulphate as the main ingredient.
Ad Stijnman, a printmaker & print historian in Oudewater, the Netherlands, became ill in the mid 80's due to the chemicals with which he was working. He has studied the dangers of traditional printmaking, researched less toxic procedures & generously given advice & knowledge resulting in the Studio’s use of vegetable cleaning agents (VCA) to clean plates & tools as an alternative to solvents containing terpenes (white spirit).
Warringah Printmakers Studio would like to acknowledge & thank all of the artists who have contributed to our development as a safer printmaking studio. We would particularly like to thank Ad Stijnman for allowing his research - 'Etching Zinc with Copper Sulphate', 'Vegetable Cleaning Agent' and 'Safe & Safer' to be included on the Studio website .