Oct 26, 2022
During the Summer of 2022, I had the pleasure of visiting the newly relocated Curwen Print studios in Great Thurlow. What an amazing location and facilities to refresh the artistic soul. It had been some time since my last visit, with intervening lock downs and it was good to be back. I reminisced with Lorraine Chitson (director at Curwen) on how long I have been attending their workshops and visiting with art students.
I was first introduced to Curwen Print when I worked at a school in Saffron Walden back in 2001. We were lucky enough to be approached by Lorraine with a bursary for two of our students; this enabled them to attend a week-long workshop at the Chilford Hall site. One of those students was Maria Derrick. She used these newly acquired skills to great effect in her GCSE portfolio and went on to study Art to degree level. Maria is now Head of Art at a local Cambridgeshire school.
I have been lucky enough to attend many workshops at Curwen on a personal level and as part of my CPD. Further, I have continued to visit the site with my students and more recently through their outreach classes. Teaching lino, etching and mono-printing, now forms part of my every day teaching using the skills that I have gained from sessions at Curwen.
My Curwen journey continues to develop, and my own children have now joined me in creative workshops. Hopefully, instilling in them a love for the beautiful medium of print.
Mandy Wilkens