Aug 14, 2023
We recently had Joanna Cohn winner of The Rosemary Simmons Lithography Prize here at Curwen, and staying in village at The Old Vicarage, attending her prize of a Stone Lithography course with Paul Croft Master Lithographer plus some time working independently in our open access studio.
Rosemary Simmons trained at Chelsea School of Art. She ran Curwen Gallery and Studio and was a visiting lecturer to art colleges. Rosemary is a well-known printmaker and the retired founder and editor of Printmaking Today. She is an honorary member of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers and of the Printmakers' Council. She has written extensively on all forms of printmaking and is passionate about Print. Rosemary is a keen supporter of Curwen Print Study Centre and set up her Bursary in Stone Lithography to support a print technique on the endangered list.
Joanna Cohn the winner 'I was delighted to win your lithography prize, I knew your work before I heard about the prize, and leant a lot of things I didn’t know about all the types and processes of printmaking from your book Collecting Original Prints
And what a wonderful gift your prize was, in offering me the opportunity to really get to grips with stone lithography.
The course with Paul Croft was fantastic. I already knew Paul’s book on stone lithography, as it is the book our head of printmaking at Central Saint Martins recommended, and I had searched to buy my out of-print-copy as the waiting list for the library copies was so long. And so you can imagine how excited I was to study with him. He was as knowledgable as I had imagined, but so down to earth and relaxed it made for a perfect combination in a teacher.
On the first day we painted our images on the stones and made the first etch. And on the second day added the further etch and made some prints.
Everyone at Curwen was very welcoming and helpful, and the studio was beautiful and light.
I returned on Tuesday, to make some prints in colour, and decided to etch another stone so as to push myself to try the full process independently. I successfully etched the stone, and it was great to experiment further with the drawing materials and explore their potential. I didn’t have time to make prints as the press was a little bit moody, I should have removed the tepan as Paul Croft had on our course, as it was taped together and the tape was jamming the motion. Still. It’s all valuable learning, I know to leave more time next time.
My overall experience at Curwen has given me a confidence I will be taking to the Royal College of Art next month when I start on the printmaking MA as a Leverhulme Scholar.
Thank you so much for giving me this invaluable learning experience and furthering my passion for lithography.’