Leinster Printmaking Studio
The Leinster Printmaking Studio is dedicated to providing a professional working environment and studio facilities to printmakers by promoting excellence in practice and skills development in conjunction with continuous learning and outreach programmes.The L.P.S. caters for anyone with an interest in printmaking, from the beginner to the professional artist. It presently offers facilities for producing prints by intaglio, (etching and drypoint), aquatint, (an intaglio process for creating a tonal field), carborundum, (an abrasive powder made of carbon and silicon), photo-etch and photo-lithography. The studio comprises a large work room with photoetch light box, a clean area which incorporates a quiet space for reading, drawing or as a place for holding meetings. Alongside is a dark room for developing the photo etch and lithography plates. A second large space serves as an inking-up and printing area and a smaller room holds the etching and aquatint facilities. An adjacent room contains a large guillotine and there is also a small equipped kitchen.The Leinster Printmaking Studio is a 'safe' or 'green' studio - which means that, whenever possible, members strive to use safe and non-toxic materials. Substances such as white spirits, turpentine, nitric acid, resin and bitumen are unwelcome. It was decided to use environmentally friendly materials in order to limit the damage to the environment and to the practitioners.Over the years the L.P.S. has established links with other printmaking workshops including Seacourt in Co. Down, Limerick Printmakers, Lorg in Galway, The Graphic Studio in Dublin, and The Regional Print Studio in Wrexham, among many others.