Getting Started
When I first started thinking about setting up my own creative venture, I did what most of us do: I had a look around to see what casual workshops there was already on offer locally. And honestly? I was surprised. There are loads of drawing and painting groups, sketchbook socials, and crafty meet-ups—but when it came to printmaking, there were very little options. And absolutely none with a proper press.
That got me thinking. Printmaking has always been something I love—although, I don’t often use it in my illustration work. It’s one of those things that feels both technical and magical at the same time, and I realised running workshops could be a good way to spend more time with the process while offering something a bit different to the community. It seemed like the perfect way to spend more time with the medium myself and open the door for others to try it.
So I decided to go for it. I bought myself a table-top press: compact but solid (and honestly, pretty hefty to lug around too!). That was the start of Industrious Lemon—Naturally, a quirky name called for an equally quirky logo, so I set about doodling, designing, painting and inking until it felt right.
From there, it was a lot of testing, printing, and making boards—getting things set up and seeing how it all worked in practice.
My first real trial run was a private collagraph workshop, Crafty Sundays. The guests were a mix—some keen to jump in with complex designs, others a little unsure at first—but by the end, everyone had made something and seemed pleased with the results. It was a good reminder that printmaking can work for people at all levels.
Then came the big test: my first public event at the Leyton Arts Festival. I set myself up at Café - Tun for what was billed as a casual ‘drop-in’ printmaking session. —It was anything but casual! For three solid hours, it was busy, bustling, and full of curious people eager to try their hand at printmaking. I barely had a chance to catch my breath, but it was such a fantastic sign that there’s genuine local interest in this kind of thing.
Now I’m gearing up for the next adventure: my first pub-based Drink & Print night at The William the Fourth. I’m calling it ‘Ink, Drink, Press!’—because really, what more could you want on a night out than good company, a pint in hand, and a chance to do something arty. So that’s how the first few months of Industrious Lemon have looked: full of experiments, happy accidents, and the wonderful buzz of people discovering printmaking for the first time. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.