Softcut prints by Maggie Mcmanus

Maggie tweeted us last week to share a softcut print she had been working on. We love to share your work on our blog, so we asked her a little bit about herself and how she found working with the softcut. "After leaving Art school I worked for various community art projects in Glasgow, Manchester and Blackpool, providing workshops to groups of all ages in a range of disciplines. I recently took a permanent part time role in a primary school in Moston, North Manchester, where I teach Art throughout the school. Going part time has given me the opportunity to spend more time doing my own work and it is fast becoming my main focus in life; I now sell my work at local Manchester markets and on Etsy.

I love the freshness and confidence of children’s mark-making and this, alongside illustrations from my own childhood, inspires my work. I am currently trying out different printmaking techniques and have recently been using Softcut blocks. Softcut works in the same way as lino but it is really easy to use; Fred Aldous recommended it to me a few years ago when I was working on a project with young people. I find that you can keep a fresh illustration style to your work without the labour of cutting and still achieve the lovely clean edges and marks of a lino print." You can follow Maggie on Twitter and buy her work through her Etsy site. If you would like to try making a Softcut print, head over to our Lino Printing section where you will find everything you need to make a start.