We are thrilled to have had the chance to sit down and chat with Hannah Carvell about her four new and exclusive abstract prints, her printing process and her interest in abstract shapes.
AR: Please can you talk us through your printing process?
I normally start with an idea for a Design in my head and then will either try and get that sketched into layers, it used to be in photoshop and then printed onto acetate, but more and more these days I find I am cutting my “positives” by hand with scissors from paper or drawing direct onto the acetate with black post pens, I prefer a hands on design to computer based if I can help it. Then once I have my screens developed, it’s a bit of a trial and error, I will have a colour palette in mind, but I mix the inks up as I go, it might be I start printing and don’t like the colour or want it a little more opaque so a few prints might happen before I find exactly what I am looking for. I print from my garden studio at home, constantly with Radio 2 in the background and normally with a dog or cat sat in a basket under a table somewhere.
Algarve Skies by Hannah Carvell
AR: What do you enjoy about screenprinting?
Playing with colour, it’s hugely satisfying putting together palettes that make my heart sing, I really do love it, it feels like therapy on a bad day when making prints. It’s a process, and you do have to be quite precise which does not come naturally to me, I have got better over time, but still find I am a messy worker, I always end the day with inky hands (and nails) and smears of paint somewhere when I am running to get my kids from school.
Materiality 2 (Blue) by Hannah Carvell
AR: Where does your interest in abstract shapes come from?
I enjoy making the abstract work as it’s a little more free, unlike some of my other prints where you will have a design and a template on your screen, the abstracts I do building shapes off the cuff with cut up paper or tape, I never plan them, they evolve as I go, it feels more of an arty approach, picking colours and planning layout and composition as each layer builds up. I really enjoy making them and really have to think about where I am going with each print.
Materiality 1 (Lilac) by Hannah Carvell
AR: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind your new and exclusive pieces for Art Republic?
Well one of them is slightly different in that I used a reference photo (loosely) of a picture I had taken in Portugal, it was actually a supermarket carport, but I loved the angles of the corner of the building, the blue sky, the flash of red for the sign and the green leaves… I say loosely based as it’s more just shapes and colours and a real mix of the natural shapes you find in nature like clouds and leaves and then the sharper angles of buildings and street lights. The layers of ink have gone down thick in some places and it almost has the feel of a collage about it. The others are more of a play with colour, The Pinky one was made up with hand cut shape and also one of my Heart Screens, and the two Blue ones I wanted to feel could be hung as a set or separately, so I tried to overlap some of the colours, these I kept quite boxy but was really looking at how the colours and shades overlapped and worked on the page. They have been a lot of fun to produce, I had no real plan beyond them being abstract so I had to really think about each layer as I printed it and then re-access each time where I was going with the next layer of ink.
Tutti Frutti by Hannah Carvell
AR: What can we expect from you in the future?
I always have a million ideas and seem to run out of time with actually making them, partly as a small business as much as I would love to just print all day its everything else that needs doing, from customer service, to posting orders or trying to make content for social media - it’s a lot of hats to wear. I have a new print coming up that’s outside of my normal style, but I am excited to start printing for the big Show Print Club run, Blisters launching in September. I have a few fun prints I want to have a play with, fluffy creatures and worms, sounds weird but I have had an urge for printing them for a while. New editions of the Hearts and Flowers prints as they remain my Best Seller, my husband is desperate for me to print him some space Invaders and actually, I have been pondering some ideas around that theme. So anything goes really, always colourful, and normally a big dose of Neon pink ink finds its way into my palette.
Head to Hannah's collection now to stay up to date with her latest releases and check out all of her brilliant works.
