Five days, five photos. What does a week with a print-making, book-binding artist like Ben Goodman look like? MONDAYI work most of the week as a bookbinder or a print technician at UWE but I also produce artwork. I mostly create small, intricate wood engravings but recently I’ve been moving towards letterpress printing. This evening I worked for a few hours at my studio, sorting through old equipment I recently acquired – there were drawers of beautiful old type, three small printing presses and loads of intriguing masonic engravings! It can be tricky juggling a portfolio career, but it makes for a very interesting life! TUESDAYTomorrow I’m running a wood engraving class for MA students at UWE but first all the tools need resharpening following a workshop I taught last week. There are mechanical ways of doing this, but I find it works better doing it the old fashioned way – by hand. Wood engraving was developed in the second half of the 18th century by Thomas Bewick. There is currently a resurgence of interest in this traditional skill and yet it is relatively rare to see it taught in universities, especially at MA level. WEDNESDAYI run an engraving workshop a couple of times per term at UWE, but I also teach it independently at various locations. As an artist, this is a great way to supplement your income and is also extremely rewarding. You can get a certain buzz from inspiring others to take up a skill, especially when you see them develop it and evolve in a direction that you encouraged. I would recommend anyone to share their talent for the benefit of others and their own. THURSDAYToday was a quiet day at the UWE letterpress studio, so I cracked on with a project I recently started. It might seem a bit too ambitious, but my plan is to print a specimen book of all our letterpress type. We have about 120 cases of lead type, and 90 of the wooden type – so it’s definitely a long term project. But it would make life a lot easier for the students. At the moment they have to look through every case individually while trying to decipher what the minute, inky, reversed letters will look like! FRIDAYI spend Fridays and Tuesdays at Bristol Bound, which is a small, family-run operation in south Bristol. Although bookbinding wasn't necessarily a process that I was focused on before, it actually complements printmaking very well. It involves a similar skill-set and also similar equipment. I would recommend anyone at the beginning of their career to look at the industries surrounding their own to see what might complement their core interest. Arts PeopleVisual artsLink to Author(s): Ben Goodman Published: 30-11-2015 Log in or register to post comments