This week I had the pleasure of visiting Hayley Pearce,
the designer and printmaker behind-the-scenes at The Art Room.
Introduced to screenprinting while studying her Bachelor of Design,
she kept this interest while spending many years working as a Graphic Designer.
She now has two gorgeous young girls,
and established The Art Room so she can make work from home.
Hayley's artwork is usually hand-drawn, scanned and tidied up in Photoshop
before heading down to the 'Print Room' (Laundry/Studio under her house in Beach Haven).
She produces a range of products including paper prints, pillowcases and cushions,
all designed and hand printed herself.
Having a small studio space is a challenge, especially with large screenprinting equipment,
but Hayley offered a few suggestions that she has found helpful:
Simple things like having her exposure unit on castor wheels
so she can roll it into the corner when not using it.
Once tucked away it becomes perfect for stacking up paper or cushions to get them out of the way.
It was custom-made and is super simple - an open wooden frame about 60x70x85cm
with a UV bulb set into a base board at the bottom and a pane of glass at the top.
For printing, Hayley uses a plywood board (slightly bigger than her screen) with hinged clamps at the top.
It sits on top of a trestle table so can be moved and stored when wanting the table for other things.
Having lots of tools can get in the way when printing, so Hayley prefers to hang a lot of ‘bits’on the wall;
rulers, tape, roller, wooden spoons, scissors, and countdown timer for heat setting.
Now they’re within reach, but not in the way of the ink tubs.
Hayley says her Flash Dryer is easily her most expensive but most loved piece of equipment.
She uses it to heat set her fabric work, cutting down ‘ironing’ time by two-thirds!
Needing to print and dry up to 60 pillowcases or teatowels at once,
she uses rows and rows of taut rope set in an alcove above head height -
a vast improvement from her old fold-up clothes lines that could only fit 10-12 items!
Check out her website: www.theartroom.co.nz
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