Combine a love of print, collaborative art-making and a dog with a ball and what have you got? You have the opportunity to get a pretty cool-looking print edition from local artist Nick Romeril, courtesy of the achingly cool printing presses of Luddite Press and Parker Editions.
It’s a full-circle story of collaboration as the genesis of Luddite Press is partially attributable to Nick, who loaned Tom (Parker) his old printing press back in 2018. Such was Tom’s enthusiasm for the lost art of print-making that later that year he partnered with Tim Le Breuilly, and Luddite Press was born. The duo acquired two more presses and set up in a new space at Greve de Lecq Barracks.
The studio now offers a unique setting for artists and the community to make prints. With a significant amount of equipment related to many printmaking practices, the studio’s key objective is to advance the education of the public in the broader subject of printmaking and the skills associated with printmaking practice through workshops, classes and community projects. The studio membership scheme allows artists independent access to the print room to develop skills and realise their own projects. Residency opportunities are available for visiting artists. Following his new love of all things print, Tom returned to education, relocating to the UK and subsequently graduating last year from the Royal College of Art with a Masters in printmaking. Building on his studies, Tom now (as Parker Editions) offers printing and publishing of handmade prints in etching, screenprint and relief.
Nick studied painting at Camberwell College of Art in the late 1980’s and in 1991 to take a Master’s degree in printmaking. On returning to Jersey, Romeril set up a studio and began painting, sculpting and printmaking. He started lecturing at Highlands School of Art in 1996 until 2009. Since then he has held numerous solo exhibitions and many group shows in London, Switzerland, France, USA and Jersey. His artwork is immediately recognisable and his paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures are found in households and public spaces across the island and beyond. This new print is a return to old practices with a lively subject, as Nick trells us, “I love animals and they have been a subject in my work for a long time. I am making drawings of my dog Scribbles. She is a very cute dog and always has a ball in her mouth. I have wanted to make prints with Luddite Press for a few years now and haven’t made etchings for at least 15 years. This is the first series of work I have felt keen to make etchings from since then. It is the right subject.
With Tom and Tim’s support, Nick is now working in the print room at Luddite Press on a series of new etchings of Scribbles the Jack Russell terrier. The resulting prints set to be published later in the Spring. The prints will be available to buy direct from Luddite Press and in shops and galleries. Tom tells us, “We are looking back at those past etchings of (Nicks), which are great drawings and great prints, and seeing how we might develop them with these new drawings. The new series of prints is a homage to that and to his dog who accompanies him everywhere.”
For more information please visit www.ludditepressci.com
