Manotick Art Association

Supporting the visual arts in the Rideau Valley area

Workshops

Participants must be paid members of MAA for the year 2025-2026 (unless otherwise specified)

Guidelines for a Productive and Enjoyable Workshop
Workshop Rules and Regulations

MAA Workshop – Linocut Spring 2026

Under Pressure: Linocut Intensive Workshop with Deidre Hierlihy

Fridays, February 27 & March 6, 2026 — 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Curious about printmaking? Do you want to experiment with colour? Play with pattern? This printmaking class offers a playful forum for artists to build skills in different elements of art (pattern, line, mark, colour, composition). Deceptively simple, a strong linocut design demands a bold sense of pattern and an ability to balance lights and darks in an image.

Join artist and printmaker Deidre Hierlihy for a fun and engaging two-day linocut intensive. This hands-on workshop gives artists a chance to experiment, explore pattern and mark-making, and learn how to transform any drawing or photograph into a powerful printed image.

We will be using soy-based inks, which clean up easily with soap and water—perfect for a relaxed, creative environment.

Workshop Schedule

Friday, February 27

Morning Session

  • Introduction to relief printmaking
  • Introduction to linocut
  • Materials, tools, and processes
  • Designing and cutting a small linocut plate (group project)

Afternoon Session

  • Printing: materials, tools, and processes
  • Focus on plate making: Playing with pattern, expressive mark-making, balancing black and white

Friday, March 6

Morning Session

  • Printing: materials, tools and processes (review)
  • Registration
  • Playing with colour: coloured inks, chine collé

Afternoon Session

  • Editioning
  • Print exchange

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Materials for students to bring: available at DeSerres, Wallacks, or online from Above Ground

Lino block, 6 x 8” or 8” x 10” approximately

Either:

  • traditional battleship lino (mounted or unmounted) This takes more strength to cut, but gives better detail. Can be printed on a press (at a later date, we will print by hand in this workshop) 

Or:

  • rubber (often green or grey, ¼” thick) easy cut. This is easier to cut, but won’t give such fine detail, and prints less well with a press (we will only be handprinting in this workshop, so this is not an immediate concern)

Not speedycarve (often pink or white, ½ cm thick, composition of an oversized eraser. This cuts like butter but is difficult to cut details, and difficult to print cleanly)

  • Pencil
    • Permanent black marker (fine and regular)
    • Tracing paper
    • Linocutting chisels, or borrow from instructor
    • Paper for printing: in pads 12×14” min, 60-120 lb. 15 sheets OR oriental papers, 15 sheets
    • Newsprint paper, a few sheets
    • Visual source material i.e. drawings or photos as inspiration

Materials being provided by instructor (included in workshop fee)

  • Rubber lino for group project (February 27 a.m.)
  • Soy-based ink
  • Transfer paper
  • Use of rollers, spatulas, plexi for inking and printing
  • Use of linocutting chisels and safety boards
  • Barens and spoons for hand printing
  • Chine collé paste and papers

Registration Details:

February 27 and March 6, 2026, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Manotick United Church – lower hall

Maximum 12 participants – spots fill quickly!

Open to non-members after January 31, 2026 (if space remains).

Cost:

  • $100 – MAA Members
  • $125 – Non-members (after Jan. 31 if space allows)

To Register:
Email workshops@manotickart.ca

To Pay:
Send e-transfer to  treasurer@manotickart.ca

About the Artist – Deidre Hierlihy

Deidre Hierlihy graduated from Queen’s University in 1981 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She completed a year of research and printmaking at Graff, Centre de Conception Graphique in Montréal, and later earned her Bachelor of Education from Queen’s. Deidre teaches mixed media to children and printmaking and drawing to adults at the Ottawa School of Art.

Her international experience includes living and working in Japan (1987–88), where she taught English and studied Japanese woodcut printing, and an artist residency in County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland (2019). She has exhibited widely across Ottawa, Montréal, Japan, and Northern Ireland. She is a member of the Ottawa Gatineau Printmakers Connective, Graphein, and the Canadian Bookbinders and Book Artists Guild – Ottawa Valley Chapter.

Learn more about Deidre and her work at
https://deidrehierlihy.com

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