Sat 15th & Sun 16th November 2025

Join guest tutor and printmaker Stephen Fowler for a fun-filled two-day workshop exploring the creative possibilities of rubber stamping and artist books!

This workshop is perfect for printmakers, book artists, illustrators, and anyone eager to explore rubber stamping as a playful and expressive medium.

Nearly everyone has the means of rubber stamp production in their pencil case: an eraser, scalpel, pencil, and maybe even a stamp pad— all that’s needed is something to print on. When choosing an eraser, the common misconception is ‘the bigger, the better,’ but this is an error. Unlike linocut and other forms of relief printing, rubber stamping is not purely about reproducing motifs or designs. Instead, it invites spontaneity, play, and invention. Working with small to medium-sized erasers encourages creative thinking. A single brick stamp can print a wall, a house, a street, a town—even an entire city. Stamping isn’t confined to the print studio. It’s a portable, flexible medium that can be taken anywhere and printed onto almost any surface—not just paper, but walls, textiles, food, and even human bodies!

During this two-day workshop, you will learn how to carve and print rubber stamps while exploring sequence and narrative through a selection of book structures. You’ll also have the opportunity to enjoy access to and work with Stephen’s collection of vintage rubber stamps from around the world, adding a playful and unexpected element to your work.

Day One 

 Learn how to create single-colour stamps and multiple-block/multi-coloUr prints.

 Explore masking techniques to create a sense of depth and layering, mimicking the reduction printing effects of layering and overprinting -without destroying the stamp.

 Develop skills in positioning and registering prints with accuracy.

Day Two 

 Get introduced to a range of simple book structures, including instant books, pamphlet books and concertina books.

 In the afternoon, experiment with the rubber stamps you’ve made and print them into your books you’ve made.

By the end of the weekend, you’ll leave with a set of carved stamps, a series of prints, and handmade books filled with your own unique stamp-based narratives. Plus a book containing the groups stamp print impressions.

Small press publications, rubber stamps and alternative printmaking are the focus of the course tutor, Stephen Fowler’s, practice. His zines and artists’ books are held in national collections such as Tate Britain and the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Fowler has run collaborative and experiential workshops in drawing and printmaking at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Birmingham Library, the V&A, Hayward Gallery’s Wide Open School, and Margate’s Turner Contemporary gallery. He is also a senior lecturer on Leeds Arts University’s Illustration Degree Course. His book on Rubber Stamping, published by Laurence King is out now.