Meet the Maker: Kate Alger
Hi – I’m Kate Alger, I’m an artist-printmaker and freelance tutor based in Surrey. I love the range and depth of styles, techniques and processes within printmaking. For me, the blend of drawing and physically making that printmaking offers is a little slice of magic.
My work is varied in technique and subject matter, but it all seeks to capture something beautiful and timeless in what I hope is a sensitive and soulful way.
I’m delighted to be featured here and share an inky tiptoe through my world of woodlands, furry faces, poetical plants and shiny cars from days gone by.
Describe your printmaking process.
It depends which technique I’m using but generally, my work is based on a photograph but is always entirely handmade. Having thought about it, my process is a rather dangerous mix of painstaking details and planning and prep and a possibly unhealthy dose of winging it and a ‘ah just f*ck it’ attitude. I love being able to switch between processes and techniques depending on the subject matter and the sort of mood I’m hoping to create (or the mood I’m in…). I love the immediacy of a monotype (but I do all of mine in one layer so it’s a very high-risk strategy but amazing when it works).
I love the hands-on scratching and of wiping of Tetra-Pak drypoints and choosing how to incorporate (or avoid) the creases into my designs.
I love the detail and precision of a screenprint (I print multiple drawings on top of one another to build up depth of tone and often work with loads of different transparencies of inks, plus an interplay of sheen or iridescence against flat, matte colours – and a smattering of hand-cut paper stencils for an element of texture – and jeopardy).
I love the subtlety of a blind embossing and how it sings the praises of the cotton paper I use.
I love the mend-bending stages of creating an etching (mine are mainly coffee-lift etchings so a lovely blend of freehand painting and careful stopping out, precise timings and finger crossings of dips in acid, then more hands-on inking and wiping with glorious, treacle-like ink, and I just love the velvety tones in the final pieces).
I love the cutting, carving and careful wiping of a collagraph and how the ink can sit on top of paper or soak into it.
How and where did you learn to print?
I did an introduction to screen printing course at Ochre Print Studio, just outside Guildford, just over 13 years ago, when I was pregnant with our second daughter. I’d found motherhood amazing but overwhelming and exhausting, and it sounds very cliché but I needed something where I could just be me for a couple of hours a week. I’d always drawn and made things but had never tried printmaking so I thought that this course, which offered a blend of paper-cut stencils and exposed drawings, sounded like it would be something new but not too far out of my comfort zone. I loved it. I loved the studio, the inks, the processes, the machines, the different stages, the experimentation, the precision, the possibilities, the noise of the squeegees on the mesh, the satisfaction of making beautiful things, the connection to my creativity, the possibility of a new identity when I felt lost and invisible.
Why printmaking?
Why not?! I’ve always drawn and made things. Always. From winning art prizes at school to making my own furniture when I first moved to France and could only afford a mattress, I’ve always taught myself and sort of made it up as I went along. I used to make my own clothes (without following any patterns) and then made my first daughter’s clothes, again without any patterns, to fit over her massive washable nappies, and I think it’s this blend of hands-on making, problem-solving along the way, working things out as you go along, along with careful drawing skills, that is like magic to me and my messy brain. It doesn’t make commercial sense to make everything by hand but I really hope that with so much digital stuff out there and the dawn of AI in particular, that carefully crafted, handmade, honest, soulful work will be prized, and will resonate with other people. I truly put a lot of me into my work and I really hope that this shines through and brings something timeless, something honest, and something meaningful into people’s homes when they choose to buy my work.
Where do you work?
If I’m at home, I work in my recently massively cleared-out studio (traditionally, this would have been the dining room of our house), but if I need to spread out, prep screens or if I’m printing a monotype or an etching, then I work at Ochre Print Studio where I’ve been a keyholder for quite a few years now.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
I’m either (half-) listening to a true crime podcast or some kind of documentary courtesy of BBC Sounds, something on Arte in French or very loud music but on headphones so I don’t disturb anyone else. If I’m printing, I’ll have all my inks mixed up and prepped and quite methodically ordered. I’ll have a stash of paper ready to go, printouts of the photo I’m basing my piece on so I don’t get too sidetracked and a bottle of water I’ll forget to drink all day.
How long have you been printmaking?
I started 13 years ago but have ramped things up considerably in the last 8 years or so.
What inspires you?
Anything that makes me stop and look. I’m really sensitive to light and so I’ll notice how sunlight falls through trees, the shadows that are cast, the colours and lines as the seasons change. I’ve always had a soft spot for dogs (especially if they’re scruffy or velvety and have perfected their sad look) and there’s something very addictive about trying to capture the elegance of cats’ poses and features. I love the little plants that defy tarmac and bricks and grow in the cracks of pavements or at the base of a wall in our towns and cities. I love the majesty of our wildlife and hope that I do it justice in my artwork. I appreciate the curves, lines, colours and craftsmanship of classic cars and the promise of escaping to somewhere exciting.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
I think Hawthorn stay open ink is my favourite thing. I love the smell, the gooiness, the depth of tone and its versatility.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
It sounds very boastful but I’m proud of all of my work. I’m proud that it’s handmade, that there’s a variety of subject matter and techniques. If I really had to choose though, I think I’m probably most proud of my monotypes, and maybe the dog portraits in particular, as I know how much they mean to owners, especially if it’s a memorial portrait.
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
If you’re quick you can come along to see my super-tidy studio as part of Surrey Artists’ Open Studios – I’m Studio 129 and I’m open from 11am-5pm on 13th, 14th and 20th June (other dates and times by appointment).
I’m very flattered to have been invited to exhibit at The Gallery, Holt as part of their ‘Put the Cat Among the Pigeons’ exhibition, which is on until 7th July and I have 4 Tetra-Pak drypoints of little cats there.
‘Deer’ and ‘Beach Day’ will be part of Ironbridge Printmaking Competition 2026 (opens on 4th July) – I’m proud to have had work selected so far every year for this fantastic celebration of printmaking.
I’m really looking forward to showing a wide selection of work in person as part of the Exhibition of Speed at Shelsley Walsh’s Classic Nostalgia event on the 18th and 19th July – this is the 2nd time I’ll be exhibiting here and if it’s like last year, it promises to be a really special weekend in a truly beautiful setting.
I’ll have a stall at Pistonheads’ Annual Service for the 2nd year running this August so if you’re near to Bicester Motion, please come and say hello on the 8th.
I’m delighted to be a finalist in the DSWF Wildlife Artist of the Year competition for the 3rd year in a row now, with ‘Calling’ and ‘Winter Solstice’ being shown at Mall Galleries in London 8th-12th September.
There’s possibly more to add to this list (plus I run various workshops throughout the year) but these are the main exhibitions for now. Otherwise, you can see most of my work on Instagram and contact me directly if you see anything you like, or you’d like to discuss a possible commission.
What will we be seeing from you next?
I’m hoping there’ll be more classic cars, more little cats, more pretending-to-be-sad dogs, more local trees. And hopefully at some point this year, finally… a website.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
In French, there’s a saying that goes something like ‘it’s by blacksmithing that one becomes a blacksmith’. And I think it’s only by printmaking that you become a printmaker. The actual learning by doing, not so much lessons and courses (although they of course have their place), but by developing your own intuition, your own style, your own way of doing things, and I suppose in arty speak it would be your own ‘artistic voice’. I hope that all of my work, although vastly different in terms of subject matter, technique and style, all looks like my work, a little piece of me. And I hope that has value and meaning. So pick up the ink, the etching needle, the lino, the gelli plate, the whatever it is you use, and just give it a go. You can always clear up the mess later…
To see more from Kate, follow her on Instagram
