Meet The Maker: Tina Hagger
I'm Tina Hagger, otherwise known as haggytea, a Printmaker based in Faversham, Kent, England. I have been making linocut prints for about ten years now, and have begun making Tetra Pak prints in the past two years. I make my own work to sell and I also deliver workshops. I'm very much in love with all things print.
Describe your printmaking process.
My printmaking process is very DIY and very handmade, and has limitations which I both accept and embrace. For my linoprints, I use the multi-block method, and have lately been using a handmade registration jig utilising a transparent right angle sewing ruler and masking tape. I used to print wet-on-wet, but a year or so ago I decided to try letting each layer dry before printing the next layer, which I found to produce cleaner prints, and much less stressful print days! My prints are usually printed with up to a maximum of five blocks. I have a full-time job so this often means there is a week between printing each block so it can take quite a while to get a print finished, but more and more I am appreciating this slow way of making. I print my linoprints using my lovely old Victorian book press which limits my prints to A4 size. Occasionally I print larger than A4 and on those occasions I have walked around on the back of the paper on top of the lino using my sock adorned feet as the press! For my Tetra Pak prints I print using an Xcut Xpress with the Handprinted conversion kit, and have so far only printed using a single colour (blue-black) but have plans to start incorporating a little colour in these too.
How and where did you learn to print?
I learnt to linoprint at a one-day workshop with Nick Morley in Margate, followed by a two-day colour workshop a few years later. Unlike many people, I had never linocut at school, and so had no previous experience, but instantly fell in love with the method and process, and it quickly became my ‘thing’, taking over most of my thoughts and much of my life. I find it incredibly addictive. I taught myself to Tetra Pak Print about two years ago from observing printmakers on the internet and intuition.
Why printmaking?
My passion for linoprinting and Tetra Pak printing is largely based upon the thrill of the DIY nature of these kinds of printmaking. The fact that an idea can pop into my head and I can set it down in a drawing, and then carve a linocut or engrave a Tetra Pak, and then print multiples of that design, is truly thrilling to me. The process relies on me and my hand-controlled presses, and that’s it, nobody and nothing else. The idea that I have seized the means of production really gets me going! I also love the DIY look of linoprints and Tetra Pak prints: the marks, the textures, the handmade nature; particularly in contrast to the abundance of digital images we now see everywhere. And then the big one, the absolute magical joy of seeing the first print pulled. When everything (hopefully) comes together, but also the surprise element there is in seeing the finished print for the first time. That moment of wonder is never lost on me, and I sincerely hope it never will be.
Where do you work?
I work in my home studio which is in the basement of my partner and I's little Victorian house. Our house is on a hill and so the basement is only half underground and has a window which looks out on our tiny front garden and the street. I have packed a lot into this room: a table in the middle of the room with an old glass shower screen on the top which I use to mix and roll out ink, and then around the walls: a cabinet with my book press on, two desks - one for drawing and one for admin, a chest for paper storage and a set of large drawers for packaging, and a bookcase for art books and to store my prints! I have also stapled inspiring postcards and prints all over the walls. I love being there, and can get quite grumpy if things keep me from it.
Describe a typical day in your studio.
A typical day in my studio is unlikely to be a full day unless it is a weekend day. Generally, I draw, linocut or engrave Tetra Paks in the evenings after work. I find all of these activities immensely absorbing and relaxing, really getting into a flow state. I usually reserve printing (which I find a little bit more stressful) for a weekend day when I can feel like I have a good amount of time set aside to print, and problem solve, as necessary.
How long have you been printmaking?
I pulled my very first linoprint in 2013, but didn't start in earnest until 2016 after I had learnt how to make colour prints using the multi-block method.
What inspires/influences you?
Many of my prints simply stem from a desire to see if I can realise the image in my head in a print, and my desire to make the things I want to see in the world.
I take a lot of inspiration from nature and places I have visited and loved. Often my prints incorporate both of these elements.
I have also made linoprints of artists who inspire me. My artistic influences are wide and varied. What I most admire in other artists/makers is an ability to move along their own trails, to make art and live on their own terms. As such artists/ makers I really admire are Derek Jarman, Barbara Hepworth, Grayson Perry and Maggi Hambling. They were/are unequivocal about expressing themselves and making art. My admiration for this kind of stance and the state of the world has also recently inspired me to make some more political prints.
In a more practical way, there are many linocut artists I really admire and strive to be as good as. A historical influence is definitely the master printmaker and illustrator Edward Bawden. A current linocut artist I admire is Nick Morley. Nick taught me to linocut, and he basically created this monster! I have kept in touch with Nick since he taught me and I now attend a monthly Print Social at his studios in Margate which is run by him and another amazing linoprint artist, Mat Pringle. It is a real boost to be able to meet up with other linoprint geeks and talk about all things print.
What is your favourite printmaking product?
That has to be Caligo Safewash Relief Inks - I love the fact they can achieve such lovely pigmented colours, but are vegetable oil based and can be cleaned up with just soap and water.
What have you made that you are most proud of?
I can really appreciate the progression I have made in the years I have been linoprinting. I have kept one of every linoprint I have ever made since I began, stuck into various sketchbooks, and the progress is undeniable. Over the years, the execution has become more and more refined, the cuts more precise, and the prints cleaner. It is satisfying to witness this, and it is testament to the saying ‘Practice makes Printmakers’. I am really proud of this progression. I recently made a linoprint which I feel is a realisation of this. The print is of Coronation Farm, which is a derelict farm just off the track to the Men-an-Tol in Cornwall, and is a location for the film 'Enys Men'. From the moment I pulled the first print of the final layer I felt like it was the best print I've ever made, and I didn't immediately see all the things I could have done better, which was refreshing!
Where can we see your work? Where do you sell?
I sell my work on Etsy, and in exhibitions, and the occasional fair. I hope to exhibit more and get my work out there more in the future, but this is increasingly challenging for all artists, and having a full time job is also an inevitable limit on this. For the moment, the best place to see and buy my work is Etsy.
What are your aims for the future?
I guess my aims for the future are just more, more, more. More of everything print related.
One goal I have set myself for 2025 is to try to convey in my prints, the wonder at and delight in nature I feel. I also want to take even more time on every print, not to rush, to gently love every part of the process and for every stroke of my pencil, cut of my gouge and roll of my ink to show my love of the subject and the practice.
Do you have any advice for other printmakers and creatives?
Take your time, make things you want to see in the world, and just keep going.
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