Lock printing with Sheyne Tuffery

Talented artist Sheyne Tuffery recently held a block printing workshop as part of his “Retrospect” exhibition in the new Backspace Gallery at Thrive.

Sheyne is a Wellington based multi-media visual artist whose primary mediums are painting, animation and printmaking. Well known for the dynamic style of his prints and woodcuts, Sheyne describes himself as “a paper architect who uses his work to create and represent his own cultural context and sense of belonging.”
He tells us he “got into art” as it was his best subject at school. “I suck at maths” he laughs… “Ive always been creative & went through to art school to see if I wanted to do it & loved it, so just kept going”.
We were invited along to see the workshop in progress and talk to the artist – it’s fantastic to see an artistic event like this happening in the village… We are keen supporters of the arts and all credit to the team at Thrive/Backspace Gallery for putting this together.

Two days of total immersion in a block printing workshop with one of New Zealand’s renowned artists sounds like creative heaven to us. Visiting the workshop and seeing the collective artists in action was evidence of this. The workshop was clearly a well organised creative space with no moment of each six hour session over the two days wasted.

The blocks, chisels, the printing press, ink, and art materials scattered on work tables all took us back in time to art rooms from yesteryear. At the end of the course, each student chose 3 works to display in the gallery for the duration of Sheyne’s show.

Pretty impressive to see this just pop up in the middle of Martinborough as though it had always been there! All surrounded by a backdrop of Sheyne’s incredible works.
This artist is clearly serious art tutor as well. He oversaw the activity with obvious pride in the work being put through by the group. We get the feeling Sheyne is in his creative element, sharing a love of print making, an area in which he is considered an expert.

A home for Art in Martinborough has been created by the team at Thrive in the Backspace Gallery and we thank them for this gift and all support this initiative. We know from past experience that maintaining an artistic centre can be a fragile business, lets not let this one go by, it’s too important.
So next time you’re passing Thrive, make sure you call in and see what’s going on at the Backspace gallery. We’re telling you, it’s worth the trip.

The Backspace would like to acknowledge the assistance of Creative NZ through their Creative Communities Scheme to bring this workshop to Martinborough!
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