Making her impression

Sitting at her thrifted 1934 Singer treadle sewing machine, printmaker and artist Amanda Fyfe guides a piece of repurposed fabric, on which she has printed her original artwork, towards the needle.

Fyfe, 37, often visits local thrift stores in Steinbach where she sources vintage and secondhand fabrics on which she prints and repurposes into household items such as quilts and pillowcases.

When she first started mastering her craft, Fyfe only used paper.

“Once I got more accustomed to paper I began printing my designs onto fabric. I love how you can personalize everyday items around you, bringing the magic of your personality and the natural world with you. I feel really connected to the medium,” she says.

“My next project is to print and sew my own lampshade with upcycled linen.”

The printmaker was drawn to the medium because of the hands-on nature of the process. From sketching her designs to hand-carving them and finally applying the finished print, she’s involved every step of the way.

Working from her kitchen table, she starts by creating a sketch, and then traces her sketch onto parchment paper. She transfers the tracing to a block of linoleum by placing the sketch face down and rubbing the back of the paper with a spoon.

When the artwork has been transferred onto the piece of hard rubber, Fyfe uses a micro gouge to start her hand-carving, which has to be the mirror image of the final product.

“When you are carving words, especially, you have to carve in a mirror image, so when you print it comes out legible,” she says.

A print can take her as little as five minutes to carve although some larger and more intricate pieces have taken up to a week.

After carving, Fyfe inks the linoleum using a tool called a brayer, which picks up the special printer’s ink she has spread onto a piece of thrifted glass, natch. The ink is very thick.

“You can’t have globs of ink; it needs to be in a relatively thin layer because details of the print need to come through,” Fyfe explains.

She then uses the brayer to spread the ink on the lino, before carefully pressing her chosen medium onto it. The piece is peeled off and set aside to dry.

Fyfe shares her work on her Instagram account @amanda.borealis and has started setting up stalls in markets where she sells kerchiefs, wall hangings and upcycled clothing, among other things.

“I like being able to print onto fabric, I love the idea of wearable arts,” she says. “I’ve made shirts before that I’ve sewn myself and printed on and I have done T-shirts as well. I’ve found I have more joy out of it if it’s something I sew myself.”

Her prints are very much inspired by the nature in the area surrounding her home. Feathers and morels, moths, flowers, hares, frogs and bears all feature heavily.

“I really feel connected to the area I live in; Richer is lovely. We get all sorts of wildflowers growing in town among the oak and spruce trees. Deer are regular visitors, as is the occasional black bear in spring and early summer. Nature is an important element in my designs. I try to bring that feeling of grounding and calm that comes with it,” Fyfe says.

Every one of Fyfe’s prints is unique because of the variations of the ink. And while she has made mistakes before, Fyfe says she has learned just to “try and go with it.”

“There can be a lot of frustration when a design or printing goes awry. You learn by fixing and adapting to your mistakes. Some designs come out even better for them.

“Things not going as planned aren’t usually as big a deal as we make them out to be. I’ve learned a lot about going with the flow.”

av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca