Mobile Print Studio (MoPS), led by David Farrar, travels all over the city of Glasgow delivering printmaking classes to a wide range of audiences. Aiming to bring printmaking to as many people as possible, David regularly loads up his bike trailer and cycles to locations including galleries, coffee shops, schools, and community centres. MoPS offers beginner friendly and introductory classes in screen printing, etching, woodcut, and collagraph, as well as more in-depth classes in their East End studio.
David enjoys engaging with local communities and participating in various printmaking projects. He is currently preparing a series of workshops with a local youth community organisation, G20, which will be financed by sales from MoPS’s very own 2023 fundraiser calendar. While the main focus of MoPS is on education and spreading the joy of printmaking, they occasionally partner with local businesses to promote their brands through fun screenprinting events where members of the public get to try their hands on printing merchandise products.
MoPS’ founder has been interested in art since a young age, and while growing up had the opportunity to try screenprinting at his local school under the supervision of the inspiring screenprint technician Valeska Hykel, which determined his entire career. After completing his Foundation course at Oxford Brookes University, David graduated from Glasgow School of Art with BA (Hons) in Fine Art: Paint & Printmaking. He was fortunate enough to participate in several Art Residencies, including the Virginia Centre for Creative Arts in the USA and one in Belgium at Frans Masereel Centrum, where he further explored printmaking and focused on his own creative practice. Now, David works at Glasgow School of Art where he has been a screenprinting technician for the past 8 years, assisting students with their projects and passing on his knowledge of print processes. He has also recently completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Higher Education Learning & Teaching where he solidified his teaching skills.
“I was lucky enough to have the chance to experience printmaking at school, which led me to study Painting & Printmaking in Glasgow and ultimately establish a career as an artist. I now want to give back and offer the public an opportunity to try out technical creative processes in relaxed and affordable classes.”
David is currently focused on running printmaking classes with the help of two freelance workshop leaders, Olivia Juett and Tintin Lindkvist Nielsen, while searching for ways to participate in community projects as much as possible. MoPS recently completed a collaboration with Notre Dame High School in Greenock where they taught screenprinting to the local pupils and staff; “It was a great opportunity to engage with potential new artists and inspire them to pursue creative careers, which is exactly the direction I want MoPS to go in the near future.” David hopes to secure funding to be able to lead a series of workshops in schools all over Glasgow, helping children and young people to be creative and explore new skills, as well as carry on working on community projects and engaging with minority and vulnerable groups around Glasgow as he believes that “cost should not be a barrier to accessing art”.
David uses traditional printmaking equipment such as screens, woodcut chisels, and etching tools, all of which he brings on his bike trailer to workshop locations around Glasgow – he even carries his trusty etching press which is deceptively heavy considering its small size! He is a keen promoter of sustainable travel and cycles to his workshops if he can, or takes public transport to locations slightly further afield. “I apologise to everyone who gets stuck behind me in traffic when cycling up the hill,” says David, “but I am really proud to be contributing to sustainable travel and I’ve actually done some quick maths and calculated that by cycling instead of driving we’ve saved around 100,000g CO2 over the past 8 years, which is incredible!”
www.mobileprintstudio.co.uk
@mobileprintstudio
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