Masha Tiplady

Masha Tiplady is a self-taught printmaker, based in Edinburgh. Masha works primarily in linocut - a technique in which a design is cut into a linoleum surface with a sharp chisel, then inked with a roller and impressed onto paper. Masha enjoys creating intricate designs and carving very fine details, achieving interesting marks with a variety of cutting tools. She loves using colour and often embellishes her work with gold leaf. To masha, linocut is a perfect medium, which combines a thorough planning and methodical labour-intensive process with an element of a complete surprise - you really don't get to see the final result until you’ve drawn your design on lino, then carved it (which can take over 100 hours for larger blocks), then inked it and printed it on paper. Masha’s prints are often inspired by her favourite books and folklore tales. She also loves creating linocuts of plants and flowers that can be found in British gardens. Masha works from a small home studio and hand-prints all her linocuts, one by one, using an etching press, or, more often, just with the back of a wooden spoon.