Gel printing and Shakespeare

Art workshops in schools

Gel printing and Shakespeare sound an unlikely pairing, but during the first few weeks of 2025 these two subjects became inextricably linked as I embarked on a six week Artist in Residence programme with Northampton Primary Academy Trust.

The Trust were engaged in a project with the Royal Shakespeare Company, in which Year 5 children across 15 primary schools were introduced Shakespeare’s Henry V and participated in a variety of workshops in preparation for their own performance of the play. In support of the project I was invited into schools as a practising artist, to share my printmaking skills and work with each class to create a finished collage which reflected a particular theme from the play.

Each school was allocated one of the following themes - Fate, Power, Conflict and Love and I had one day to work with each class. I first introduced the ideas of collage and abstraction, with examples from my own practice. The children then spent the morning learning how to print using a gel plate using employing a variety of techniques and thinking about relevant shapes and colours. In the afternoon everyone contributed to a creating a class collage using a selection of these printed papers.

I found it a very rewarding experience and just loved the looks of amazement when the first prints were pulled from the plate. All the children took to the process very quickly and eagerly and there were some great ideas for how to interpret the play in visual form. Below are just a few examples from the 23 finished pieces of art. The complete body of work will be on display when the children present their performance to teachers, friends and family at the Derogate Theatre in May.

Power and Monarchy - Abington Vale Primary School

Royal colours of red, purple and gold were used to print a variety of shapes associated with Henry V in his role of monarch.

Conflict - Thorplands Primary School

This collage depicts how the topography of the landscape helped Henry’s army overcome the French at the Battle of Agincourt

Power and Leadership - East Hunsbury Primary School

The war between England and France is compared to a game of chess

Love - Headlands Primary School

England and France unite with the marriage between Henry and Katherine but many lives were lost and is it really a marriage based on love?