About
AWEN PRESS is the private press of artist and printer, Helen Moss. I work in the tradition of entirely hand made, and limited edition private press books and ephemera prints. My images are hand carved acrylic or lino plates, and printed at the Incline Press workshop on our Albion Press, Arab or other manual printing presses.
I make images from intuition, based on my painting practice and regular drawing or monoprinting on glass, exploring contemporary expressive printmaking within the tradition of the letterpress book crafts. The text is all hand set using a variety of moveable metal types, locked into a chase and printed on fine papers with the final book being hand sewn and bound in house. Printing is a slow and beautifully off grid, low impact artform using upcycled or antique tools, materials and machines, and a wide variety of skilled processes.
Awen is a Celtic word that means inspiration (often poetic inspiration), intuition or a flowing energy. It is also a female name, and sets for me a deliberate intention to bring a little balance to the largely male dominated private press scene.
After working for 18 years as the warden of nature reserves in Kent, I took my Fine Art degree at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury in 2011. Over the next few years I set up and ran a couple of community art projects sharing fine art skills with people who are excluded from higher education, and then moved to Wigtown, which is Scotland's official book town. After a few years setting up my own print studio and restoring an 1880's cropper press to do 'jobbing' printing for local businesses, I met and married printer Graham Moss of Incline Press. We now work together in Oldham, making entirely hand printed and beautifully bound books with all the traditional crafts of a private press publisher. You can learn more about Graham's 30 years of work at www.inclinepress.com
I have recently exhibited paintings and prints in group shows at the Scottish Royal Academy and the Society of Wood Engravers exhibition in Bankside, winning the 2024 Sheila Honnigsberg award for book illustration. My new book MARY is currently in production, and the prototype is part of a group show by Liverpool Book Arts and on display in the Liverpool Central Library during September/October 2024.
I make images from intuition, based on my painting practice and regular drawing or monoprinting on glass, exploring contemporary expressive printmaking within the tradition of the letterpress book crafts. The text is all hand set using a variety of moveable metal types, locked into a chase and printed on fine papers with the final book being hand sewn and bound in house. Printing is a slow and beautifully off grid, low impact artform using upcycled or antique tools, materials and machines, and a wide variety of skilled processes.
Awen is a Celtic word that means inspiration (often poetic inspiration), intuition or a flowing energy. It is also a female name, and sets for me a deliberate intention to bring a little balance to the largely male dominated private press scene.
After working for 18 years as the warden of nature reserves in Kent, I took my Fine Art degree at the University for the Creative Arts in Canterbury in 2011. Over the next few years I set up and ran a couple of community art projects sharing fine art skills with people who are excluded from higher education, and then moved to Wigtown, which is Scotland's official book town. After a few years setting up my own print studio and restoring an 1880's cropper press to do 'jobbing' printing for local businesses, I met and married printer Graham Moss of Incline Press. We now work together in Oldham, making entirely hand printed and beautifully bound books with all the traditional crafts of a private press publisher. You can learn more about Graham's 30 years of work at www.inclinepress.com
I have recently exhibited paintings and prints in group shows at the Scottish Royal Academy and the Society of Wood Engravers exhibition in Bankside, winning the 2024 Sheila Honnigsberg award for book illustration. My new book MARY is currently in production, and the prototype is part of a group show by Liverpool Book Arts and on display in the Liverpool Central Library during September/October 2024.
