On occasion, I have been assisting educator Susie Cox with her school outreach lessons which involve printmaking – my BFA major.

Helping Susie has reminded me why I first got hooked on printmaking as a medium. I think there's a little bit of magic in printing an image that is quite different from drawing or painting straight onto paper or canvas. It's something in the way a print starts as a plate, is inked up then transferred to paper – there's always an element of surprise in that final moment of the process. At Wairakei School this week, it was fantastic to see the excitement and wonder on the school kids' faces when the silk screen was lifted and the paper peeled back to reveal the image. That's what art should be.