It’s the most exciting day in the Joseph Massie Studio, as after months of development we’re finally releasing our very first collection of fine art prints! Read on below for an exclusive interview with Joseph, and to discover the inspiration behind the collection.

Tell us all about the Print Collection!

“This Print Collection has been a huge goal of mine for the longest time, and I truly couldn’t be more delighted to be dropping this collection today. Over the past five years, I’ve been repeatedly asked by clients and students if we offer prints of my work, and finally this year I had the time to sit down and design a collection that I’m really proud of. When considering what to include within this collection, I was really looking to hone in on just a tightly edited few images that I would display in my own home. It won’t be a shock to anyone to learn that my home is pretty minimal - it’s very much white walls and dark wooden floor boards throughout - and my thinking was that if this collection would fit in my home, it will fit my aesthetic, and likely appeal to our community’s tastes too.

When did you shoot the images? Are they all recent works?

Not at all! I went right back into my archive for some of these images - the triptych of Roses are some I shot way back in 2014! With this collection it was really important to me that each print stood on it’s own merit, but also that the print worked as triptychs and also worked as the entire collection as a whole.

Why Peonies, Roses and Dahlia? Are these blooms your favourite flowers?

I certainly have an affinity for these three flowers - they crop up most often in my work, and I find myself drawn to them as they each hold such character within their forms. You really can tell an entire story with a single stem, or with a single type of flower, and that is what this collection expresses - each image represents a different note, of a bigger song.

Tell us more about the prints themselves?

Each and every print is printed using the fine art Giclée technique on Hahnemühle German Etching 310gsm paper. Giclée is a French term meaning “to spray”, referring to how an inkjet printer works and how giclée prints are usually produced. These large format inkjet printers use small spraying devices that can both match colour and apply ink precisely, giving artists the highest quality print of their original art.

Alongside the printing method, the second most important choice was the paper choice, and I went through a lot of options before settling on Hahnemühle. The paper is a heavyweight etching paper - velvety smooth with a fine surface texture. German Etching is one of the most popular media worldwide for artwork and photography, as it has a premium, mould-made, distinctly textured surface. The paper that each and every print will be printed on meets the highest archival standards regarding density, colour gamut, colour graduation and image sharpness while preserving the special touch and feel of genuine art paper. We’re offering three sizes of prints - A4, A3 and A2, and all sizes feature the exact same museum quality printing and paper choice.

In addition to the above, I consciously decided to offer this nine print collection exclusively as an Open Edition. When creating fine art prints, artists have the option to create either open edition or limited edition prints. With open editions, a number of prints that can be created and sold are unlimited. On the other hand, the number of limited editions is carefully chosen and no more can be created after they are all sold. This collection contains only open editions, and it’s the only open edition I can see myself offering for quite some time.

Are these fine art prints available for fans the UK only?

Nope! All prints are available for shipping Worldwide - which I think will please an awful lot of our community. We’re also offering framing as an option on all three sizes of prints, in white, black and natural wood finishes, but unfortunately framed prints are only available for UK shipping only … for now!

One final question … how did you name the prints? Do they have any significance to you?

Actually they do - I grew up in the borough of Knowsley, just outside of Liverpool in England. Knowsley was a pretty tough place to grow up - it’s the second most deprived borough in England - and I’m very proud to come from there. The prints are each named after a street on the estate I grew up on.

I’m really fond of the idea that beautiful things can grow absolutely anywhere.”

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To celebrate the launch, we’ve three framed prints to giveaway - head to the link below to enter our exclusive print giveaway! Entries close midnight 1st November, with the winners announced 2nd November.

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Joseph’s first fine art print collection is available to shop from October 26th.

Prices from £25.00. Shipping Worldwide.

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