An interview with Print Day in May winner Lucy Buckroyd

‘Me & the Sea’ wins the Print Day in May 2025 Pegasus Art Prize

We are thrilled to sponsor Print Day in May, a global digital printmaking event, for the fifth year running.

So what IS Print Day in May?

It’s such a simple premise and one that we wholeheartedly support ~ on the first weekend in May, each year, printmakers from around the world organise a printmaking event….in their studio, at their university, in communities, co-operatives or at the kitchen table. It’s a positive declaration of a shared joy of printing….across one day. We like to get involved by sponsoring the event with a Gift Voucher for a print of our choice and this year we have chosen a very worth winner: Lucy Buckroyd and her print ‘Me & the Sea’.

Head over to the Print Day in May website as a fabulous resource, community and forum….and also register for PDIM 2026! In the meantime, enjoy our interview with Lucy about her winning print, what she’s been up to and her printmaking process!

Do You like entering art competitions, do you think it’s valuable?

Yes, I like entering them especially if I’m already working on something that fits a competition’s specifications. They are a great opportunity to get your work seen, which can be hard, especially on Instagram with the dreaded algorithms and the overwhelming numbers of brilliant artists on there. I have also successfully entered open calls for exhibitions and had my work in some group exhibitions, most notably the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2022, which was a dream come true. (image below)

My aim is to get into one or two exhibitions a year. They can be pricey to enter so it’s good to be strategic and think about if my work is right for the exhibition and if it is likely to sell, which would help make back the costs of entry and framing.

The OList is a great place to find out about open calls. Most recently I had two works in the Southbank Printmakers Miniprint Exhibition and will definitely enter that again this year. A 10cm by 10cm print is a fun but manageable challenge.  

What inspired your winning print? Tell us about the process and materials too please.

I am quite obsessed with the sea and swimming generally but especially in nature. Living in London means I don’t get in the sea that often but I have family in Cornwall and have always had ties there. I love spending time there and the sea swimming is gorgeous. 

I predominantly use Pfeil carving tools and the traditional hessian-backed grey lino. For this print, I was experimenting with rubber. I love Cranfield Safe Wash Relief Inks and I try different papers but do really like Ho-Sho Japanese paper, which I used for this. It is a two-layer print. The first layer holds the sky and sea colours and the outline of the swimmer’s head. The second layer is the detail of the ripples on the water and the swimmer’s hair.

I would like to do more prints on a similar theme and add more complexity with the design but I wanted this one to convey the simple calm and freedom when it’s just you and a never-ending expanse of sea in front of you – heaven!

Are you a full-time artist or do you balance your painting with other jobs?

I work four days a week in publishing which I also love and I have two young kids so it’s very much a hobby/side hustle at this point in my life. I do my art on the kitchen table and my materials live in a big box. It would be great to have a proper studio one day or membership of a shared studio space and maybe join a collective of printmakers who exhibit together. 

Were you formally trained or self-taught and do you think this matters?

I am not formally trained. I loved art at school but since A-level I’ve only done the odd short course and would regularly go to life drawing evenings before I had kids and hope to return to them. Having an art degree helps you get taken more seriously by the art world and I’m sure those who go to art school benefit enormously and enrich their skills and practice.

I like to think there is another way where you learn and pick-up valuable tips organically from many sources over time. I hope to do more short courses in the future and would love to go on an art retreat one day. There is so much brilliant information and wonderful people sharing their wisdom online as well. Pressing Matters magazine is an invaluable resource for the printmaking community; as is Handprinted who do great ‘how-to’ videos on their blog and YouTube.

Do you create art every day and what keeps you going?

My time for art is pretty much confined to after 8pm, once the kids are in bed. I am quite a night owl luckily. Having the constraints of parenthood put on me actually increased my desire to have a more regular art practice again and the need for a creative outlet just for me. Covid lockdown was also a trigger. I hadn’t done any lino printing since school but felt compelled to do a short course once lockdown had lifted. 

Because of time constraints, I have so many ideas and really have to be selective about which ideas I pursue. Sometimes I do a sketch and then realise it won’t make a great print. I do some art most evenings I have free, whether it’s drawing in my sketch book to explore ideas, preparing the lino for carving, carving the lino (my favourite stage) or having a printing session on the kitchen table with my much-loved Pooki A3 Press.

Once I’ve printed a print for the first time, I often want to go back and make adjustments or try it in different colours. Because there are so many different stages, I usually have a few pieces on the go at once and I’ll work on whichever one I feel most excited about at the time. 

Wonderful work I’m sure you’ll agree!

If you want to find out more about Lucy and buy some of her work, head to her website here.

And a massive CONGRATULATIONS from the team at Pegasus Art ~ enjoy spending your voucher! Head over to our Printmaking web pages here to find all sorts of amazing art materials to support your practice.