The Caversham Press is a fine art collaborative private printmaking studio run by Master Printmaker Malcolm Christian. Malcolm provides his guidance and skill to both professional and emergent artists.
The Caversham Press has always prided itself on the production of fine art limited edition original prints. This is an important factor in the age of mass produced digital productions. All of our prints have been handprinted using age old traditions and we only printed a limited number of prints per edition, and no more! The edition number appears below the image as what appears to be a fraction eg 1/25, this means that the print is number 1 of the edition of 25 prints.
All prints that are printed at The Press have the Caversham Press Chop Mark embossed in the bottom right hand corner. This is Caversham’s fingerprint!
The Caversham Press Chop Mark
Our Story
Malcolm and Ros Christian had always been
intrigued by cemeteries – they tell so many stories and visiting them had been
a source of fascination. But they had never considered being more permanently
in one before their time, as it were.
In 1985, when the chance presented itself to buy
the little Wesleyan Methodist Chapel at Caversham in what was then a rather
rural part of the Natal Midlands, they could not resist. As it happened, they
were at a point in their lives where some serious decisions had to be made. A
lecturer in Printmaking at University of Witwatersrand, Malcolm had been
offered a post at another premier university and a major relocation was on the
cards. Taking their two young children to live in a rural location seemed a better
prospect than another decade or so spent in an urban environment. In addition,
there was Malcolm’s dream of starting a private printmaking facility, similar
to those he had visited in Britain, but one that would offer a range of
printmaking techniques. The answer was clear and The Caversham Press came into
being.
Caversham was a space of rolling hills, fresh
air, gravestones and new challenges. The family set out on a whole new way of
life, grabbing the opportunity to realise a dream, albeit daunting, and setting
in motion a chain of events which have led to a life always filled with
interesting people and plenty of hard work.The chapel was transformed into a
studio space, and a house was built adjoining it, carefully placed so as not to
disturb any of the graves. Over the years the studio building and property have
evolved as the needs of the Press have determined.
In a way the Christians have been like those
early pioneers who rest so peacefully in the garden. A silent presence, they
have been a part of this valley since their arrival in the 1850’s after a long
voyage from England, and a trek with ox wagons from the coast. They came to
start a new way of life, ready to face the unknown, and to make what they could
of the challenge. And so did Malcolm and Ros who hope that they too, have left
some vestige of their endeavors, not so much on the land, but in the people who
have shared this special place with them over the years.
