Thistle Place Press

Chris Scott grew up on a small farm in eastern Colorado where his father built a pottery studio. Playing amongst the pottery wheels, firing kilns and cows, Chris grew an appreciation for arts and crafts, as well as a love for animals and nature. 

After a long hiatus from practicing art, Chris was inspired by the beautiful Japanese Ukiyo-e block prints displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He began to experiment with block printing, and built his first manual etching press in 2020.

These prints are made by carving a mirrored image out of a block of linoleum, rubber or wood. Ink is rolled onto the carved block, which is called a “plate.” A sheet of fine archival silkscreen paper is laid onto the inked plate. The paper must be carefully aligned, or “registered.”  The ink is transferred to the paper either by hand pressing with a smooth block of wood, called a “baren,” or by passing through the etching press. Ink is reapplied to plate, and the next print in the edition is pressed. The whole process is repeated for each layer of color. Due to the manual nature of this process, every print varies slightly, resulting in a uniquely original piece of art. 

Chris and his wife are both Colorado natives, living on the front range.  When Chris isn’t drawing or printing he enjoys fishing and working as a full-time Sales Application Engineer, selling large industrial back-up power generators.