BHE Director, Basil Hall, has been working as a collaborating printer with artists since 1983.
For 16 of those years, Basil and a group of experienced printmakers were based in Darwin, in Australia’s Northern Territory. Together they made prints with many hundreds of artists from over 55 Art Centres in Central Australia, Arnhem Land, the Tiwi Islands and Kimberley area of Western Australia.
During that time, BHE, trading as Basil Hall Editions, ran regular printmaking workshops in the bush or at its well-equipped studio in the city. Printers Basil, Mats Undén, Monique Auricchio, Nena Zanos and Natasha Rowell travelled regularly to remote aboriginal communities and other locations in Australia and overseas to collaborate on printmaking projects. Other great printers, including Jo Diggens, Sean Smith, Antonia Aitken, Tim Growcott and many more passed through the studio or gave us years of loyal service!
These days, the BHE team is mostly Basil, but it still occasionally includes visiting screen printer Clinton Barker. A number of assistants also help on some multi plate editions. We hand-print etching plates, paintings on acetate and wood blocks that the artists have made. These editions find their way into galleries Australia- wide and overseas too. The BHE studio has equipment for and expertise in multi-plate and photo-etching, silkscreen (water- based), relief prints (wood- and lino block prints) and collagraphs.
In late 2012, BHE relocated from Darwin to Basil’s new home in Braidwood, NSW. In 2020 all the equipment was consolidated at its present home in Canberra. Basil has now resumed working with individual artists at the Ainslie studio which has the large Hilton press, aquatint and acid facilities and enough space for artists and small groups to work. There are also a silkscreen table, a smaller etching press, an exposure unit, a washout sink and a drying rack. Bring on the workshops and classes!
BHE wholesales prints (to galleries) and retails prints directly from the studio, at art fairs and exhibitions and on the BHE website.
Our goals
- To be a centre of printmaking excellence, providing expert assistance to artists who wish to collaborate in the making of etchings, silkscreen prints, relief prints and collagraphs.
To jointly seek sponsorship for and to initiate printmaking projects with artists, art centres and galleries. - To provide a comprehensive service from consultation with artists, arts advisors or gallery staff through plate-making, proofing and editioning with the artist to the publication and marketing of the prints.
- To work with a selected number of artists each year, ensuring individual attention and prompt production.
If your proposal fits with any of the above, give us a call! Editioning your prints need not be expensive. We can travel to you, or you can come to Canberra and work in the beautiful new facilities at BHE. Inexpensive accommodation can be arranged nearby. What are you waiting for? Several hundred artists over the last 35 years have enjoyed working with Basil and his printers in a professional environment where your needs come first.