Cyril was first introduced to screen-printing as a young teen in art class. He must have made quite the impression even at a young age as he was commissioned by the scary Head Librarian to screen-print a one colour pattern all over her new lounge curtains. Super impressed with the final result, she paid young Cyril a princely sum of 50 cents for his work. He’s pretty sure that would’ve been equivalent to thousands in today’s world!

It wasn’t until he fell into the role as supervisor of a printed circuit department in Onehunga that he connected with screen-printing again. Working mainly in an industrial format, the method made little artistic impact on him whilst working here but he learnt heaps of technical tips and tricks about the process.

When the opportunity came up to join a screen print company that specialised in graphic screen-printing for the commercial advertising market a few years later, he jumped at the chance to challenge his skills and learn more. Working for the most high-end agencies around Auckland, it was here that Cyril discovered his love for colour and became totally hooked on the screen-printing as an art form. Alongside his team, he entered and won the Australasian Print Awards nine times and the Pride in Print award twice. Not bad aye?!

Cyril’s love for the art form lies in the intricate details of the method’s process. Understanding the mechanics of the inks (whether they’re thick or thin; water-based; solvent or UV); the grade of the mesh (the size of the opening; the strand thickness; the tension of the strand); and the type of squeegee (height and hardness of the rubber; the angle the blade is placed at; the speed the blade passes over the stencil); is all relative to the stock you’re printing on.

Because there’re so many different aspects of the art form, before starting any work, Cyril believes it’s necessary to visualise how the print will progress throughout the process so he’s able to foresee any possible problems and make the necessary technical adjustments to avoid them.

Needless to say, we think the man is a screen-printing legend and we’re stoked to be partnering with him to bring our prints to life.