A pioneering printmaker is spearheading a campaign to revive the ancient art once practised by the likes of Picasso and Rembrandt.

Eirian Llwyd, from Anglesey, has helped organise an exhibition of Wales’s best printmakers the Ucheldre centre in Holyhead.

There are also going to be workshops to get more people interested and making prints.

The exhibition is on until October 6.

On at least two days members of the public can book a place at workshops run by Eirian and Lauren Burgess on Wednesday and Thursday (September 18 and 19).

Eirian said: “Wales has some really, really good printmakers who are influencing more and more people to become members of our workshops.”

In her drive to put Welsh printmaking on the map Eirian set up The Original Print Place/ Y Lle Print Gwreiddiol, a not for profit company, with fellow artists Jane Marchesi and Lauren Burgess, to promote printmaking as an important art form and began by selling original prints at the National Eisteddfod of Wales in 2011.

“Our aim is to explain what original printmaking is. Everyone has to be hand inked and printed by hand; the majority of the work goes on the plate.

“You can get marks you cannot get in any other way, marks which you cannot replicate with a paintbrush or by pencil and artists are very attracted by printmaking. Most of the great artists enjoyed printmaking. Picasso made thousands of prints and Rembrandt was one of the best etchers ever.

“It’s an art which has been around thousands of years, from the time of cave drawing. It can be expensive but it doesn’t have to be. A press can be expensive but that’s why  centres such as  Wrexham, Swansea, Cardiff and Aberystwyth were set up, where artists can have access to this equipment.

“People pay membership fees but each centre has different ways of funding and operating.

“Aberystwyth because membership is more spread out tends to have lectures at the university and concentrates on exhibitions. Swansea has a good membership and has applied for grants and organises artists in residence who run workshops. Wrexham is part of Yale College and has an open access policy for certain times of the week.

“There is a growing interest in printmaking. These are exciting times to be a printmaker and Wales is at the forefront,” said, wife of ex-Ynys Mȏn AM and former deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones.

At the workshops there will be an etching press and all the equipment necessary to do monoprints, there will be dry point and some relief printing.

The exhibition will be launched on Saturday at 3.30pm with a story.

Guto Dafis one of Wales’ foremost storytellers will tell the folk story behind one of the works at the Ucheldre.

The exhibition, last on show at the National Eisteddfod in Denbigh, was a huge international success when staged in Brussels and Amsterdam, where Guto first performed the folk story of the Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach which was the subject of a print by Brecon artist Robert Macdonald.

Jim Creed director of the Regional Print Centre Wrexham, curated the international exhibition and The Original Print Place is organising its tour of Wales which will take it from Holyhead to Aberystwyth, Wrexham and Cardiff.

“There is a strong tradition of print making and story-telling in Wales. It’s a natural mix and one which we hope will attract people to the exhibition who would not normally attend an exhibition opening. It started for us in Amsterdam where a print by Robert Macdonald was linked to a Welsh folk tale.

“I kept having to repeat the story behind the image and we decided why not get a professional story-teller who could tell it much better than I could and so we got Guto to come over and tell the story for the exhibition in Amsterdam.

“Guto, who can work bilingually, also provides music and sings. We like the idea of combining the disciplines and it’s something we are going to try out,” said Eirian.

Guto Dafis, who lives in Canton, Cardiff, said: “I have always been interested in traditional stories, myths and legends, since an early age. I’ve always been a performer, played music and done a little acting and I suppose sometime in the mid-90’s I became aware of the existence of oral story telling when I attended the Beyond the Border festival at St Donats Castle.

“I am going to perform a traditional story from Carmarthenshire about a farmer who meets and woos a fairy lady from Llyn y Fan Fach. She consents to marry him on condition he does not strike her three times.

“I know art exhibition openings are often seen as social occasions for artists but the story telling went down fine in Amsterdam and people were really appreciative.

“I tell stories to both adults and children. I suppose many people feel story-telling is mainly for children but I like the opportunity to perform for adults,” said Guto, who has performed at the Festival Interceltique de Lorient in Brittany, Lakeland Storytelling Festival, Festival at the Edge, Aberystwyth Storytelling Festival, and Suns Peraulis Musichis des Menorancis in Friuli, Italy.

As a musician and singer he has toured in Wales, Brittany, Ireland, England and Estonia. He co-hosts with David Ambrose the popular monthly evenings of storytelling and music at Milgi’s Yurt in Cardiff.

The artists exhibiting at Ucheldre, until October 6, include: Robert Macdonald, Mary Lloyd Jones, Pete Williams, John Abell, David Carpanini, Steffan Jones Hughes, Paul Croft, Annie Giles Hobbs and Eirian.

Robert Macdonald, whose work will be the subject of the story telling, has divided his life between journalism and painting.

He trained as a journalist on the New Zealand Herald in Auckland, and later studied painting and printmaking at the Central School of Art in London.

During the 1960s he worked in Fleet Street as Commonwealth Correspondent for the Scotsman, and took a specialist interest in the progress of African independence movements. For a period in the I970′s he was Chief Diplomatic Correspondent for the Central Office of Information, travelling widely overseas in delegations led by Britain’s Foreign Secretaries.

He gave up this work to do postgraduate studies in painting at the Royal College of Art in 1976.

Since then he has worked in art schools and has continued to paint and to write. He lives near Brecon.

A new community garden has been named in honour of the “local heroine” who was the driving force behind the project.

The Lavender Garden at the Tan y Lan Community Centre in Old Colwyn was the brainchild of grandmother Sylvia Lavender who sadly passed away before it was finished.

Appropriately, the garden is festooned with sweet smelling lavender as a constant reminder of Sylvia, 67, who died of a heart attack last December.

The garden was officially opened by Clwyd West MP David Jones, who is also the Welsh Secretary, during a family fun day at the community centre.

There as guests of honour were Sylvia’s daughter, Hazel Roberts, son-in-law Brett Roberts and grandson Kasey-Joe Roberts.

Hazel says the garden is real tribute to her mum and her dedicated community work.

Sylvia, who had six children and ten grandchildren and step-grandchildren, was very active in the community and had been a board member of the housing association Cartrefi Conwy.

She and her friend and fellow community centre committee member Dawn Evans, secured £3,700 from Cartrefi Conwy’s Community Chest fund to create the garden. Sadly, Sylvia never saw her dream becoming a reality.

Hazel recalled “After mum’s husband died she threw herself into community work which she always enjoyed. Her phone never stopped ringing with tenants wanting advice and help on a whole range of issues.

“She was a Cartrefi Conwy board member and she loved working for tenants. She went to the community centre on a daily basis carrying out cleaning and maintenance duties as well as doing all the clerical work.

“She had the idea of turning, what was a bit of wasteland, into a community garden so everyone could benefit. She successfully applied for a Community Chest grant but sadly died before she could actually see the garden completed.

“Dawn carried on where mum left off and has worked so hard to get the garden completed. I pass it every day and it’s a really lovely way to remember my mum.”

MP David Jones knew Sylvia well and was a great admirer of unflagging commitment to the community.

He said: “She showed such wonderful community spirit and it was so sad to hear of her death. However, I have watched very closely as the community garden developed form a small idea to the wonderful resource we see today.”

It was a sentiment echoed by Dawn Evans who said the Lavender Garden was a fitting tribute to a wonderful and hard-working member of the community.

She said: “Sylvia was so full of energy and was always on hand to help any tenant or resident who needed help or advice.

“It was Sylvia who came up with the idea for the community garden and it was Sylvia that set about getting the Community Chest grant and began working on the design.

“Thanks to her vision what we now have is a garden that complements the community centre’s indoor facilities and provides an outside space that’s available for everyone to enjoy.”

Dawn took over plans for the gardens after Sylvia passed away and seeing the garden finished means a great deal to the whole Tan y Lan community.

She said: “We have a vegetable growing area which our Kidz Club are using to grow cabbage, strawberries, carrots, onions and tomatoes while we have soft fruit bushes such as blackcurrant and gooseberry.

“We thought it important our children can learn about how things grow and perhaps come to understand that food is indeed gown and doesn’t just appear on a supermarket shelf by magic.

“We have also introduced wild flowers and hope to support wildlife such as bees, butterflies, birds and nature in general. We have put up animal refuge boxes for bugs and butterflies and are already seeing the benefits. Of course we have included lots of lavender plants too.”

Dawn added: “We now have a soft area that is enclosed and is perfect for mums and toddlers to play safely in while anyone can use it as a community area.

“The plan now is to involve as many people as we can, particularly young people, to maintain the garden area. I’m so proud of what we have achieved and so pleased we have been able to name the garden in honour of Sylvia.”

Cllr Cheryl Carlisle, who is also secretary of the Tan y Lan Committee, said: “The garden is absolutely gorgeous and a real tribute to Sylvia Lavender and all the work she put in for the community.

“Sylvia would have been exceptionally proud to see what has been achieved. She was an amazing lady who is very much missed. Her death has left a huge void in the Tan y Lan community.”

She added: “We should also remember that the garden wouldn’t have been possible without Cartrefi Conwy and the grant they provided through their Community Chest scheme.

“The Tan y Lan community has a wonderful community centre and now a fabulous garden to compliment it.”