1. So, tell us a little about you

I am an artist and printmaker predominantly working with relief printing and woodwork, making artworks to exhibit and taking every opportunity to share my knowledge and skills through hands on workshops and demonstrations.

2. What’s your story? Tell us a little about your background and what you do.

I grew up in Forres, a small town in the north of Scotland surrounded by beautiful forest and coastal landscapes, which continue to influence my work. In my late teens I moved to Glasgow, where I got my first taste of printmaking while studying art and design, before heading to London to continue studying graphic design at LCC. The print studio at LCC is awesome, I fell in love and spent a lot of time there developing my skills, particularly in lino printing. Not many people were into relief printing then, which was great for me as it meant I had plenty of space and access to the relief presses to make new work. I was always trying to find ways to use printmaking in my design projects at college and soon after graduating I made a decision to focus less on being a designer and move towards being an artist and printmaker. I joined East London Printmakers and later Glasgow Print Studio, two fantastic facilities for printmakers to produce work, and began teaching courses and workshops in a wide range of studio and informal learning environments. And now, I continue to teach, make art and develop my skills, experimenting with new techniques, materials and approaches to making.

3. What artist or artwork inspired you the most growing up?

I was inspired by so much art growing up its hard to pick one! I always loved modernist artists and architects, particularly those of the Bauhaus such as Vassily Kandinsky, László Moholy-Nagy, Paul Klee and Walter Gropius when I was younger.

4. What artist are most inspires you now?

I find David Nash's work really inspiring for his total mastery and understanding of wood as a material to work with, I love his sculptures. A lot of work by my pals also makes me feel very inspired, like the wonderful paintings by Josh Armitage and Dolores De Sade's incredible drawings and etchings.

5. What do you create mostly for work and what do you create mostly for fun?

I don't really see much of a distinction between the two! My work is fun.

6. What piece of work are you most proud of? Why?

I'm very proud of a limited edition Chess Set I made in collaboration with designer Adam Blencowe for the Barbican. Together we created a really beautiful hand crafted object, using so many different processes, and a lot of time, effort and skill went into producing the final piece

7. Do you think people are just born creative or is it something everyone has, but many don’t explore?

Everyone has the potential to be creative, we got to where we are now as humans by trying, making and innovating, so I think it is routed somewhere in our DNA.

8. What’s your favourite colour? Why?

All of them! I think magenta is standing out for me right now though, not sure why, but I have been using it a lot in recent prints.

9. What’s your favourite album to listen to whilst you create and why?

Any album by Deerhoof.

10. If you were stuck on a desert island and had to bring 3 items with you to create with, what would you bring!?

Paper, pencil, sharp knife. Then I'd be able to sketch and print on paper using objects I found around the desert, carving stamps into them with my knife.

11. If you could give advice to yourself growing up, with the benefit of hindsight, what would it be?

Make more tree houses!

12. What / who made you decide to become a professional creative, rather than doing it as a hobby?

It just seemed like a natural progression for me, like it was the path I always wanted to take.

13. What makes you most happy?

Going to Scotland and being in the landscapes there, it has always been where I feel most at home.

14. What’s next for you? What you would like to be doing in 12 months?

I guess I would just like to be doing more; more art, more workshops and more residencies. I have some projects that I am working towards completing so I will keep going with those for now and see what other opportunities or ideas arise. I'm building a brutalist housing estate for honey bees so its going to be interesting to see how that progresses once I introduce bees in spring!

15. Is there anything exciting coming up that you would like to let people know about? [Include link to website etc and dates]

Yes! Come see me at the Barbican 30th October - 2nd November where I will be working on a new super limited edition of prints in a pop-up print studio. You will get a glimpse into my printing process and maybe have a go at printing from one of my blocks of lino!

16. Where can people find out more about what you are up to?

Check out my instagram @templeprints I'm always posting what I'm up to on there so you can see some of my work and find out what M.Y.O workshops and other classes are coming up.

Also, this is some of my stuff, new website coming soon(ish) but for now - https://cargocollective.com/jdatemple