Fragments & Forms: Gelli plate printing changed how I interpret landscape.
I'm excited to be teaching at this years Gel Printers Summit hosted by American artist Drew Steinbrecher, well known on Instagram for his vibrant, graphic layered gelli plate printing artwork and online art education summits.
| Gelli Plate Printing Beginnings
Gelli plate printing found its way into my practice almost by accident. About 6 years ago I was looking for a way to create greater visual depth in my paintings by building layers, and to get colour and texture into my collage papers, so I turned to the gelli plate for inspiration. I'd always had a real love of printmaking and prints having tried various methods over the years, but the gelli plate offered something that none of the other printing processes did - painterly prints that didn't require hours of patience, expensive equipment or toxic chemicals.
At first I just had fun with the process, creating endless prints, but I knew I wanted to take the beautiful results further.
Over time, as my work has developed, gelli plate printing has turned into one of the most important parts of my creative process; for infusing my work with spontaneity, capturing immediate and lasting impressions from my environment and for building the layered, textured elements that are still visible in my finished paintings.
The possibilities of the gelli plate are now front and centre of the way I process my experiences of landscape, enabling me to embed real impressions in the layers of my larger paintings.
| Gel Printers Summit 2026
And this year I've been invited to teach an online lesson at the Gel Printers Summit 2026. The summit is run by Drew Steinbrecher, who's built a strong following on Instagram around gelli plate printing and is worth following if you haven't come across him yet. He brings together a different lineup of artists each year, all showing their own diverse approaches to the process and how they use gel prints in different ways.
This year there are 14 artists contributing an online lesson to the summit:
Tania Ahmed, Jackie Bernard, Kimberly Bloomberg, Clare Cosens, Marta Dyer-Smith, Diana Garrison, Sally Hirst, Lucille van Ligten, Julie McSpedden, Emily Sharp, Elizabeth St. Hilaire, Julia Weston and Drew Steinbrecher.
| Fragments & Forms
My lesson for the summit this year is called 'Fragments & Forms', working with gathered natural materials, gelli plate printing and collage. It starts with taking impressions from the natural world around you, small printed fragments that capture a moment in time, which we then build into bold abstract forms through cutting, composing and collaging.
This project is inspired by the thread that informs so much of my current studio work, of taking an impression from a place and creatively re-imagining the experience of it into a new, altered form.
My lesson is 30 minutes of step-by-step guided instruction with a complete demonstration of the process I've developed for this project, from start to finish. I've also included a bonus video about choosing a colour palette for your project looking at some basic colour theory principles with examples from my own sketches and paintings. You'll also receive my free 'Language of Art: Understanding Paint Types' eBook.
| About the Summit
The summit will give you access to some fantastic projects by artists from around the world who are using gelli plate printing in their practice and a Facebook community group for summit participants where you can ask questions, share your work and chat with instructors and fellow creatives.
You'll also have access to exclusive interviews with the instructors, as we chat about our creative life and share insights about our artmaking process.
Event: Gel Printers Summit 2026
Host: Drew Steinbrecher
Dates: September 28 through October 11, 2026
Format: 14 prerecorded video lessons, one released per day
Platform: Simplero online classroom
Access: Lifetime access to all lessons after purchase
Community: Optional Facebook group
Early Bird Price: $77 USD (September 16 through September 27)
Regular Price: $97 USD (September 28 through October 11)
Enrollment closes: October 11, 2026
| What Past Students Have Said
"Crazy good! This summit had something for everyone at any level. The best bang for my buck I have experienced!" — Patricia P.
"GPS25 has given me so many techniques and a lot of inspiration. All the teachers gave a positive, encouraging vibe. I'll be here next year too!" — Pamela C.
"I have learned so much! My deepest thanks to Drew and all the wonderful teacher artists for sharing your wisdom and inspiration." — Althea G.
"This was an awesome summit! I learned something new from every class!" — Joanne B.
"I can't tell you how pleased I am with all the classes. There was so much useful information I was able to use for all sorts of art endeavors, even those that do not involve the gel plate!" — Ophelia C.
| Get involved
GPS2026 is a two week online event where gel plate artists from around the world each share a prerecorded video lesson. This year the focus is on intermediate and advanced techniques you won't find scrolling social media.
You can sign up for the summit here. This is an affiliate link so you'll be supporting me if you join via this link as I'll earn a small commission.
Questions? Reach out to Drew directly at drew@drewsteinbrecher.com
or let me know here.
See you in the summit!
