Interview with Helen Edwards -EAST END PRINTS director

Tell me a bit about how the company came about?

I was previously working for Art Group as a researcher sourcing images for Habitat and IKEA.  A lot of the time this meant mass commercial art, but Habitat started looking beyond the typical boring landscapes for unique artists 

Then about four years ago I launched East End Art Club which concentrated on pop up exhibitions centred around themes – such as the alphabet for instance. And finally, this last December I launched East End print – which allowed me to create my own range of unique prints.

What are the criteria for including an artist on East End prints?

I spent a lot of time researching unseen archives, and searching for art which was hard to find or get a hold of.  Because East End Prints operates on an on-demand basis, whereby we only produce the prints once they are ordered, it is a relatively low risk approach. This allows us to take on artists which may not do well in a typical commercial print environment/ setting.

How does the business actually work?

Well it’s really just me individually coordinating and going out and finding new artists. Artists send us a high-resolution scan of their art and then Magnolia Box, can print these in a range of different ways.

We provide a lot of flexibility for customers in choosing the print, the size and what background it is printed on. We have three different finishes including; fine art prints, framed and canvas. The internet has really changed the industry of prints and the way that they are ordered, and it allows us to operate with much less risk.  It also allows me to take a slightly environmental slant on prints!

Tell us about one of your new favourite artists on East End Prints?

I am very fortunate to have gotten the opportunity to work with Wayne Hemingway who has a range of new prints on our site. His daughter Tilly was actually looking for prints when she came across our website and thought that East End prints would be the perfect partner for her dad’s work.  I actually had the opportunity to interview him this last week on his work. Some snippets are included below.

Do you have anything else in the works coming out soon?

We are working in a new series of quote pieces which will be launched soon!