KENTMERE House Gallery owner Ann Petherick has taken up the invitation to mount an exhibition at the University of York again. She has assembled more than 50 original prints from 30 artists for Lasting Impressions, a show that demonstrates the diversity of techniques available: etchings, linocuts, woodcuts, monoprints and screenprints.

“I’ve selected artists from throughout the country, from Galloway to Guernsey and Norwich to Cornwall, such as Peter Ford, Hilary Paynter, John Brunsden, Richard Bawden, HJ Jackson, Lisa Hooper, Paul Bisson and Valerie Thornton,” says Ann.

“Many artists are nationally known, including two past presidents and many members of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, and among the renowned Yorkshire artists are Hester Cox from Masham and Margaret Morris from Harrogate.”

Lasting Impressions is on show in The Common Room at King’s Manor, Exhibition Square, until July 12.

“My purpose is not only to show the diversity of printmaking techniques and the effects they can produce but also to show the amount of skill and painstaking dedication that go into the making of an artist’s print, as opposed to a mass-produced reproduction,” says Ann.

“The term ‘artist’s print’ is used to denote a piece of art that is conceived from the outset as a print, with the process carried out by hand and by the artist themselves. As a result of the entire process being carried out by hand, the amount of pressure and amount of colour applied varies slightly each time, so each print will be subtly different.”

Ann sees artist’s prints as a means of encouraging more people to buy original art.

“According to the Arts Council, at least six million people would like to buy an original piece of art but have never done so,” she says. “An artist’s print is original work, albeit produced as a multiple, and can be a stepping stone towards buying original paintings.

“For those who do not buy art, the issue is often not cost but confidence. Many people feel diffident about their first purchase as, especially in the regions, there are few galleries showing good-standard original work of a style the first-time buyer can enjoy.”

Ann has noted an expansion of high-street shops selling “signed limited-edition prints” and this proliferation has become one of her bugbears. “Often they are by celebrity names and often they are sold at very high prices,” she says. “These are actually not prints at all but reproductions – copies of paintings made by photographing or scanning the image – and produced digitally.

“The process is capable of producing many hundreds of thousands of copies, all identical. Despite the high prices, they are in effect posters.”

Ann’s exhibition also shows examples of etching plates and wood blocks to illustrate the printing process involved. On June 22 and 23, artists will be present at King’s Manor to demonstrate the processes.

Opening hours are Monday to Friday, 10am to 4pm, plus the June weekend and some other Saturdays. Please ring 01904 656507 to ask which ones. Prices for the work on sale start at under £100; some prints are available unframed.