Monotype is a unique process in which you can use a combination of painting and printmaking techniques. It results in a single image that is developed on a flat plate with oil or water-based printing ink and then transferred to another surface, usually paper. The transfer can be made either by hand or by a press. In a press transfer, the plate and paper are placed on the bed of an etching press and moved under the rollers to produce a print. After the transfer is completed there is occasionally enough medium left on the plate which  can be printed to form what is known as a ghost print. It is possible to use the ghost of a former work to develop a new monotype.

In Rosie’s large flower monotypes, the process is repeated over several days by passing the image back and forth through the press.   The inks stay ‘open’ for a limited period of time, maximum one day, which inhibits the period working so by using the ghost and continuing to work on the plate, it enables the image to be worked on over an extended period of time.  The large monotypes take five or six days to complete.