A new fine art print gallery has opened in Tauranga featuring limited edition prints, reproductions, clothing, handmade shoes, ceramics and paintings.

Nick Eggleston, Jackie Knotts, Stella Clark and Carol Bisset have joined forces to set up Imprint Gallery on Market Street at the Tauranga Historic Village. Each of the four artists are also members of the Incubator Creative Hub group of artists, with their own studio spaces at the village.

The two-room shop has been transformed into an airy and light gallery space, where the public will also find the talented artists at work.

Nick Eggleston, a popular artist at The Incubator, and an art teacher for over 20 years, is well-known for his watercolour paintings. At Imprint he will also be making shoes with embossed cowhide, and teaching others the art of being a cordwainer.

'I'm a print maker and have a lot of lino cuts,” says Jackie Knotts, 'and we were looking for a place to display work.”

Carol Bisset has taught art in Australia and NZ for over 30 years, with degrees in fine art and art education.

Nick Eggleston and Jackie Knotts.

'We had been talking about extending prints,” says Carol. 'They're not readily available in most gallery spaces. I've been doing dry-point printing with Jackie Knotts, so it's been discussed for a while. This was an opportunity to put those prints out, and also include the people who attend that group, and extend it to other people. It's not just fine art printing, but printing in many forms, such as on material.”

Stella Clark is doing woodcuts.

'In this gallery I've got prints for sale,” says Stella, 'and I've also printed onto shirts.”

The gallery will be open on Tuesdays from 10am to 3pm; Saturdays from 10am to 1pm; and on the Bethlehem Te Puna Lions village market days which are held on the first and third Sunday of each month, from 9am to 1pm.

'These artists have come together in a space that's inspirational and it's great to see in Tauranga,” says artist Kristian Lomath, who also has a studio at The Incubator. 'We all need an outlet. An artist is only going to blossom if they've got an outlet to share their work with the public.”

The artists have been observing the growing numbers of people visiting the village, especially on weekends.

'I think with Blair, the new manager on board, and the way the village is going, it's definitely got so much potential, and it's happening now,” says Kristian. 'It's great. We're loving the change. We're seeing the change, we're here every day. This is a fantastic venue for this new gallery.”

Charli Crocker with Stella Clark's painted art shirt.