Life & Work with Emmett Walsh of Altadena

Today we’d like to introduce you to Emmett Walsh.

Hi Emmett, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I have been working as a fine art printmaker and publisher for the past 14 years, since moving to Los Angeles – after a short stint in New York – with my wife and business partner Patricia Valencia. Originally from London, England, born of Irish parents and ancestry, I graduated with a Masters in Fine Art at the Glasgow School of Art. My art practice has always moved within printmaking, sculpture, writing and video. When I moved to Los Angeles I began working as an assistant printmaker at Cirrus Editions, which was one of the oldest and most prestigious fine art publishing companies in the country. Having worked with some of the best contemporary artists on the West coast, and learning new skills in the printmaking techniques of lithography and silkscreen, I moved on to becoming a publisher of fine art print editions with my own company. A few months before the Covid-19 pandemic, I co-founded and ran a publishing company named Aliso Editions. Based primarily in Los Angeles, my business partners and I collaborated with artists on both West and East coasts for the next 3 years. In the Autumn of 2022, we had the great honour of being invited to exhibit our publishing work at the IFPDA Fair in New York – the largest and longest running fair specializing in fine art print in the country. In 2024, after Aliso Editions had unfortunately disbanded, I launched a new publishing company with my wife Patricia. Our company is named Ollin Editions.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Patricia and I were married and living in Altadena, CA for the past 15 years, raising our two children, named Ezra and Saoirse, together. By far the most difficult experience that we’ve encountered, both individually and as a family unit, occurred in January 2025. We lost our home, belongings and entire art archive to the Eaton fire, which heavily decimated our neighbourhood of West Altadena. We were just entering our second year of business together, and lost almost all the print editions we had produced in 2024, having worked with 4 incredible artists in that time. Our home and studio was reduced to ashes, with nothing more than the chimney of our home left standing. As practicing artists we both had over 20 years worth of notebooks, film and photography negatives, hard drives and physical artworks that we had poured our creativity into for most of our adult lives. Unique paintings and sculptures gifted to us or traded with other artists and creative friends. Material with memories and stories.

Perhaps the hardest part of the experience we went through was losing the artwork and schoolwork that our two children had made over the years. Our son Ezra, now 14 years old, and our daughter Saoirse, 9, are both creatively minded young people, passionate within their chosen disciplines of music, dance, and karate. They had created and achieved so many milestones throughout their years in Altadena, and all the physical evidence of this was completely wiped out. Fortunately, they are resilient and good natured individuals, surrounded by an incredible community in Altadena, and they have helped us to band together and keep moving forward.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Ollin Editions, the publishing company I own and operate with my wife Patricia, is currently in its third year of business. Despite the challenges and setbacks caused by the destruction of the Eaton fire, we are slowly but surely creating new projects with contemporary artists based in the Los Angeles area. Our focus is on curating new fine art print editions with artists, and connecting them with Master printmakers who can help to guide and create the artists’ vision. Our focus on detail and desire to add a new element to an artist’s work has led us to facilitating some ambitious projects that utilize the skills of master practitioners who have been honing their craft for decades.
We aim to continue and expand upon the rich history of print publishing in California. Last year, during the early months of recovery from the fire in Altadena, we published a special silkscreen project with an artist named Gary Tyler – in collaboration with the incredible new gallery space Official Welcome. Gary was wrongfully incarcerated for 42 years in the Louisiana prison system, and was put on death row at the age of 17. Despite the obvious injustices he was served, Gary focussed his mind and body on creative and compassionate endeavors; through quilting, education, hospice care for fellow inmates, and heading a dramatic society. After gaining his freedom, Gary settled in Altadena, where he was living and working as an artist before being displaced by the destruction of the fire.
Our newest, forthcoming project is a double print release with the incredible, intuitive painter Michelle Blade. We paired Michelle with Pascal Giraudon, a master printmaker who apprenticed and worked at the prestigious Atelier Lacouriere et Frélaut, Paris. Michelle acquainted herself with new modes of mark making, exploring aquatint, sugarlift, spitbite, and drypoint – all forms of intaglio printmaking with centuries of applied history. We created two beautiful print editions that straddle new ground between Michelle’s painting and drawing practices.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
Growing up in Brixton, South London – on the back door of the notorious Brixton prison, where our father worked as a psychiatric nurse – my older brother and I agreed to race our younger brother home when we reached our street, and to let him win. We agreed to this because he had just been bought new Nike sneakers, and he believed that they made him run faster. The sneakers were a drab grey colour, matching the grey paving stones of our Victorian-era street, but they lit up when our little brother pulled away from us, and reached the front door in first place. To this day, he still thinks he can beat us in most things.

Pricing:

• $1,400-Michelle Blade
• $200- Gary Tyler
• $4,000-Eamon Ore-Giron

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.ollineditions.com/
• Instagram: @ollineditions

Image Credits
Portrait: Isabel Avila
Michelle Blade: Elijah Jensen
Gary Tyler: Evan Bedford
Mason Saltarrelli: Jeff McLane
Jaime Munoz; Jeff McLane,
Sayre Gomez: Charles White
Eamon Ore-Giron: Charles White