STEVE Bowen does not consider himself to be an artist, "more a technician".

Nevertheless, the Uxbridge ex-pat is billed as a "new artist this year" in the 2016 York Open Studios, running from April 15 to 17 and April 23 and 24, when he will open his studio and hold demonstrations of his craft.

More precisely, he will open up his York Letterpress premises at Unit 2 on the Victoria Farm Estate at the Clifton Moor end of Water Lane, where parking will be available on site.

"York Letterpress was never really planned, it just happened!" says Steve, who lives in Wigginton. "I moved to York in 2003 when I opened a pottery painting studio on Bootham, and over the years I employed many skilled artists who always talked about letterpress.

"I've always loved old machinery and the launch of the American Restoration TV programme in 2010 made me want to restore things myself. The two things came together when I found an old Vandercook galley press from 1925 rusting away in a scrap yard, sitting in mud, completely seized up. That took a couple of months to restore, stripping it down, sandblasting it, polishing it, repainting it and returning it to working order."

York Press:

Steve Bowen's York Letterpress studio at Victoria Farm Estate, York

Steve sold his ceramic painting studio in 2012, ostensibly to focus on a picture-framing business that still takes up much of his Unit 2 premises and "pays the bills". "But as my love and knowledge of letterpress grew, so did the collection," he says. "Today I have five printing presses and a large collection of metal and wood type that keeps growing.

"It became clear that this was more than a hobby and it did not feel right having all this history locked away, so with the view of sharing the joys and knowledge of letterpress printing, York Letterpress was born"

Steve is building a large collection of wood and metal type with the Yorkshire links, comprising wood from Robert Delittle, of Vine Street, York, and HM Sellers and Co from Sheffield, together with metal and wood from Stephenson Blake of Sheffield, and new arrivals from Smith Anderson in Fife, maybe as much as six tons of lead type. Three of the five presses have been repaired by Steve with meticulous care, with the 1890s' Albion Press from the J M Powell shipyard in Barrow in Furness a particular favourite.

And now, he has attained permission from the Nestle archive to re-create the old adverts and chocolate bars of Rowntrees, especially KitKat wrappers, the first results of which can be seen at York Open Studios, where his new prints will be on sale in limited editions, each embossed with a York Letterpress seal.

York Press:

Rock Cocoa: one of Steve Bowen's limited-edition prints

"I'm doing this restorative process by first cleaning the old images on the computer, then laser engraving them into wood blocks, created from wood from Dalby Forest, and finally using the printing presses to create the images," says Steve.

"The goal of the studio is to restore and maintain a collection of precious printing equipment and the printing is secondary to this, but any money raised by the artwork goes back into the collection to help it grow further."

Steve has joined the York Printmakers, a group set up four or five months ago that meets once a month at The Black Swan in Peasholme Green to discuss a wide variety of printing techniques. Look out for their members printmaking at the Yorkshire Museum of Framing in Murton each weekend in the summer months.

The 15th York Open Studios will run at more than 70 venues on April 15 to 17 and April 23 and 24. For full details, visit yorkopenstudios.co.uk