Patternmakers

Last month I spent a really brilliant day on a one-to-one online workshop run by Sarah Burns (@patternmakers on Instagram). We started with potato printing - shouldn’t every day should start with this? - and moved onto lino . So many useful tips for exploring the potential of a simple printing block and printing onto fabric. My brain was bursting with pattern possibilities by the end of the day. Many thanks to Sarah for a very inspiring day…
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The wonders of Alpha-set

Brief one: create a poster with a message and display it (this formed part of my window display for VE Day 75th anniversary celebrations in my street)

Brief two: create an elaborate letterform from the modular stamps

Brief three: use the set to create repeat patterns (work in progress)

Brief three: use the set to create repeat patterns (back in my comfort zone!)

Brief four: create something to send to another Alphaset artist as an exchange

An abstract concertina book of overprinted patterns

I started off including stitching but then realised that I preferred the simplicity of the punched dotted lines

The brief encouraged you to also use the Alpha-set for the packaging

Proof of postage!

Lockdown just got a whole lot more fun with the delivery of an Alpha-set from @will.mower ... it prints an absolute treat - lovely texture, and so many possibilities.

Will set a series of four briefs for those of us who’ve bought an Alpha-set, and my responses are shown above. A really fun way to kickstart using the set and amazing to see so many different responses posted on Instagram (#alpha-set and #alpha-set).

Spud U Like

Brilliant session at the Artist’s Book Club at UWE last week - learning about resistance publishing and trying our hands at potato printing. A lot of fun! Many thanks to Csilla Biro and Alyn Smith for organising this. . .

Polyprint patterns

In an attempt to do something vaguely creative each day inbetween being glued to my computer screen for work, I've found some instant gratification making repeat patterns with polyprint. Even quicker than rubber stamps (although not as long lasting). I quite like the rough and ready print quality you get from fast stamping.

Serious tiling

Working on a new range of wrapping paper using rubber stamped patterns. Bit of a learning curve working out the repeat tiling, but it's amazing to see what patterns can be made with some really simple carved stamps (and the help of Photoshop!)

A more neutral palette

A very enjoyable afternoon spent monoprinting with my gelli plate and collection of found objects (most picked up from pavements on my dog walks). Decided to keep my colour palette a little more neutral this time in an attempt to wean myself fluorescent paint colours. Printing onto old book pages (from a library discard) added to the pleasing build up of pattern and texture. Many of the prints need more layers, but some of the early trimmings escaped the bin and made it into my sketchbook as collages. 

Beetlemania

Recent collage experiments of collaging monoprints made with a gelli plate. I enjoyed picking the  colours and patterns to fill my outline beetles, and then drawing on details with a fine black pen. Although some of the vibrancy of the neon inks is lost when scanned or photographed, they've made a smart set of postcards. Available this weekend at the Bristol Artists' Book Event (BABE) at the Arnolfini. Come and say hello if you're in Bristol! 

Published Primitive Printmaking

Really chuffed to have some of my prints featured in Stephen Fowler’s wonderful new book ‘Rubber Stamping’. The found object and plasticine prints were created on Stephen’s Primitive Printmaking summer school course at UWE in 2014, and it’s very exciting to see them included in the book. I may be biased but I can highly recommend getting hold of a copy - it’s absolutely jam packed with unusual project ideas and inspiration for all kinds of low tech printmaking. As Stephen explained in an interview with Sarah Bodman in the latest issue of ‘Printmaking Today’: “(the book is) very much in the spirit of ‘60s and ‘70′s Batsford art books - to share an open recipe rather than say ‘you have to do it this way’. It’s about inspiring people with examples and letting them think how they will use the process; it’s a beginning of something rather than an end.”

Rubber stamping free-for-all

Spent a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon helping out at Stephen Fowler’s drop-in rubber stamp workshop at the Arnolfini in Bristol. It was busy all afternoon, and by 5 o’clock two huge paper-covered walls were decorated with an array of beautiful stamps. Really inspiring to see everyone’s work and the excitement it generated - the instant gratification of rubber stamps seems to appeal to all ages.

sketchbook collages

Using up every last offcut of roller printing

Gelli on the (printing) plate

After buying a Gelli plate a couple of years ago, I finally got around to finding some time to have a play with it. The warm weather meant that acrylic paints were drying too quickly, so I used my Caligo relief inks with extender instead. Results were mixed - knowing when to stop seems to be the key… one layer too many and the whole print is ruined. As with everything in life, the prints were improved with a dash of fluorescent pink ink on the final layer. Trimming down the prints, I was left with a pile of colourful strips. Turns out these are excellent collage material (and I prefer them to the actual prints). So I now have a stash of colourful papers - some will definitely benefit from some rubber stamped additions. As long as I know when to stop...

Feathered friend

Cheeky wee Scottish Oystercatcher from my holiday sketchbook to round off the working week.

Starstruck by association

Very excited to learn that Margaret Atwood has tweeted about ‘Serena Joy’ the collaborative World Book Night rubber stamp project, inspired by her book ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. A copy of the box of prints is now winging its way to her courtesy of Sarah Bodman. Many thanks to fellow stamper Linda Williams for writing to Margaret to let her know about the project. Have also just heard that Tate Britain will be accepting a copy of ‘Serena Joy’ as a donation to their artists' books collection. Great to hear of ripples from a project long after you think it’s completed...

Holiday

Back south of the border again after a wonderful fortnight up in the Scottish Highlands. Hills, lochs, big skies and lots of long walks. Just the ticket.

Rockets, robots and rubber stamps

A brilliant day yesterday teaching a rubber stamp workshop for MA Printmaking students at UWE. The theme was rockets and robots… chosen as an excuse to use the lovely stash of metallic stamp pads acquired by the university earlier in the year. It was also a good subject for looking at building up an illustration out of component parts. Really impressed with the quality and variety of the finished stamps, and thanks to some hard graft and teamwork, we ended up with an edition of seven stamped concertina books. Many thanks to Liz, Sophie, Linda, Rozzie and Vicky for a mighty fine end result.

Rockets and Robots

Preparing for a rubber stamp workshop I’ll be running for MA Printmaking students at UWE next week. Space age stamping - it’s a whole new frontier, with metallic inks and everything!

World Book Night 2016

My ‘pleasure is an egg’ rubber stamp - part of Sarah Bodman’s wonderful collaborative project to mark World Book Night 2016. Forty rubber stamp prints Inspired by ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Serena Joy’ is a box of forty, eclectic rubber stamp prints. More details on the project, including the production process, can be found here, and also here. With thanks to Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck for expertly printing my egg!

The perils of a momentary lapse in concentration

One silly mistake and a whole book is ruined. Bah.

Letterpress loveliness

Spent a very enjoyable few hours on Saturday at the British Printing Society Fair… over 40 stalls of letterpress and printing paraphernalia. A very generous goody bag was given on arrival containing all manner of printed matter. Picked up a couple of bargains - two vintage boxes of envelopes (£2!) and an amazing book called ‘A Handbook of Type and Illustration’ (by John Lewis, 1956) which includes beautiful reproductions of work by Edward Bawden, Edward Ardizzone and George Chapman. The highlight was a talk by Martin Andrews from the University of Reading who spoke about the life and work of Robert Gibbings. Totally fascinating, and a real privilege to see print proofs of collaborations with Eric Gill from the Golden Cockerel Press handed round. 

Hats and Shoes

A fiddly, but enjoyable, few hours proofing linocuts for two new books.