Studio update

Dear me it's been a busy old summer. I've had work in three exhibitions, finished my 20:20 edition, Cowprint calendar print, Go Pig! pig and started on a new image. And in between making cups of coffee for visitors at Wool House and erecting gazebos in the rain for the Red Hot Press Wayzgoose, I've also had the house rewired courtesy of the amiable Simon.

As quiet, tidy and efficient as the aforementioned was, it was three weeks of disruption; much moving of furniture and general 'stuff' from one room to another until there was nowhere left to move it, here in the House of a Thousand Extension Leads. We are more or less done now though, and a good job it is too; well overdue so a massive weight off my mind. Thank you Simon.

I also took the opportunity to have the studio rewired and extra lighting and sockets put in. With a little bit more painting of the walls done, it's really beginning to look like a proper studio. I have much more space to work in now too; major work on property always affords a good opportunity to have a clear out and pass on unwanted items to those who can make use of them. I still had a lot of my dad's machinery and power tools from when he built his aircraft so these now have a new home at the Gosport Men's Shed, newly-founded by Martin Corrick of The Navigation Log fame.


So, with the studio sorted, the calendar image done and almost ready to print, I have no excuse not to get on with making new work and hopefully increase my output a bit. First of all, I think a bit of a sit down is needed...

 

One out, three in

 
We took down Double Exposure at Wool House last week and submitted for Spellbound... and so all three pirate babies toddled onto the walls of the 14th Century wool store; the first time they've all hung together. Although it may not be obvious, they fit quite well with the brief - 'dreams, stories and imaginings that connect us to the wider world'. As I've bearded on about in previous posts, these are stories of an imagined journey combined with some autobiographical stuff. The third image, 'Then strange ground now', is about the homesickness I felt when we returned 'home' to the UK in the 70s. Southampton was home to my parents who had emigrated to Canada in 1953. To me, home was Seattle, Washington where I'd spent the first five or so years of my life. Being dragged from there, where it was always sunny; where there was plenty of space and the colours were vivid, to this other 'home', where little brick houses squeezed shoulder to shoulder, stretching up into the cluttered sky and grey people puttered along narrow, wiggly roads in tiny cars; where it rained constantly... I can still feel that lump in my stomach now, just remembering the journey from the airport. 

Of course, those feelings didn't last too long and although never forgotten, the life in Seattle was carefully stored away in the memory banks of past experience. I do find it odd though, how easily and how strongly I can still feel that particular experience. Indelible; etched on my psyche.


height over flat water, high suspended nothing, then strange ground now, looming, towers tight close-huddling, colour-losing grey damp, dull heartsick ache...

Cowprint

The Artists' Group has a new name and its own logo - get us! We will launch this on our 2014 calendar which will be available in November. We're receiving pre-orders already...

'Tis done!

And here's the finished piece with drypoint Roman lamps and dice printed over the solar plate. Not sure how much of a sense of festiveness it gives but I'm quite pleased with the composition and movement in it.

Saturnalia continued

Here is a proof of the first of my two-plate image for December. It's progressing very slowly and feels somewhat like pulling teeth. I don't know if it's down to some innate obstinacy but I really struggle with working to a brief rather than Doing My Own Thing - however wide the brief is.

Anyway, I am gradually squeezing out an image. I'm thinking that this plate will be printed in blue and sepia, with a second drypoint plate over printed in a rich yellow (blue and gold were the predominant colours used during Saturnalia). I was going to used gold ink but I don't think that will reproduce well for the calendar.

Normally I would have made an etching and aquatint but we're on quite a tight schedule for this project; tight for me anyway because I work oh so very slowly. I'm panicking a bit about meeting the deadline and solar plate is so much quicker, if less satisfying. I'm trying to see it as a good thing though as it's really challenging me and forcing me to work in different ways. I think I'm probably stuck in an etching rut a bit... and my output is fairly feeble so hopefully this is giving me the necessary kick up the backside.

And so, on to the next project. The artists' group (we now have a name - more on that later) is producing a calendar for 2014; we each drew a month at random and will make a print relevant to that month. I drew December. No Christmas references from me - I'm basing mine on the Roman festival of Saturnalia which ran from 17 to 24 December. I guess in many ways it was like a precursor to how we celebrate Christmas now as they did many of the things we do - feasting, gift-giving, decorating their houses with greenery. However the Roman festival was based around the worship of Saturn, god of agriculture, harvest and abundance.  One of the central elements was role reversal; masters dressed as slaves and waited on their servants, and gambling, usually illegal was allowed at this time.

More on this as the project progresses.

Double Exposure

Creative opportunities are coming thick and fast at the moment. Friday night, we had the private view of Double Exposure, an exhibition of original prints by Red Hot Press members, and a whole range of work, from painting, drawing and sculpture to digital installations by the artists at unit11studios.

The exhibition is housed at the recently reopened Wool House, a 14th Century building here in Southampton that used to house the city's maritime museum. That was its last use anyway; as the name suggests, it was originally build to store wool for export to the continent. It's a wonderful place - a stone structure with a beautiful wooden-beamed vaulted ceiling. The building has been closed for the last year or so as the artefacts have been transferred to the new SeaCity Museum (once the magistrates court).



The Wool House Project has been set up by Element Arts, a group of local creative who are passionate about the arts and really committed to doing what they can to promote it in the city. As with all the small arts organisations in Southampton, they have no money and are staffed by dedicated volunteers who give of their time generously. Element Arts, Red Hot Press, A Space, the Art House to name just four; without these, Southampton would revert to the near cultural dessert it was ten, fifteen years ago. What a privilege it is to be involved in this burgeoning creative scene.

Double Exposure is on until 2 September 2013.
 
 

Ceremonial

Here they are, all 25, printed, cut to size, numbered, titled and signed. Most satisfying. I finished printing them a couple of days ago and in the evening, when the last one had come off the press, I had the most contented feeling of completion. It felt almost like a ritual... ceremonial as I cleaned and dried the plate for the last time, covered it in grease, wrapped it, labelled it and stowed it carefully on the shelf with my other finished plates. It was a strange feeling; a feeling of finality but in a good way. The feeling of a job well done. Can't say I've noticed the feeling before... it wasn't unpleasant. It's been quite a long haul this project; it's been a few years since I printed an edition bigger than ten, and each of these took an hour to ink, wipe and pull. I only pulled two duff ones in an edition of 25 though so that's not bad. I've improved somewhat since the last big edition where I must have printed almost twice as many rejects as good prints.

So, 20:20 is done, wrapped in tissue paper and ready to hand over (though not for a while yet) and it's straight on to the next project: the Artists' Group 2014 calendar. Watch this space.

20:20

The projects are coming thick and fast at the moment. The Artists' Group is about to start a new project (more of that in coming months) and I've just finished my plate for 20:20.

20:20 is a print exchange with a difference in that it works on a print workshop level. I'm taking part as a member of Red Hot Press of course; 20 of us are submitting our editions of 25 prints on paper 20 x 20 cm. It's run by Hot Bed Press in Salford - further details here.

Alektorophobia
Etching, aquatint and spit bite
15 x 15 cm
Edition: 25

Photopolymer etching or solar plate

That's what I learnt how to make this weekend at Red Hot Press. It was a great two-day workshop in which we created intaglio and relief plates. The above is a two-plate print; the sepia is intaglio and the yellow, relief (that's supposed to be a honeycomb by the way, not tyre tracks through road marking paint. Having painstakingly laid out the intaglio element of the print, I was rather winging it with the relief. I quite like it though - not bad for a first attempt).

My plan is to use this technique in conjunction with regular etching and possibly some monoprint thrown in for good measure. The detail you can get using the solar plates is amazing and far exceeded my expectations - the bug wings for example. I'd like to introduce some diagrammatic elements into my images and this technique seems ideal for that (it is an industrial process after all). Hopefully it will speed things up as well - no more spending a couple of days solid transferring copperplate handwriting backwards onto a plate!

Studio revamp

The studio is undergoing something of a transformation at the moment. I’ve been using it for about four years now; it’s a lovely space and I feel very privileged to have it but as I slide further into middle age, I find I’m struggling with the lack of natural light in there. My eyesight seems to be deteriorating exponentially and etching plates are particularly difficult to work on in poor light.

 

So, having had a good clear out (the studio was stuffed full of chicken paraphernalia from over the winter and generally in a total mess), I removed some of the shelving and racks on the walls and am in the process of painting them white. I’m about a third of the way done so far – painting brick is a slow process – but already I’m noticing a difference.  The next job is to have the place completely rewired with more sockets and lighting added. After that, I shall investigate some sky lights which is what will really transform the place. So, watch this (creative) space.

ImPrint: it’s up!

 Yes indeed, the work is hung, the official opening had, the wine drunk and even a few prints and cards sold. The show comprises a diverse range of work by ten members of the Red Hot Press Artists’ Group and one of the studio directors: linocuts, card cuts, wood engravings, wood cuts, collagraphs, mono prints, gum transfer prints, drypoint, etchings and aquatints. All print life is here – well, most of it anyway. Certainly we covered most of what Red Hot Press is able to offer facilities for, the one exception being screen printing.

As a group, we’ve only been meeting just over a year, so it was an ideal opportunity to celebrate what we’ve been working on over that time; and having a deadline to work towards is always a good motivator. It was great to see the end products of projects we’d watched develop over the last few months, all of which were of a very high standard. A thoroughly satisfying first outing for the Artists’ Group.

A Room for a View: The Artist's Studio

Other artists' studios are fascinating so I found this very interesting programme about artists' studios on Radio 4 this week so gripping I had to listen three times. To be fair, the first time was in the car on the way home so I came in half way through, and the second time was in bed. It was getting on for midnight, so I dozed off and heard only the first half. Third time lucky... Well worth a listen on BBC iPlayer if you get a chance. It's available forever so no danger of missing it.

The presenter, Susan Aldworth, is a printmaker (even better!); she talks to, amongst others, Hossein Amirsadeghi about his new book Sanctuary, a photographic record of his visits to over hundred British artists in their studios. And their cats and dogs. I now need to get hold of a copy.

A Room for a View: The Artist's Studio

New year, old project? Aging year, finished project

'Roll on civvy life'

Finished this a couple of weeks ago so it's framed and all ready to go, along with my Korean roof tile. I took the latter to a different framer this time - one I've not used before. It's always the same conversation though...
 
Me: 'I'd like a plain, light wood frame please, and a mount as close as possible to the colour of the paper I've printed on.'
Framer: 'That does absolutely nothing for the print - how about this frilly gold frame?'
Me: (slightly irritably) 'It's not really supposed to; it would distract from the image.'
Framer: 'We'll have to agree to disagree on that one. I'll just try this red frame...'

There's a dragon tap-dancing on my roof

 

ImPrint

We have our flyers - really pleased with them. Good work Tim and Maureen.

Just over a week to go now until we hang the show and there's lots to organise, especially for the opening.