Beside the Seaside

Off to the seaside yesterday - my favourite beach at Wells-next-to-the-sea. Here we have a beach-hut; nothing grand, just one of a line of rather ramshackle huts built along the shore. At high tide, the sea laps at the steps. Here it is at low tide:


After we arrived, I unpacked my "travelling" kit and set to work, for this was not just a jolly day out:

During the morning, I worked on the trees in the background of the Mathematical Bridge and then J and I took a stroll along the shore before returning for some lunch. By this time, the weather turned decidedly wet and we were glad to be sheltering in the hut while a line of wet bedraggled people files off the beach.

Soon the sun returned and we walked again before going into town for tea and cake. The skies darkened again and we drove through heavy rain to Walsingham where I bought fifteen frames for my Open Studio event next month, before returning home.

This morning, I carried on with the engraving and hope to be ready to proof later today. Here is the block as it stands at lunchtime:


And here is a detail of the top portion:


And now.... lunch and then back to work.

The Mathematical Bridge and the Small Crisis

I have spent the last couple of days working on my new engraving of the "Mathematical" bridge which crossed the River Cam at Queens' College, Cambridge.

At the start, I made a fairly careful (reversed) outline drawing to check the composition. I have drawn a punt in the foreground for added interest :


The next step was to copy this onto my darkened block of lemonwood:


I started to engrave the elaborate woodwork of the bridge. I alternated between this fine work and the sky, which was a bit more straightforward:


Next, I engraved the college buildings and continued to work on the sky. The last addition here is the punt and the start of the reflections on the surface of the water:


Here is the upper part of the block in more detail:


At this point - disaster! I stopped work for a moment and the block slipped of the sandbag and fell to the floor. It missed the mat and landed facedown on the rough concrete floor. I picked it up and checked for damage. It could have been a lot worse but there was still a small but deep depression punched into the surface. I could have engraved over this in a light area but it was one of the darker parts of the water and so I needed to deal with it.

The traditional method os to try to swell the wood so that the block is more or less flat again. This is done by putting a drop of water over the hole and using a match to warm and evaporate this so thast the wood swell - obviously being careful not to scorch the block - or set fire to it!

Readers of a nervous disposition will be relieved to hear that the procedure was almost entirely successful. Here we go:

Starting a New Print

I have finished most of the immediate jobs in hand and so I can work on a project for myself.

I love the bridges that cross the River Cam in Cambridge. My favourite is Clare Bridge, which features in this engraving called "Lining Up Through Clare Bridge":

Another interesting bridge is the so called "Mathematical Bridge":


I have a piece of "lemonwood" saved for this project:


I normally darken the surface of the block before I draw on the design. Time to get the darkening kit out:


I keep a bottle of writing pen ink diluted with water. I apply this with a soft cloth until the surface is darkened enough for me to see the cuts that I make but not so much that I could not see any marks I make on the surface to guide me...

...but why don't you watch while I show you:

Cambridge Open Studios - July

I promised some more details about my participation in the Cambridge Open Studios next month. Instead of working in my own studio, I will be demonstrating and selling engravings in the Gallery@12A in Fulbourn, just to the south of Cambridge.

I visited the gallery yesterday afternoon to act as steward for a preview exhibition. This is the area that I will be using:

I will have about twenty feet to show framed works and a large table to work on and to show bookplates etc. I'm very pleased with the space. Here is my info page, including a map.

During the afternoon, I found time to work on a sketch for a current project:

The scale of my work does allow me to carry on with it almost anywhere.

It would be great to see you if you are anywhere near the Cambridge area during the following weekends:

Saturday July 7th - Sunday July 8th
Saturday July 14th - Sunday July 15th

The gallery will be Open from 11am until 6pm all four days.

Apart from engraving work in hand, I need to make sure that I have enough stock for these weekends and Art in Action which takes place near Oxford over the third weekend of July. I still need to work on my large Albion and, in particular, cover the tympan. More of that soon.

Printing on the Albion Handpress

I made a short video for my Albion blog but thought I would also post it here. It shows a "printers-eye view" of the process.

I am printing a bookplate so everything is on a small scale. I am using several layers of very thin ink on the block. The paper is held in a cut-down clear plastic folder.

I had just printed 130 engravings - this will yield 100 really good bookplates and some for practice. The others will be rejected.

On with the show...

The Next Exibition

A change of routine is always a good thing so I welcomed a day framing prints:

I drove these to Oundle to leave them with Geri Waddington in her wonderful bookshop - well worth a visit. I left with a small packet of bookplates.

These prints are on their way to Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire fo "Six Of The Best" a group show by six British engravers from June 24th to July 15th:


This is part of the Hebden Bridge Arts Festival:


It takes place in the festival shop. The festival website is here:

http://www.hebdenbridge.co.uk/festival/2007/index.html

The next day I was in Cambridge, collecting prints from another exhibition which has now closed. The weather was lovely and I sketched by the River in preparation for a commission I will engrave during this month. Finally, off for coffee. One shop in particular has tables to work at (being in a University city) and its a great spot to spread out sketchbook and references. I was working in another commission, involving Gutenberg:


When I am commissioned to design a bookplate or similar small graphic, I tend to work up three or four small sketches to scan and send to my client. One of these is chosen and I develop it further, making drawings until we are both happy enough for me to start engraving.

Blogging tonight - printing tomorrow.

Revisiting Rembrandt

I'm frequently asked about my lucky Rembrandt find, so here is an update. But first... a lovely morning in Cambridgeshire as I walked out with Bella the lurcher - looking towards Ely Cathedral:


I now have Rembrandt back after the etching was released from the old backing paper. The reverse tells its own story, with evidence that it has been mounted at least twice before and some old pencil inscriptions, including the enigmatic "sup":

The front is looking very fresh:

Now the paper can be examined easily, I took the print back to the museum for a final examination before framing. The verdict? Not a posthumous printing! The paper is a fine - probably French - paper used by R from the 1640s. The print is now going back to the conservator to be prepared for framing.

The marathion printing is done. Three hundred business cards stand drying ready to be packed and dispatched tomorrow. Always a glutton for punishment, I immediately changed blocks so that I could add to the dwindling supply of my own business card:


I should add that I am always happy to discuss commissions for such work.

And next...? A little bit of sketchbook work before making sure that the NA bookplate is ready for proofing.

Marathon

Today was a busy day within days of being busy. I took a break from making the last marks on the NA bookplate to finish printing some business cards for LJ. One side is set as text and the other has an engraving. It is always something of a treat to print letterpress. For these small cards, I used the Adana 8x5 (in the centre of the photograph below) for the text. As these dried, I printed the engraving on the back using the small Albion. My speed immediately slowed down as - at my fastest - I can only print three per minute... and I have 300 to print. I ended the day with 150 completely finished and the rest to do tomorrow.

Once the press is free I can start proofing the NA bookplate with a view to finishing that on Sunday, ready for printing later in the week. Here is the studio setup for the cards:


The Adana is in the centre and the small Albion is on the right. The machine on the left is my perforator - still awaiting me finding time to engrave a "stamp".

Apologies for the long absence. I will be catching up with news over the next few postings.

Spring Cleaning and Ebaying

A lovely day - bulbs bloom, frogs head for the pond and the cherry plum trees are bursting into blossom - can spring be nearly here? In the studio, it was getting to the point where I couldn't easily get to things that I needed and so it was time for a spring clean. I had been given some shelving by neighbours but there was no room so the type cabinet had to find another home. I have moved it into the next room where it will find a permanent home near the Arab press The shelves are great and give a sense of space as well as housing all kinds of bits and pieces.


A popped it to take some photograhs for me and got artistic - the engraver framed with his own Albion:


Last week, I drove down to London with O to visit the film school he hopes to attend. On the way back we stopped off at Ikea where I saw this kitchen block:


It is very sturdy, yet easy to move around. On the top is an old perforating machine fro my stamp project. Underneath are two of my small Adana presses.

I'm still organising the shelves. The engraving is a superb Gwen Raverat view of Vence in France:


While I was tidying up, I gathered together a group of early engravings - mostly numbered examples from the editions. They are available here.

More About Those Clouds

I just finished a thirteen hour day of cutting, recutting, proofing and printing. The illustration job is done, delivered and approved.

The textures of the clouds were made by engraving serpentine lines at about a forty-five degree angle and then making a series of horizontal cuts on top. I was pleased with the finished result but it was hard work on eyes, hands, neck and shoulders. As promised, here is a small section (actual size) :


The ink is cleaned off the slab and my aching neck and shoulders are headed for a hot bath. I'll take a break from engraving tomorrow and work on a design.

Clouds

Another very cold day but the sun is streaming down and my morning walk was glorious.

Its day two of my illustration and I am spending the day engraving clouds. I started with a pencil study and then sketched the main shapes onto the block. These divide the "sky" into different tones. The marks I have made will guide me but I will be free to modify the areas as I engrave. This makes todays work a pleasing contrast to yesterday's architectural subject. Here is the block ready to start:


My first session of engraving went well. The studio was pleasantly warm and I was pleased withmy progress. My client wants me to pay particular attention to the clouds in this piece. I am using a technique perfected by Victorian engravers. Instead of straight lines, I am engraving a series of curvy, serpentine cuts. They give a very different texture.

I have started with the middle tones and then - probably late afternoon - I will tackle the darker and then the lighter areas. I plan to proof the block first thing tomorrow morning with a view to making any last modifications before lunchtime. I engraved while listening to a "soundscape" by Robert Fripp that suited my mood perfectly. I'm off now for another session while J cooks up some mushroom soup.

When the work is done, I will scan a small area of cloud to show how it appears on the finished impression.

Finally, greetings to my new reader; we both enjoyed hearing from you again.

Prevarication and Perspective

Its warm in the studio and cold here in the house yet I linger here; why? Two answers- preevarication and perspective.

I need to make a start on the engraving of a block that needs to be finished and delivered on Thursday. Once I get going, things will be fine but I'm holding back from making that first cut. Once started, this project - an illustration - will just fly.

I am engraving an architectural subject. This need precision and what is causing the delay is that the perspective needs to be perfect. With a drawing, one can go back and adjust the angles taken by lines. Once you engrave, that it that.

Actually, I rather enjoy perspective. I have set the block in the corner of a sheet of paper, marked my "vanishing point" and use a ruler to check and modify the lines on my sketch. Its a good way to start a day because little thought is required. Here is the setup:


This is a rare glimpse of a piece of my commercial work. No more details.

Well the drawing is finished and its time to engrave. No more delays! Except that I need to take tea out to the studio. Must decide which tea. Better think carefully about which mug.

Website, Ely and Ebay

I am working on a major addition of prints to my website. This will still take at least another week but I wanted to signal some of the areas that are nearly finished. These include the "Birds and Beasts" and the "Brothers" series. Bot still have some prints to add but I am nearly there. Personally, these two galleries hold my favourite images, especially those of my children.

Many of you will know that Ely cathedral features in many of my images, often as a silhouette on the horizon as here:
So what is the attraction? The answer is that I have lived within site of the cathedral for about 45 years and it is a powerful and iconic building. It is also my favourite medieval building in Britain. I pass it every morning on the way to the station as I do my "taxi" runs. Today I stopped and took a photograph to share with you:


Today I worked on a "change of address" card for friends. This evening, I added some prints to my Ebay shop. The idea is to raise money to pay for the conservation of the Rembrandt. If you are interested, you can find them here. (Note added 26th Jan - everything sold out overnight but I have now added more prints to the Ebay shop - mainly artist's proofs).

Storms, A Bookplate and More on the Rembrandt

I have just about tidied up after storms earlier in the week. I was up at dawn on Wednesday, tying down the roof over the hens as it threatened to fly away. Later, I was on a shed roof nailing down the roofing felt that had torn and was rapidly unravelling. Luckily, there was no great structural damage. In the afternoon, I drove into Cambridge to collect A and J from work as trains and buses had been cancelled. We passed one bus that had been blown of the road and into a ditch.

I carried out more updates on my website during the week, including a "story of a bookplate". I was particularly pleased with this one and so I will show it again here:

I drove back into Cambridge on Friday to collect prints from a gallery and to take my Rembrandt to the Fitzwilliam Museum to compare it with theirs. Everything seems to be absolutely right about it and the next stage will be to have it floated off the album page to have the paper examined more closely. My fingers are still crossed that it is an early impression.

Well that was this week. Next task; more work on the website.

Engraving.... Eventually

I was working on enforced flexitime today thanks to a migraine. I walked out early with Bella the dog, posting a letter, buying a newspaper from the village shop and heading out down the drove. The visual interference started about as far as I was going to be from home. Bother and Blow! Migraines are a fairly regular part of my life and I cope well as long as I medicate early. Today, I wasn't carrying and, by the time I was back home, I couldn't see much at all with the wonderful - almost beautiful - swirling patterns. I closed the curtains and lay on the couch, waiting for the headache to hit.

Actually, it wasn't too bad and I was able to do some admin tasks this morning and I could start to engrave at around 3pm. I took a break for dinner and was back in the studio until 9pm when I just had to give up; a few hours after the headache I tend to feel like I went a few rounds against Tyson.

Still, the job is finished except for the proofing.

Here is my little corner of the world:

And again, a little closer:

The block is raised on two leather sandbags placed on a wooden platform with two handy draws. My most used tools are laid out ready and the magnifying glass is poised for those tricky details. The daylight bulb lets me work at any hour of night or day under exactly the same conditions. The eagled-eyed will make out my fave CD of the moment, "Ys" by Joanna Newsom, a Christmas present from A. The job is a bookplate. It will probably be posted soon in the bookplate gallery on my website.

New Year's Eve

Took a rare day off yesterday and travelled, with J, to the Suffolk coast. The first stop was Kessingland, with its striking church. I love the tall tower an partly thatched roof.

We visited the grave of J's parents and checked the lettering for her father that was added to the memorial. Afterwards, we wandered through the graveyard. Some graves date back to the 1760s and I was interested in the lettering and carved motifs, which ranged from skulls to anchors (for sailors). We ate lunch in a pub overlooking the sea before walking alng the beach.

In the afternoon, we dropped in to see Arthur at the Suffolk Villa gallery in nearby Lowestoft. He always has a good selection of East Anglian artists on display. It was good to be in Lowestoft again. J grew up here and we were married in this town, twenty four years ago.

Back to work today on another commissioned piece. Regular readers will know that I tend not to show these so I will lead you into the kitchen to see what jars of jams and conserves look like in the house of an engraver.


I enjoy making the labels. They are good ways to practice lettering. Here is a closeup:

A and O are hosting a small party tonight and the music has started. ts time to tidy myself up and slip off, with J, to a nearby house to meet up with some other villagers.

I hope that 2007 brings everything that you wish for.

Notes From A Cold Studio

So what is the happy engraver doing today?

Up early to scrape the ice off the car and run J and A to the station, then help O scrape his car.
Took food and water for the hens and walk out with Bella through icy lanes.
Into the studio to rig up another temporary handle for the small Albion. I fettled it from a spanner and a yard of black insulating tape. I must get a proper one cast next year. Finally, I set the inking slab warming over the little oil filled radiator ready for printing - the main task for the day.

And now? Steaming hot coffee, toast and marmalade - and a chance to blog after yet another hectic week. Today should be one the last big working days before Christmas.

The latest news on the Rembrandt is that is does appear to be the self portrait with a fur hat from 1630. I need to arrange to take it to the museum to compare it side by side with their example. At the moment, its propped up on a shelf; I'm looking forwards to seeing it conserved and framed.

Unwrapping a parcel is always a great pleasure. When it contins 250 sheets of Zerkall paper, it is doubly so. Here is a year's supply of printing paper ready for transfer to the top drawer of my mapping chest

Set Off To London - Came Back With A Rembrandt!

It seems like I have been engraving solidly for weeks, working through my list of bookplates and other commissions, and so it was with great pleasure that I, together with J, took a day off and went by train to London town.

First stop was the British Library - just five minutes walk from Kings Cross station. There is a wonderful display of treasures. J mainly drooled over illuminated manuscripts - as did I, but my heart was finally lost to a Gutenburg Bible and Caxton's Fables of Aesop.

A short walk took us to Falkener's Fine Papers. Here were more treasures and, if we had not a day in the city ahead of us, I would have stocked up on hand marbelled and paste papers.

We swung along through Bloomsbury, past the British Museum to Museum Street - one of my favourite London locations. Sadly, the bookshops and print shops are slowly disappearing from this short street but it is still a pleasure to explore - especially in the hope of picking up a bargain. We sorted through a box of inexpensive prints and drawings and one small image stopped me in my tracks...

A couple of weeks ago, A and I had spent a happy half hour in the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge. I had wanted to see the exhibition of Rembrant etchings and A was glad to come along and join in the fun. It is a lovely display of etchings in a small room off one of the main galleries. Much of it concentrates of his portrayals of his wife, Saskia, but there are also many of his etched self portraits and we were really captured by them.

Now people who know me well will confirm that I am not great at remembering people's names but I maintain that I remember every painting, drawing or print I have ever seen. And that is why, gentle reader, I was in a state of some excitement when I took my own Rembrandt self- portrait, rescued from the box, to the desk and paid for it.

I had to wait until this morning to confirm my suspicions. A moment with a hand lens showed that this was an etching and not a reproduction. A Google search soon found the work - a self portrait in a fur hat from 1630 just a I recalled from the exhibition. The full image would have looked like this:


Mine has been trimmed within the plate mark and pasted into an album at some stage. I found a trimmed example in another museum:


My copy is wider and has just the end of the signature/date above the head.

I need to get some advice about the state of the etching - it would be great to find out that this is lifetime impression. I also need to think about conservation. I doubt that it has any great value but it is a thing of great beauty. Just to contemplate the quality of the working takes the breath away; it is amazingly fine. And how much did I pay for this? I would normally avoid any financial references here but I have to tell you... sorry, but I really MUST point out that it cost me slightly less than the cappuccino that I enjoyed at the British Library! It just goes to show that even an impecunious engraver can acquire art.

We enjoyed the rest of our meanderings through London but, I have to confess, my mind did keep wandering back to what I was carrying in my backpack, slipped into a magazine for safety.

I will recommend, once more, the Fizwilliam Museum. It has some online exhibitions, including a couple which concentrate of Japanese Woodblock prints:

http://www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk/

And now back to work, a chilly studio and the LJ bookplate.

Illustration and Introducing "The Days Between"

I am interrupting my bookplate work to take on a couple of small illustrations. Far from being an unwelcome intrusion, I enjoy this work; apart from any other consideration, it puts vegetables on the table for another couple of weeks.

I always keep a day or two free in my weekly schedule to take on this type of work - illustration is unlike the rest of my work in two respects: there is usually a strong design brief and the deadline is generally very tight. Since most of my work involves lengthy planning and, perhaps, days of engraving, I enjoy the change of pace. Its a bit like being on a long walk, with its steady pace and rhythm, and then breaking into a run - a sprint. Afterwards, you are happy to get back to the usual pace for a bit.

I often get "bogged down" with longer term projects. Invariably, taking a break to spend a day on an "illie" allows me to go back to the job in hand refreshed.

As usual, with commissioned work, I will not show it here. Instead, here is a view of Ely cathedral across a sunny, but slightly misty, fenland - viewed from the bedroom window a few minutes ago.


I have started a new blog "The Days Between" to allow readers who are interested in engraving to continue to read "Studio Diary" without having to put up with the tedious details of my everyday existence. If you are interested to find out how this journeyman engraver spends his days, then you will find it here:

http://days-between.blogspot.com/

Printing Bookplates

One of the reasons that I post infrequently is that most of my work is commissioned and so is either for publication or - very often - a suprise. I have spent much of the day printing a bookplate and I asked permission to share the process with my readers. Thank you Katy for giving me the go ahead.

For most of the images, you can see an enlarged view by clicking on them.

Here is the block when it was almost finished; before the first proof was taken:



The next photograph shows a view of the studio. The block is fixed in the bed of the smaller Albion Press. You can see the orange sheets of packing and makeready taped to the tympan. To the right is the inking table and, in the background, my engraving desk. This configuration works well as I hardly need to take any steps during the printing.


Here is a closer view of the block on the bed of the press. It is held in place by "furniture" which is tightened by "quoins".


In the next photograph, I am using a brayer to roll a thin film of ink on the block. For engravings, it is generally better to print with a thin layer of ink under high pressure.


Next, I am placing a small piece of Zerkall paper into position on the tympan. I have developed a method of holding small sheets without the need for gauge pins. I will reveal all on this blog in a few days.


The pressure is achieved by pulling the bar towards one, as can be seen in the next photo below. The beauty of this method is that the printer "feels" the pressure through the bar and so can control the printing pressure. The date 1865 is stamped into the bar; This Albion was built in the year that Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

The next step is to wind the bed out from under the platen and carefully lift the tympan. This pulls the paper off the block and I can inspect the work.


Finally, I place the printed sheet up on the drying rack. Adter drying, the plates are carefully inspected and then they are trimmed, reeady for dispatch.


And that, as they say, is that.