Art In Action 2010

The private view of my exhibition of 48 engravings was a great success but there was no time to reflect as the next day saw us heading down to Essex to a family wedding. One extra pleasure was staying at the bed and breakfast establishment of printmaker Akiko Fujikawa. She is a friend of Nana Shiomi - they had both been at Art In Action with me in 2007 - and also gives courses in hanga printmaking.

Returning from the wedding, I had just two days to collect everything together and head over to Oxfordshire again and, on the wednesday, everything was packed into the car and I set off.

It felt like home to be back in the printmaking tent. I set to hanging framed work and setting out my tables:

The tent catered for both drawing and printmaking. I could look across and see the Rochat etching press that was used for demonstrations.



Over to my side was the lovely 1876 Albion press. Next to it you can see the remarkable linocuts of Colin Moore. Other printmakers attending were Barbara Jackson (etching), Laurie Rudling (collagraph and etching), Melvyn Petterson (etching), Johanna Zhang (drypoint), Louise Hayward (engraving on plastic) and Carry Ackroyd (screenprint). We made a very varied and lively crew.



Art In Action ran for four days and it was very busy for almost all of the time. I only really sw anything outside our section if I went out at lunchtime, when it was lovely to meet up with old friends.


Drawing was also represented in our tent and included an area where people could try their hand at drawing from life:


Although food is provided for demonstrators, there were tempting alternatives and, on a couple of days, I enjoyed delicious mezze:


There is also a large market place of artist, craftworkers and sellers of materials. I treated myself to a selection of superb hand made oil paints by Michael Harding.



On the Saturday evening, there is a dinner for the demonstrators. It is a real occasion, starting with a drink and performances in the outside theatre. We then went into the marquee and were served lovely food. Wine flowed and the printmakers had a very happy time.



Afterwards, we wended our way home between illuminated tents. It was alovely evening and we only had one more day to go.



Back home, I was very tired for a few days. It was a treat to unpack and try out my new Michael Harding paints - and three handmade brushes by Rosemary & Co.



They are now in my old pochade box, waiting for a plein air painting excursion - a guy's got to have a hobby ;-)

Finally, I am back in harness and finishing off A Christmas Carol (the early images were recieved with great interest last week in Oxfordshire). Here I am engraving ivy leaves from life:


On with the work...

Sneak Preview

My exhibition has been hung. It was fairly straightforward, especially since I had made a plan of where all the work would go. I made a scale drawing of the available walls and cut out shapes - also to scale - to represent the work. It all went swimmingly.


As usual, some changes were made on the day but I was very pleased with the result. In the end I hung 48 engravings - my largest show ever.

Here is a sneak preview:






In the last photograph, you can see that the exhibition continues out into the entrance hall beyond.

See you at the opening?

Invitation To My Exhibition

I have just about finished framing my forthcoming exhibition. If you are within reach of Ely, Cambridgeshire between 9th July and 29th August, do please drop in and see for yourself.

Readers are most welcome to attend the Private View on Thursday 8th July between 6:30pm and 8:30pm. Here is the invitation (click to enlarge). Just turn up :-)


The Old Fire Engine House is a restaurant as well as a gallery. It has a lovely garden, which was where we took our coffee and cakes earlier in the week:


How do you find the gallery? Here is a link to a Google Map.

Otherwise, go to the West door of the cathedral (beneath the tower) and walk away across the green beyond the cannon. You will come to a small car parking area and the gallery is clearly signed on your right.

Gallery opening times.

10.30 am to 10.30pm Monday to Friday

10.30am to 5.30 pm Saturday

10.30pm to 4.30pm Sunday (please note that during lunchtime the downstairs gallery is used as a dining room)

Closed Bank Holidays

Framing and an Art In Action Announcement

I ended my last blog post with a photograph of my new set of exhibition frames. Having splashed out on them, I decided that I ought to upgrade my framing kit and do a really good job so that everything looks as good as can be.

As it happens, I bought myself a new mountboard cutting kit during my last demonstrating session at Art In Action but had never used it - I hadn't even unpacked it. I had been impressed by the demonstration I had been given and decided that it was time to break it out and use it.




I'm very pleased that I did because the system was easy to use and cut the most neat and accurate corners that I have ever managed. I am really pleased with the results I achieved after a very few practices. It is a FrameCo Matte Master System 660b.

Years ago, I used "Hang Its" on my smaller framed work. I finally found a source and bought a tub. They simply tap onto the backboard to give an easy to use flush finish:




From the same source, I decided to buy a point driver. I have always used pins and a hammer in the past but this method is faster, neater and - finally - the days of managing to nail my thumb to a frame are over:




The other change that I have made is to use a fine plastic covered wire that is held firmly by ferrules that are simply crimped. No more knotting:



All of these framing sundries were purchased from www.lionpic.co.uk and I am very pleased with the results I have achieved. Here is "Lily Of The Valley, Nimes" in its new ash frame.


It is a co-incidence that I was reminded of Art In Action because - at short notice - I am demonstrating there again. It is a Waterperry, Oxford from Thursday July 15th until Sunday 18th. All details are available from the website. I do hope to see some of you there - do come along to the drawing/Printmaking tent and say "Hello".

You can see memories of my last two visits to Art In Action here and here.

A Crowded Early Summer

Its been a packed early summer and I have been busy, even by my standards. I am currently illustrating two books back-to-back, involving large full page engravings and, to cap it all, Our younger son was married in mid May. It was a lovely day which combined a beautiful ceremony, a stroll through the city of Ely, a surprise river trip, and enjoyable meal and ended with everyone making balloon animals. Great fun!

The honeymoon couple jetted off and we decided to follow suit and headed for the SW Mediterranean coast of France, to a small apartment with lovely views of the harbour.

There is a lot of art in this area. We were within walking distance of Collioure, once home to Matisse. It is a pretty and colourful little town with lots of studios and galleries:



A short drive in the other direction is Banyuls Sur Mer and the museum that occupies the former home of the wonderful sculptor Aristide Maillol. The work on display included lithographs, drawings, maquettes and full sized sculptures and everything looked just sensational in this setting. Maillol is buried in the garden and his work "Mediterranean" marks the spot:


Back in town, another of his works can be seen in a lovely sea-side setting:


We were staying a very short drive from the Spanish border and drove to Figueres one day to visit the Dali Theatre Museum. Apart from housing a fantastic collection of Dali's art, the building itself is quite spectacular:



Our last foray was to the small town of Ceret, sadly just missing the cherry festival. The main street is shaded by plane trees which gave welcome shelter from the burning Mediterranean sun. We visited the Musee d'Art Moderne and enjoy not only a fine permanent collection but also a special exhibition of paintings by Frank Burty Haviland.


Even the graffiti was sweet:



After a well earned rest, its been back to the treadmill and no mistake. With the coming of June, our garden is at its best and it has been a real treat to sit out and enjoy it:

In the printing studio I have been printing the menus for our niece's wedding from photo polymer blocks:

While back in the engraving studio, I am continuing to work on images for "A Christmas Carol":


Last week I took delivery of a fine set of ash exhibition frames. This is my favourite wood to present my work in. I am having my first exhibition of engravings since 2006 and will start to frame my engravings this week. The invitations are ready and more information will be available very soon.

We delivered this lovely lithograph to my framer, who used the same ash as my exhibition frames and carried out the work overnight, doing a lovely job. It is a lithograph - beautifully drawn on the stone and printed with impeccable registration by the talented Richard Sell, who sadly died last year.

We admired each others work and both appreciated working in a medium where precision and taking pains are needed but Richard was the better of us and he is sadly missed. It is a real pleasure to have this lovely print to remind us not only of Richard's skill but also of concerts attended in the cathedral. I am very pleased that Richard's memorial exhibition in upstairs at the gallery at the some time that my own show is downstairs and I know that anyone who visits to see my work will enjoy seeing his.


Details of dates and venue will be posted here very soon.

The Mix, Engraving and a Wordfest Appearance

I was running short of "Mix" so I thought I would share its secrets. "Mix" is what I use to darken the block before I transfer the design onto it prior to engraving. It is simply diluted writing ink.

I use blue-black "Quink" writing ink but I imagine that any water soluble ink would do but you will have to work out the proportions.


I use a simple pipette to measure out a small quantity of Quink. I can see no reason why you should not use a spoon:


Then, for every measure of Quink, I add six measures of water, give it a shake (with the lid on!) and we are ready to darken a block.



I use a piece of smooth cotton cloth (from an old t-shirt) and wash a little "Mix" over the block - taking care that it does not get too dark. My preference is that the block is light enough for my ink lines to show but dark enough so that I can make out the cuts that I have made and get an overall balance of light and dark as I work:


This block is going to be engraved with an image of the Ghost Of Christmas Present from Charles Dickens' "Christmas Carol":


This is one of seven large engravings commissioned by Susan Hill's Long Barn Press. This project is great fun and I will keep you posted as the engravings are finished. Ideally, I would like to complete one a week but that might be pushing it a little - we will see.



Outside, Spring is finally here. This is my favourite season - such an optimistic time of year - and our spring bulbs are looking wonderful both in border and in pot:


Back in the studio, I have been making a display of four information boards and some blocks, tools, prints and drawings. These were installed in Cambridge Central Library last week ahead of the workshop I gave as part of Cambridge Wordfest Spring 2010:







Everyone who bought a ticket was to receive a keepsake which included an original engraving printed from the woodblock in the 1865 Albion handpress. I signed each one beneath the image.

The event was great fun to do and very well received. It was a sell-out - not surprising as I was accompanied by author Philip Pullman in a unique event. I told the story of the design and engraving of the illustrations that I made for "A Outrance" and Philip talked about the project, his own drawings made for the "His Dark Materials" trilogy and then gave a wonderful reading from the chapter of "Northern Lights" that told the story of the bear fight. I was in the happy position to be able to sit at the front and enjoy both the telling of the tale and also the faces of the audience as they listened, entranced.

"Iorek & Iofur Fight" from "A Outrance" is the new "Print of the Month" on my website and is available for sale here.