Open Studios July 2014 And Some Other Forthcoming Events

Here are four events taking part during the rest of 2014.

1. My Open Studio (July 2014)

I will hold an Open Studio here at Little Downham during the second (12th - 13th) and forth weekends (26th - 27th) of July. I will be open between 11am and 6pm on all four days.

I will be engraving during the weekend and will be very pleased to demonstrate the process.

"Red", the larger our the two Albion handpresses here will be working so you will be able to see prints being pulled from an engraved woodblock.

As usual, there will be engravings and cards for sale. New work will include my Peak District prints.

Details are available from the guide - or email me for directions.

Here are some photographs from last year's Open Studio:

I hope to see many of you this year.


2. Cambridge Original Printmakers (September - October 2014)

I am taking part in this event in Cambridge. This event will run from Friday 26 September to Sunday 5 October 2014. Here are the details:

Contact me if you would like to be sent an invitation.

There are also a number of talks by printmakers. I am giving one of these at 2:30pm on Sunday 28th September. Admission is free but registration is required. Find details here.


3. Exhibition at The Old Fire Engine4 House, Ely (October - November 2014)

I will be exhibiting over forty engravings at this, my third exhibition at The Old Fire Engine House.
I particularly like this gallery as it shows my work in a more domestic setting.

There is a Private View on Thursday 2nd October from 6:30 - 8:30pm.
The exhibition runs from Friday 3rd October until Sunday 2nd November.

Opening time:
10.30am-10.30pm Monday-Friday,
10.30am-5.30pm Saturday,
9.30pm-5.30pm Sunday excluding lunchtime, Closed Bank Holiday

Here are some photographs of my last exhibition in 2012:

 

4. Ely Cathedral Christmas Gift and Food Fair 2014

I really enjoyed taking part in this event last year and I am very pleased to be able to show my work and demonstrate wood engraving again this year.

The event will run from the 14 - 15 November 2014 with a special preview evening at 6.30pm on 13 November.
Friday 14 November: 9.30am - 4.30pm / 6.30pm - 9.00pm
Saturday 15 November: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Entry price £3.00 / Children under 16 FREE (when accompanied by an adult)
Pre booking is highly recommended: To pre book tickets please contact the Cathedral Box Office on 01353 660349 or box.office@elycathedral.org.

 Here are some photographs from 2013:

An Interlude: The New Cabinet

After many years of engraving, I have built up rather a lot of engraved blocks. Some were in drawers, older ones in boxes and recent ones lined up on shelves. Sometimes, I couldn't find a block that I wanted to refer to without a search - It was about time I did something.

The opportunity came when we removed some old "built-in" wardrobes from a bedroom during redecoration. We hauled parts of the carcus outside and I set to work with a power saw:

The idea was to keep the height and width of the wardrobe more or less the same but to cut it so that it was only 20 cm deep. The pieces of the sides that were left could then be cut into strips to make the many shelves that I would need. I reinforced the existing fixings with plenty of screws to make the thing solid.

I had already cleared a space in the studio so all I had to do was drag the cabinet inside, fix it securely to the wall and refit the original doors. I had drilled plenty of holes for shelf supports and once the shelves were in place, I washed over the wood to remove dust and dirt and painted the shelf edges with acrylic paint.

When everything was dry, I started to put the blocks in - each on its side, the way they should be stored.
I grouped them: illustrations, bookplates, gardens,places, people, birds and animals. Long, awkward ones were laid at an angle at the top:

I stopped counting after 350 blocks. I still have a couple of boxes of early blocks to process so the final number will be something between 400 - 450, I imagine; quite a body of work.

The cabinet works a treat - it keeps all of my blocks safely and does not impinge very far into the space of the printing studio:

I have plans for the decoration of the doors.

You can see that a few things have been pushed behind "Red" during this process and when they have been tidied away I need to set about moving that press. That is going to be interesting!