Advance Notice

A couple of things coming up.

First is that I shall be in Warwickshire Open Studios this summer. I've handed over the loot so its definitely on. A double-bill with my wife on Yarn and Textiles, so we can at least share the stress.

Second thing is Coventry Open 2020. This will be at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum 29 Feb - 19 April. Submission day is Sat 15 Feb. I've got one print ready and I'm making progress on the second.

I'll post them here once decisions have been made. For now I'll just say that I think submitting 2 pieces that are different from each other works for me. This time I'm also going with one woodcut and one lino, and also one colour and one black/white.

I'll post more on both these things when I have links and pictures to show you.

Card for the Year of the Rat

My wife said to me the day before yesterday, "I'd like you to do artwork for a new year card."
"What year is it?"
"Um... year of the Rat."
And a couple of days notice so I had to be quick.

As it happens, over a dozen years ago we were looking at secondary schools for our son. The local private school was offering art scholarships. Part of the application process involved him producing a work under exam conditions, based on a subject from a list supplied in advance.

The subject he chose was "rubbish dump". So we spent some time working out how to draw rats quickly. In the event he pissed off the head master by not showing sufficient respect, so we were let off the hook with that school.

But at least I can still remember how to draw rats! Job done. Gung hey fat choy!

It's a little late for the Hong Kong relatives, but festivities there go on for a fortnight, so the card will get there before things have completely finished.

Self Portrait

I started this a little while back. I wasn't happy with it and didn't want to start again, so I cut parts of it away and added new pieces of lino to work on.

I'm much happier with it now.

The “me” I usually see is the one in the mirror, not the one everybody else sees. But I know the “me” inside and I think he looks like the mirror image. So self-portraits are a challenge.

I like how the printing process reverses the mirror image. Is the image that emerges the real me? Do I recognise me in this? Do other people?

This one, I think, is the most me-like I've done so far. So earns its place here.

Printing presses

I made the press I've been using back in 2011, I think. I made it to use as a nipping press for bookbinding repairs. It's made from various bits of scrap wood and a manual car jack that was dumped at the end of our drive.

When I started printing it made sense to give it a try. The artists I'd come across used etching presses for relief printing (the sort of press that works like an old-school mangle), but I liked the idea of a platen press. Something Gutenberg would recognise. Anyhow, my rough-and-ready press worked quite well.

As with all these things, I made various tweaks as I went along, and stored some ideas away for the “next one”.

So the “next one” ended up being this. The wood is mostly bits of hardwood door and other bits of furniture I'd sort of inherited. I finished just before Christmas.

Improvements include:

1. A sliding bed with side rails to guide it in and out. 

2. A heavy plate with an iron core faced with mdf. This is smaller than the bed so I don't end up printing too close to the edge of the paper.

3. A hydraulic jack, so easier on the arms. The 2 trampoline springs raise the plate when the valve is released. I'm especially pleased with this. I was considering making the press “upside down” with the plate raising to the bed and lowering again under gravity. But that had issues regarding loading paper and registration.

The whole thing is bigger. The new plate is about 40cm x 50cm compared to 30cm x 40 cm on the old one. The bed is around about A2 size, while the bed on the old one is the same size as the plate.

I've still got to make some kind of tympan and registration guide for the blocks, but I'm pretty much ready to go.