New Prints

A new linocut finished and the start of a new mezzotint.

Ist blend of blue to white

2nd blend of grey to white

3rd blend of yellow to light blue grey

4th  blend of blue through blue green to brown.

5th colour  a single line of green to separate the far beach from the background.

6th colour - a blend of two blues to detail the waves.

And a new mezzotint plate after about 5 hours work. Still a long way to go on this.

Lindisfarne - Linocut

New Linocut just completed. 11 colours in 6 passes. 200mm x 300mm. Not sure of the edition size yet. Once the prints are dry I'll have to go through them as a number have some dodgy registration issues.

Colour 1

 Colour 2

 Colour 3

 Colour 4

 Colour 5

 Colour 6

V International Mezzotint Festival

My three prints hanging at the V International Mezzotint Festival at the Museum of Fine Arts, Ekaterinberg, Russia.

Up North Printmakers - Set Up

A late night yesterday setting up the Up North Printmakers exhibition at Higherford Mill Artists Studios with Pete Marsh, Lisa Moore and Anita Burrows. Just waiting now for an early Saturday morning setup by Peter S Smith RE and we'll be all ready for a 10am opening on Saturday. And don't forget Hawthorn Printmakers will be with us on Sunday 15th September with lots of printmaking goodies.

Work below by; Alan Birch, Jill Randall, Anita Burrows, Lisa Moore, Julie Robinson Southwood, Pete Marsh and myself. An eclectic exhibition, we have Etchings, Drypoints, Woodcuts, Wood Engravings, Linocuts, Monoprints and Mezzotints on display.

Up North Printmakers Annual Show - Higherford Mill, Barrowford.

With my solo show at The Folly in Settle now up and running. It's time to turn my attention to the forthcoming annual exhibition of Up North Printmakers at Higherford Mill in Barrowford nr Colne. A place which is quickly becoming our spiritual home since a number of us first met there in 2012 at the Pendle Print Fair. This years show has become something of a reunion as we have invited as our special guests Peter S Smith RE, Alan Birch and Jill Randall, all of whom were also present at that first Print Fair.

Born in Cheshire, Peter S Smith RE, member of the Society of Wood Engravers and the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers. Formally Head of the School of Art and Design at Kingston College is one of the finest wood engravers working today.

Alan Birch needs little introduction to northern printmakers, a well known printmaker and educator he runs printmaking workshops from his studio at Waterfoot in Rossendale, at schools and hospitals around Manchester as well as regular workshops at the Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester.

Jill Randall, also based like Alan Birch at Prospect Studios in Waterfoot is an internationally known sculptor and printmaker. A member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors, from 2007-2010 Jill was artist in residence at Parys Mountain Coppermine on Anglesey producing a fine body of prints from plates etched in the acidic waters of the mine.

On Sunday 15th September we will also be joined by Hawthorn Printmakers Supplies of York who will be there with an assortment of inks, rollers and other printmaking tools. So for all you north west based printmakers this will be an opportunity to buy supplies direct rather than ordering on-line and waiting for delivery.

Solo Exhibition - Setting Up

Today was hanging day at The Museum of North Craven Life at The Folly in Settle. Took a couple of hours to get everything hung. I had a plan worked out before hand but this changed a bit as we were hanging the works. The exhibition runs until 17th November 2019. There are 21 prints in the exhibition, a mixture of Linocuts and mezzotints, mostly landscapes with a couple of wildlife prints. These are recent works made over the last couple of years and whilst some of these have been exhibited before this is the first time I have seen them hung together as a complete body of work. They are hung in a staircase climbing up to the top floor of the museum and are shown here as if ascending.

Ground to landing

Landing to First Floor

First Floor to landing

Landing to Second Floor

The bench on the landing in the bottom right was made by Robert Thompson of Kilburn. If you look closely you can just make out the carved mouse.