Biscuit Factory Selection on Wednesday

Well, on Wednesday I headed off into Newcastle at 9 a.m for a 10 a.m meeting at The Biscuit Factory to go through the work that our students submitted. One hour should have been more than enough time to get there. The journey is normally 30 minutes but as luck would have it someone broke down on the Tyne Bridge on that day and there were tailbacks on the central motorway in both directions. Fortunately, I had the radio on so I picked it up in time to take alternative route to the gallery.

So instead of arriving with time to spare, calm cool and collected, i arrived at 10.01 somewhat stressed!! The meeting however went exceptionally well. It was the first time I had seen the bulk of the work and although there were only 26 entrants as opposed to last years 43, the quality and quantity of work was great. Such a relief! Sam and Melanie were very positive about it.

The gallery has reserved the same space as last year which means most people will get to show a body of work which is wonderful. It's interesting to see how the exhibition changes subtly year on year.  

The Biscuit Factory Spring Show.

Well, just when we thought no one would be sending in any work, or very few anyway, this week there has been a last minute flurry of people turning up at the studio, portfolio in hand, to see if we thought any of their prints were good enough to go forward to the Biscuit Factory selection panel. And indeed there is a lot of work that I am confident will make it through for the show.

It's interesting though how every year the character of the show changes. I think this coming one will give many of our regular students a chance to show a larger body of work so that they and others can see how their work has developed and how an idea can be developed.

For me though I am still a little concerned that I will have enough new work to show given how I have been unable to get to the studio because of the snow so I am very behind in my preparations. On Rebecca's suggestion I am reprinting some plates that I have sold previously albeit that I always do each one in a new colour palette so no two are the same. I still hope to have at least two done from the new plates i've been making - images previously posted last week - but as yet I still have to become more familiar with the vagaries of the plate surfaces to get a print I am happy with.

I don't know if other printmakers find the same thing? I make a plate and have an idea in my head of how the final print will look and always expect to just go in and print it but it is NEVER that simple. I'm always telling my students that but I still find it deeply frustrating when it just doesn't come together straight away.

Images

Following up on my update last night I have not yet figured out how to select and upload images on the blog itself. However, I have managed to use the really nifty feature on iPhoto where you can upload images to Facebook and Flickr so if you scrawl down the page and find my Flickr widget you will see what I have been up to. These are images of the plates and first trial proofs from them. The plate size is 40 x 40 cm.

First Prints of the New Year

Well I finally managed to get to the studio this wee. We've had so much snow since the week before Christmas which made access to the studio somewhat hazardous. It has been 20 years since we've had the volume of snow we did this winter.

I was getting very anxious with the deadline for the spring exhibition at the Biscuit Factory having not made any prints since the end of November. I started on two new plates but as yet I haven't managed to get a print I'm really happy with. I'm playing around with different colour palettes and of course it always takes time to get to know the idiocyncracies of a new plate and how to bring out the best in the collagraph textures I've set up.

I have a new Apple MacBook which I am struggling to get to grips with because although i have used Apple's in the past when i worked at a graphic designer more recently I've been a PC girl. So although I have uploaded new images on to the Apple I am struggling to upload them onto here. There seems to be no means of selecting individual images just the iPhoto file which can't be right but I can't figure out any other way just now. If any of you are familiar with Apple MacBook and know how to do what I'm trying to do let me know.

Fresh Prints from Horsley Printmakers @ The Biscuit Factory

March 11th to May 4th, 2010

Horsley Printmakers return to the Biscuit Factory with a fresh crop of original prints. For the 4th year running this very popular exhibition will showcase the latest work from students, tutors - me and Rebecca plus our guest tutors Mandy and Chris from the independent program of courses offered by the studio.

The prints below are a small selection from students Kim Lewis - the wood engravings, and Marion Prentice - the linocuts.

We always have a great variety of subject matter and techniques to exhibit including lino-cuts, monotypes, collagraphs, etchings and wood-engravings. This year some of Horsley Printmakers more established students will show a larger selection of their work. Marion Prentice has made lino-cuts her own with some dynamic, figurative work. Stylish wood engravings and lino-cuts by Kim Lewis will also feature in the exhibition. An internationally renowned children’s book author and illustrator, Kim returned to printmaking primarily through courses at Horsley Printmakers.

Rebecca Vincent will be showing all new monotypes, Carol Nunan her unique edition collagraphs, Mandy Pattullo has new floral monotypes and Chris Daunt his latest wood engravings.

Horsley Printmakers is a printmaking studio based at The Hearth, Horsley in Northumberland.

Winter Inspiration

I've spent lots of time taking lots of photos of all this lovely snowy weather we've been having as the snow gets deeper and deeper. The Sele Park in the centre of town with the Abbey has yet to be fully recorded but I did try to capture the snow at night which is very beautiful. However not being a professional photgrapher I didn't quite get the exposure right. Snow is notoriously difficult to get right anyway for an amatuer.