Printing Winter

My old adana has been struggling to get a good print for quite a while now so it was time to take it to Caslon for a service. After a good look it was clear that this little press had been working very hard since the 1950’s and it was time for a rest. So many of the parts were worn and it was going to cost as much, if not more, to fix as getting a refurbished press. So thank you so much to Roy Caslon for my new refurbished adana 8 x 5 press. Its first job with eightfivepress was printing 100 sleeves for WINTER EP, music from my other project Red Deer Sleeping. The music is set to poems by Amy Lowell, Alfred Lord Tennyson, A. E Housman and John Clare.

Printed with polymer plates from Lymebay Press on 100% recycled card by Ecocraft.

WINTER by Red Deer Sleeping is now available to pre-order on Bandcamp. The EP will be released on the 15th January 2020.

Cosy up wth a copy of Winter in snow white or woodburner black!

The Golden Show

Just a little reminder that this Friday 17th May you are invited to The Golden Show private view at Centre Space Gallery from 6pm - 9pm.

Top left: Tony Eastman. Top right: Glen Eastman. Bottom left: Terry Williams. Bottom right: Eleanor Glover.

Artists Tony and Glen Eastman will be showing their design projects, sculptures, drawings, paintings, prints and short animated films. The exhibition is to celebrate their 50th Golden Wedding Anniversary. Thirty friends and relatives have been invited to share the gallery space. These artists will be showing prints, ceramics, paintings, photography, sculpture, drawing, jewellery, wood turning, furniture and textiles.

Artists

Tony & Glen Eastman, Eila Goldhahn-Young, Diana Van Loock, David Henderson, Andrew Jelly, Stella Pole, Joe Wilson, Bob Gale, Viv Allbright, Ruth Ander, Ruth Piper, Philip Booth, Dave Pole, Terry Williams, Daphne Hill, Sylvie Duncan, Jan Nesbitt, Martin Reiser, Sarah Penrose, Eleanor Glover, Mog Fry, Philip Walker, Emily Haysom, Onny Thomson, Richard Quarrell, Alex Phillips, Stuart Young, Louis Eastman, Susie Fitzsimmons, Nick Bridson Baker, Dave Morgan-Davis.

Close up of my recent project ‘In Praise of Saints’ woodblock prints and shrine. The piece will also be an invitation for you to make your own small offerings.

The Golden Show

May 12th - 22nd 2019

Artists' PV: Friday 17th May 6 - 9pm

Open daily: 11 - 6pm

 

An Enyclopedia of Inspiration coming soon!

“This 368-page book features profiles of 48 designers, artists, artisans and entrepreneurs who make things with print.”

— Janine Vangool

Print/Maker

Uppercase magazine’s founder, publisher, editor and designer Janine Vangool launches the next volume from her Encyclopedia of Inspiration - Print/Maker. I am thrilled to be a part of this volume which will be available this month.

I discovered Janine Vangool’s magazine, Uppercase in 2012, the same year I bought my Adana 8 x 5 printing press. It was Uppercase issue 12. A beautifully designed magazine full of inspirational articles from the ephemera of newsprint, artist’s sketchbooks, creative explorations with maps, Japanese papermaking, a celebration of vintage cameras to sailing the Arctic Circle and letterpress printing from a campervan! I was hooked! As I was beginning my own printmaking journey, Uppercase opened a door to a world of possibility and adventure, fantastic resources and a connection to artists from many parts of the globe.

So it’s really lovely to be invited by Janine to take part in the next volume for The Encyclopedia of Inspiration - Print/Maker. Like Uppercase it will be packed with a colourful eclectic mix of playful and creative printing explorations. I look forward to getting my copy and I hope you are inspired to get one too!

“Each dust jacket can be folded to reveal one of four different designs. You can easily refold it to display your favourite. Dust jackets can be used for your own creative purposes as well, like wrapping gifts, collage, or perhaps as a cover for a sketchbook or journal.”

— Janine Vangool

Designers Artists Artisans Entrepreneurs

The 48 artists featuring in Print/Maker include Amada Press, Angie Lewn, Baltimore Print Studios, Blackbird Letterpress, Brad Vetter Design, Brooklyn Haberdashery, Cabinpress Studio, Catherine Ruddell, Cathy Terepoki Ceramics, Chasing Paper, Clawhammer Press, Egg Press, Eightfivepress, Feast Letterpress, Fiona Wilson Prints, Gotamago, GTO Printers, Inkello Letterpress, Inkwell Originals, Jeanne McGee, Katharine Watson, Laura Spring, Moglea, Notely, Nourishing Notes, Orozco, Papirmas, Patrick Edgeley, Pressing Matters, Prints & Press, Public-Supply, Red Cap Cards, Risotto, Ruth Hickson, Shorthand, Snap + Tumble, Spark Box Studio, Star Shaped Press, Sugar Paper, The Inkery, The Open Press Project, The Printed Peanut, The Regional Assembly of Text, Virgin Wood Type, WMS & Co., Yao Cheng Design and Yetunde Rodriguez Design.

You can pre-order Print/Maker from Uppercase website by clicking on the button below.

The next three volumes from The Encyclopedia of Inspiration include Ephemera, Vintage Life and Quilted.

The UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration (Pre-Order Next 4 Volumes)

Check out more of Janine Vangool’s publications including:

The Typewriter: A Graphic History of the Beloved Machine

The UPPERCASE Encyclopedia of Inspiration BOX SET (The first three volumes)

Uppercase (A magazine or the creative & curious)

Little U (the offspring of UPPERCASE magazine)

We Have Lift Off!

“Six months on from the shock of the nerve agent attack on the Skripals, the people of Salisbury are attempting to use the power of the arts to reclaim the streets, work through the trauma of the assault and draw visitors back to the cathedral city.”

— The Guardian

A Celebration of the Arts

Over the August bank holiday weekend I was invited to run print workshops at Wiltshire Creative's 'Lift Off!’ Festival at Salisbury Arts Centre. The people of Salisbury certainly did reclaim the streets and Salisbury Arts Centre too! The city was buzzing and people were in great spirits.

Here are just a few of the pics of printing explorations over the busy weekend. 

Rubber-stamping Carving and printing 

Ben stamps his name and creates buildings from pre-carved stamps while the adults have a go at carving shapes and patterns to create their own stamps. 

Foreign Affairs in Letterpress

Ash works out a design for her boyfriend’s band ’Foreign Affairs.'

Type setting names and rubber stamping fun! 

Together Freya and Ewan type-set and print their names while little hands find spongy stamps to explore and play!

Flashy Letterpress & Rubber stamps! 

Thanks to all who took part over the weekend! It was fab! 

““It shows the world how important the arts are to the city and that despite recent events the community (and many visitors) still want to come together in celebration.”

— The Guardian

Read the full article from the Guardian

The Making Ape

“All of your ancestors were creative — You and I and everybody we know were descended from tens of thousands of years of makers. The entire world, for better or for worse, has been altered by the human hand, by human beings doing this weird and irrational thing that only we do, amongst all our peers in the animal world, which is to waste our time making things that nobody needs, making things a little more beautiful than they have to be, altering things, changing things, building things, composing things, shaping things. This is what we do. We’re the making ape. And no one is left out of the inheritance of that — that’s our shared human inheritance.”

— Elizabeth Gilbert with Krista Tippett (onbeing.org)

Over the last few weeks I have been working with some fab spirited teens at a community centre in Salisbury. For the latest linocut workshop I brought along some celebrities. Ed Sheeran and Camilla Cabeo were the favourites. The teens got stuck in and made some brilliant prints. Here’s a snapshot of their hard work!

Ed Sheeran and Teen Team Spirit

Team effort is involved in the creation of Ed Sheeran. Together they carve and roll out the ink while one holds the paper the other prints. A wonderful collaborative process. 

An Independent Camila Cabeo 

A very focused and reflective individual enjoys the independence of carving and printing Camila Cabeo by herself. 

Support from The Rock

 The Rock created with an abundance of animated energy shows in these boldly carved lines.

The Greatest Showman

Celebrities pop art pics are left to one side for she already has something in mind. 

Usually to print text from a lino block, the text needs to be carved back-to-front. This way the text will print the right way round. But today a different approach is needed in order for a thoughtful teen to give the actual lino as a gift to a friend. She carves the words directly into the lino the right way round and inks up the lino to reveal the carved letters. The ink is left on the lino to dry.

Thank you to all the teens for your openess to explore printmaking and your commitment and effort throughout the whole process.

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Eightfivepress delivers rubber-stamp, linocut and letterpress printing workshops. 

If you would like to book Mog for a printmaking workshop at your community centre or school please click on the link below.