Inside I'm squeaking II

I went back to this plate on Wednesday when I had barely half an hour to spare and didn't really know what I wanted to do so I inked it up in blocks a la poupee with the colours I had out.  And lo and behold, it worked! 

More experiments along this line next week.

Emilie Doyle

I journeyed through the thronged streets in the icy wind off the Shannon to Limerick Printmakers to see the solo show by Emilie Doyle.

Emilie is the graduate of LSAD who won the busary award from Limerick Printmakers last year and I've always liked her work, partly because we share the same fascination for lines.

Her solo show was great, lots of monoprints and collographs, very simple but striking and quite fresh looking I thought.  Here are some photographs of my favourite prints:-

The Lights, monoprint

The Turquoise Door, collograph

Street, collograph

Wind Farming (detail), collograph

The Yellow Door, collograph

Walking the Land, collograph

I also love the way she has framed some of them on ripped, corrugated cardboard and cheap hardboard.  I am a great fan of arte povera and think that the unpretentious presentation adds to the impact of the print itself.

Etching and aquatint

When I made my first aquatint in 2nd year I wasn't too impressed and wondered what all the fuss was about.  Now however, I'm experimenting around a lot more and can see why it's so popular.  The original plate was really flat until the aquatint went on and I intend to keep working into the plate until it's really messed up.

My first edition

I made my first edition for Limerick Printmakers a couple of weeks ago.

It's a screenprint homage (sic) to Alexa Chung featuring an image I drew of her from Elle magazine together with some of the accompanying text from the article.

I made about 36 prints and needed 25 for the edition.  Just about managed to get 25 good ones which brings home to me the importance of a) good registration and b) careful printing.

They are for a box set called 20:20 which is in collaboration with Hot Bed Press in Salford, Manchester - my home city.  I like that coincedence.

Inside I'm squeaking ...

I started this plate as an experiment after seeing the work of Akiko Taniguchi.  It's been etched to black and then burnished back to give the round shapes which are meant to be silage bales.  I got very excited whilst inking up the plate ...

so decided to try a roll-up and some a la poupee inking.

I'm still messing around with it and will post some images of prints later.  Might use it for our editions project.

It is possibly time

I put some of my work up here instead of other peoples so here are some sketchbook pages:-

I'm focussing on details at the moment with the hope of trying to put these together in a series of etching, drypoints and woodblock print.

P.S. WAY TOO MANY NIPPLES*

The visitor's comments board at the Lewis Glucksman is a brilliant idea.  Lots of people have taken to expressing their thoughts graphically as well which is very appropriate.

I appropriated a few for this blog and thanks to all for the entertainment!

* in relation to Alice Maher's work - I think.

I liked it so much I bought the catalogue

This was a great exhibition on at the Lewis Glucksman gallery in Cork city, featuring works by Matisse, Tacita Dean and William Kentridge. 

Tacita Dean, Still Life, 16mm film projection

William Kentridge, Drawing for What Will Come (Fly II), charcoal on paper

Henri Michaux, Mouvements: Soixante-quatreDessins Un Poeme Une Postface
"An aquaintance of major twentieth century artists such as Paul Klee and Max Ernst and loosely linked to the Surrealist movement, Michaux experimented with drugs to push the boundaries of definition between writing and drawing.  Mouvements consists of 64 drawings, some that appear like calligraphic characters, others that resemble a sequence of abstract figures or unidentified insects in motion"

Susan Morris, ERSD, View from Side, inkjet print on Hahnemuehle paper

Alice Maher, from The Music of Things, intaglio print

William Kentridge, detail

A giant bobble hat in Limerick ...

also known as the Ormston House Summer Member's Show:-

For better photos and more information, see www.ormstonhouse.com



Akiko Taniguchi

More deliciousness from the Land of the Rising Sun. 

Consuming Dawn; etching, lithograph, chine colle



Cold Front; etching, drypoint, mezzotint, chine colle




Mother Earth; etching, collagraph



"Taniguchi’s abstract visual language is based on her continuous research into forms found in the natural world. She looks at connections and forces of regeneration that exist in different environments. Taniguchi starts off with photographs of natural phenomena such as cloud formations, ice crystals, or cracks found in earth that have been parched by drought. Her hand-generated responses to these photographs heighten the rhythms, patterns and structures occurring in nature. To achieve this, she employs a variety of print-media including collagraph, etching, drypoint, mezzotint and chine collé. Her combination of processes creates complex three-dimensional surfaces of bold black forms, delicate calligraphic lines, and areas suffused with color."

See:  http://www.davidsongalleries.com/artists/taniguchi/taniguchi.php

Sleeping Field; etching, collagraph

Sunflower; etching, collage



Urban Fantasy; collagraph



Waiting for Spring; etching, collagraph