The Doll Is Pointed Towards Michael Leunig.

The Doll was introduced to the work of  Australian artist and cartoonist Michael Leunig the other day. Although he do seem to have attracted a bit of flak recently with his "anti-Vax" (vaccination) cartoons.

Norman Ackroyd: Printmaker

Just got until 26th March 2013 to catch up (for those who can) on BBC iPlayer the lovely program on artist-printmaker Norman Ackroyd which was shown a few days ago.
Great to see the work process of a master printmaker. Catch it while you can, if you can, here.

Cornwall Open Studios 2012: June 2-10

As it says on the tin... or rather the brochure... Cornwall Open Studios runs from June 2-10. So that's very soon, babes. Next Saturday in fact. And its when artists and makers around the county open their studios or group exhibitions for your delectation. Did it meself a couple a times!
Grab your brochure from a shop, library, gallery, wherever... or visit the Open Studios Blog for an online view of the brochure and more.
May the week go well for one and all.

Selling a Print - Three Years Later

You may remember that once upon a time, long, long ago.... I wuz printmaking?

The other day I gets a phone call from a woman who bought one of my first series of lino-cuts. That was at an Open Studio three years ago.

She'd still got my card. Could she buy another one in the series?

Of course, say I.

I then panic and try to sort them all out in their nice little black boxes with tissue paper between the layers... and the mounts... and the frames.

A few days later she do come along to pick what she wants. It's a very nice meeting and chat. Though more of a case of a listen on her part. I'd remembered her well because the sale had meant a lot to me... being practically the first, like. And the print series was about childhood. And she had bought it for her boy. And now she wanted another, three years later, also for her boy. In the end she took two more.

And I be well-chuffed. For me it be about communicating something. And I can't tell you how pleased I be that this print meant stuff for both mother and her boy.
Evie Greydollsdottir will be proud of me.

Printmatters: the Blackhand Gang

Just finished a drypoint/monotype course with Peter Wray & Judy Collins at HandPRINT Studio just outside Penzance. I developed tunnel vision and never got round to monotypes, I was so enthralled at scratching and prodding in drypoint. I've never done it before and it was brilliant: scratch, scratch, ink, ink, wipe and peer - put the plate on the press bed, cover it with paper, cover it up with the blanket and roll it through the press. Other end - voila! A print, an image, a thing.

Sadly I did not appreciate until the final two hours that attention paid to inking up the plate and wiping it - was the major part of the deal. So I must do more. Learn how to ink and wipe that plate. Don't have a press myself, having previously handprinted lino and woodcuts by transferring the image onto paper with the back of a spoon or a Japanese barren. But Handprint offer open access days once you've been on a course. So I must keep up my nerve and give it a go.

It was a good workshop. Peter & Judy combine experienced technical knowledge and exploration with skill and humour. Everyone there just got better and better over the two days.
Enough said. Find out more at their own website (see side bar list of sites).

Now - I sleep.

Going on a printmaking course

Going on a 2 day printmaking course tomorrow. So I spent part of the day preparing and looking through drawing books ( which are more like collage books) to see what images felt good to work with. Then redrawing them on tracing paper (so that I can reverse them), because I am a big fat cheat.

Prior to that I trawled through my linocuts, etc and hard-heartedly threw stuff away. I need to cut back on the quantity of prints.

Some people say to keep things that haven't worked, because you can still colour or collage with them. But I realise this does me no good at the moment as I cannot see the wood for the trees.

It helped when I decided to be strict about print quality rather than the images themselves. Because you never can tell when it comes to the images. It is easy to go all rejecting about an image. But you just never know.
If I put things away for long enough (years in my case), they can strike me fresh and look really OK when I unearth them. (Like a dog with a bone.) On the other hand, I can be really disappointed with things I got very excited about at the time. You know that feeling don't you, girls? The course of true love never ran smooth.

Print Competition

Something must have happened when I plugged in my Printmaking Brain. Because a friend emailed me info about submissions for a Cornwall based Open Printmaking Competition.

The submission deadline is 30th June 2010.
See details at http://www.a4printmakers.com/

Printmaking brain

Things have got interesting around here, with the old man's health getting complicated. And now the old man's "old man" has been skidded into hospital in a dramatic state. One hundred and fifty miles away and undeniably elderly. The phone has been red hot.

And I've realised I've got a printmaking course to attend next week; and my brain is somewhere else. Hmmmmh! Get your act together girl. Am I rusty with the printmaking? Yes I am.

I was lino and wood "cutting" like a steam train this time last year. I opened up my "studio" during Cornwall Open Studios week. I took the advice of one visitor about a gallery to approach.They took some work. But - I'll be blunt about it - no sales yet. And as I said - the old man's health got complicated. And my printmaking engine ran out of steam.

Now - it's time to get that brain in training; get those ideas running again; get those knives and rollers out. Get stuck in.