Spectrum Exhibition in Didsbury

It's now the final weekend of our exhibition in Didsbury's Old Parsonage. It's been a great success with lots of visitors at our Opening on Sat 7 Feb and since  - and sales too. Malcolm Allum and I were in the yellow gallery and Anne Mackinnon and Janet Higgins had their work in the red gallery. The prosecco and mini cupcakes went down well - inspired, Malcolm!  Friends and family, as well as regulars to The Old Parsonage, all came together - with a great atmosphere. Thanks to Roddy McColl and Phil Portus for images below:

Didsbury Exhibition - work on the walls!

Today we have been hanging work for the Spectrum exhibition in Didsbury's old Parsonage. It's an amazing venue - in great gardens. It's starting to look good! Almost ready for Saturday's opening and preview 2 - 4pm. Malcolm Allum and I got our work up today. Anne Mackinnon and Janet Higgins are putting up their work tomorrow. Here's how my work is looking so far. I do hope you can come along!

The Old Parsonage Didsbury - Spectrum Exhibition

I'm now at the final preparations stage for our Spectrum exhibition at The Old Parsonage in Didsbury, Manchester. There will be a mix of older and new work. I've been finishing off some new prints this week at Hot Bed Press, to make sure they will be in the show, including a new 3 colour lino print of Manchester bees and a large scale lively and chaotic screen print:

I'll also be including "Scottish Sheep" exhibited previously at Stockport Art Gallery and An Talla Solais in Ullapool.

We are expecting a good turnout at the Preview on Saturday afternoon (7 Feb) 2 - 4 pm, so really looking forward to Spectrum, the first exhibition I've been involved in for a while.

Some of my etchings

I'm trying to decide what to include in the Spectrum exhibition - and may include some etchings. The only one that has been exhibited so far is Bridgewater Canal, which was selected for the Stockport Open Contemporary Exhibition. Choices include (in order) I Love Manchester 2012, Cwm-yr-Yglwys, Strumble Head Lighthouse, Bridgewater Canal and On the Verge:

Feedback is very welcome!

Exhibition at The Old Parsonage in Didsbury 7-22 Feb

Spectrum, an exhibition of work by 4 local artists, will open on Saturday 7 February 2015 and include around 10 of my prints. The Old Parsonage is an arts venue in Didsbury, Manchester, close to Fletcher Moss Gardens and The Didsbury Pub.

The preview is open to all and is 2 - 4 pm on Saturday 7 February and Malcolm Allum, Janet Higgins, Anne Mackinnon and I will be ready to welcome you along. I hope you can come.

At other times, this venue can be used for events and classes, so it's wise to call ahead to check access.

I'm planning to showing a mix of new and older work - etchings, screen prints and of course linocuts.

Some of my 2014 20:20 favourites

My favourite prints from my 2014 20:20 Print Exchange collection so far are:

Cathy Ferns of Hot Bed Press - her stunning 11 colour linocut:

Alexandra Buckle's atmospheric Brackley Reflections, another linocut, this one from Buckingham Printmakers Network:

Dave Foley's dynamic linocut:

A screen print by Meg Kenny of Limerick Printmakers, called 'Somewhere Out There':

And finally another linocut (am I biased?), this one is 4 colours 'Wild Hops' by Tina Brown of The Hazelnut Press:

The full 2014 collection of all 581 prints can be seen on the Hot Bed Press Flickr site - link below - happy browsing!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/hot_bed_press/sets/

2014 20:20 Print Exchange

This year I madly decided to take part twice in the 20:20 Print Exchange - once with Hot Bed Press, where I'm a member and also with Prospect Studios, in Rossendale, where I did most of my printing in 2014.

With Hot Bed Press I chose to experiment with a 2 colour (1 screen) screenprint, entitled 'Chaos'.

And with Prospect Studios I prepared a linocut edition called 'Riviera' from 3 separate 20 x 20 cm blocks.

It seemed like a great idea to enter the exchange for the first time with the Prospect printmakers and I just managed to pull it off in time.

Having bought a new scanner, I'm able to share these prints - and coming soon some of my favourites from my 2 boxes.

Another amazing effort from the Hot Bed Press team who organised the exchange - and the huge sort - with 581 artists taking part this year - from 42 print workshops across the UK and Ireland.