Exhibition Inspiration

This year, apart from the fabulous exhibitions I've been to alongside my Printmaking course at Wrexham, I've also really enjoyed getting to the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, the Terracotta Warriors exhibition in Liverpool, as well as Salts Mill in Saltaire, Bradford to see the David Hockney exhibition 'The Arrival of Spring'. I also really loved this year's Printfest in Ulverston, Cumbria. I've included a few pictures here to act as a reminder and ongoing inspiration.

Salts Mill digital works by David Hockney

Salts Mill - a huge fax print by David Hockney, if memory serves me!

RA Summer exhibition



Summer Exhibition - Woodblock print by Grayson Perry 

Neil Bousfield print commemorating WW1 at the Summer Exhibition

Anish Kapoor RA - work outside the Summer Exhibition 

Terracotta Warrior

Terracotta Warriors in Liverpool

Jason Hicklin etching at Printfest

Gail Mason - winner of the Visitors' Choice at Printfest - with her screenprints

Gail Brodholt's stand at Printfest - Printmaker of the Year 2018

To see my own work, please check out my website: www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you will also find an online Shop with currently available work. Thanks!

Macmillan Linocut Workshop

Yesterday I had the pleasure of getting the Macmillan Craft & Chat group at Wythenshawe Hospital into some linocut printmaking. Linda runs weekly sessions on a Monday morning and she had asked me to show the group what's involved.

Two hours is a fairly short time for linocutting, so I decided to keep the lino pieces small - just 7.5cm squares and limit the number of ink colours. The Craft & Chat regulars, as you'd expect are a creative and lively bunch, so it didn't take them long to get the hang of things, following a short demo!

The results were impressive and you can see the care and attention going in to the cutting. I definitely got the impression that everyone enjoyed trying something new and getting just a little bit messy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

To see more of my work, please check out my website: www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you will also find an online Shop with currently available work. Thanks!

 

 

'Manchester Old & New III' or 'Why choose Easy Cut Vinyl over Traditional Lino?'

It's only taken me about three years to finish the little set of three 'Manchester Old & New' mini linocuts that I originally intended to create.  Manchester has changed quite a lot in the meantime!

This year I added the last one to the series:

First proof of 'Manchester Old & New III'

This linocut complements numbers one and two, shown below:

'Manchester Old & New II' (on the left) and 'Manchester Old & New I'

For the whole set I chose to use 'Easy Cut Vinyl'. I buy the type I use online from Artesaver. You can see the plate during and at the end of cutting:

Part-way through cutting - with marker pen clearly visible on the easy cut vinyl plate

The finished 15cm x 5 cm plate with cutters

I know some people don't like the character of Japanese vinyl or easy cut vinyl at all. In the dark grey, it can be tricky to see the pencil marks you have transferred to the plate too. I tend to use a marker pen to fix the lines and get them to show up more easily before I start cutting. Some say it lacks 'soul'. It's certainly less green than traditional lino, which is made from clay and linseed oil.

The feel of the vinyl is certainly different and pieces of cut lino do not 'ping' out, as they would with traditional lino. You have to finish the cut and allow the tools to rise to the surface. For me, it has it's place and sometimes I chose traditional lino and other times I choose easy cut lino, depending on the project. For reduction linocuts, for example, I'm more likely to use traditional lino, as the process is a one-off and the lino is finished with at the end.

Here I've summarised some of the advantages I find in the easy cut vinyl I use:
It's robust and does not deteriorate - so good for longer editions or returning to a plate later

• Plates can de cleaned in washing up water
• The very first print comes off clean and crisp
• You can achieve fine detail, as well as you can with traditional lino
• There is no hessian backing to release small fibres
• It's probably slightly cheaper and comes in a range of sizes
• It's easier to cut, especially in the cold

To see more of my work, please check out my website: www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you will also find an online Shop with currently available work. Thanks!

Printmaking Course in Wrexham

One of the best things I've done this year was the new Level 3 Printmaking course at the Regional Print Centre at Coleg Cambria's Wrexham campus. It lasted a far too brief 12 weeks!

During the course we covered a wide range of printmaking techniques: screenprint, drypoint, etching, linocut before focussing on our chosen area to develop work to a final stage for submission. Having completed the year-long original part-time Hot Bed Press Complete Printmaker course, I was already familiar with the techniques, but my main aim was to bring a new rigour and more structured approach to my creative processes.

I couldn't resist lino as my focus area and chose to explore the work of the Grosvenor School printmakers and the wider use of printmaking in transport marketing in the 1930's. This was fuelled by my love of those old railway and underground posters, as well as a distant family link to one of the designers of these - Margaret Calkin James. My grandmother was a Calkin, and a cousin to Margaret.

'Sale Water Park' - my final course work

The programme involved research around my chosen topic area, which included a trip to the London Transport Museum to see their 'Poster Girls' exhibition, as well as an exploration of other printmakers' work and visits to galleries in Liverpool to appreciate contemporary art and a wider context.

I decided to log my journey on this assessed programme with a learning journal online as a blog. You can take a look too, by following this link. If you're thinking of taking a Level 2 or Level 3 course, it's well worth looking at these new UAL validated programmes. The facilities are great at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham and I really enjoyed the tuition and support. It's well organised and my only criticism is that it didn't go on for longer!

To see more of my work, please check out my website: www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you will also find an online Shop with currently available work. Thanks!

Margaret Calkin James - a family connection

I'd known for a while about the artist and musical branch of my family history but had not had the opportunity to explore it. My grandmother was Gladys Calkin and she married into the Gale family, my maiden name. Her cousin was Margaret Calkin James, best known today as one of the original female designers to work on posters for London Transport.

Margaret Calkin James - featured in the London Transport Museum's 2018 'Poster Girls' exhibition

During my research for the Level 3 Printmaking course I did this year, I visited the 'Poster Girls' exhibition at the London Transport Museum in London's Covent Garden. Margaret Calkin James's work was prominently displayed along with more of her story.

'Q.E.D' poster by Margaret Calkin James

'Trooping the Colour' poster by Margaret Calkin James

'In Kew Gardens' poster by Margaret Calkin James

'Chelsea Flower Show' poster by Margaret Calkin James

She was a calligrapher, graphic designer, water colour painter and printmaker, including linocut printing and fabric printing. It was amazing to find a book about her in the Museum shop. I couldn't resist buying 'At the Sign of the Rainbow, Margaret Calkin James 1895-1985' by Betty Miles.

The book about Margaret Calkin James I bought in the Museum shop

"After studying at the Central School of Arts & Crafts, she opened the Rainbow Workshop in 1920, the first gallery managed by a woman to promote art, craft and design," I read in the summary about her in the exhibition. She was married to the architect C.H. James.

The book features some of her linocut work, including two that were part of the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition in 1965 and 1966 respectively: 'Cyclamen' (detail below) and 'Dianthus Doris' (shown with four of the nine blocks she used):

Detail from 'Cyclamen', a linocut by Margaret Calkin James

'Dianthus Doris', linocut by Margaret Calkin James with some of the plates she used, as shown in the book

I particularly like the stylised aspects to her work, evident in this 'Penguin' linocut o c 1962 as well as in the details from the Q.E.D work already seen.

Stylised 'Penguin' linocut by Margaret Calkin James, also from the book

Stylised detail from 'Q.E.D' poster by Margaret Calkin James

Another stylised detail from 'Q.E.D' poster by Margaret Calkin James

I enjoyed exploring her background, life and work through my linocut project on the Regional Print Centre at Wrexham's course. Sometimes it's hard to spend the time and search down information and chance upon the book!

To learn more about my own work, please check out my website www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you'll find my gallery, online shop and links to my social media. Thanks!

On a Poetry Book Cover

It was an honour to be approached by poet Katherine Lockton for permission to use one of my linocut images on the front cover of an issue of South Bank Poetry.  We agreed on the use of a section of 'Serenity' and Katherine kindly contributed to my fundraising efforts, as I prepare to walk over 26 miles in the Peak District 'Mighty Hike' for Macmillan Cancer Support.

Today I received the 'little book of poems' and enjoyed dipping in to explore the works inside. I love poetry and it's a delight to see printmakers and poets come together. Wishing South Bank Poetry many more successful years ahead!

The Best Art Experience of 2018?

Yesterday the Prospect Printmakers had special access to the vaults underneath Manchester Art Gallery with the curator, Kate Jesson. What a fantastic evening! We got to pick a selection of boxes of prints to see what was inside. We chose a wide selection, including unmarked boxes, and were lucky enough to see work not currently on show. We viewed works by Graham Sutherland and Japanese woodblock artists, amongst many others. 

Opening archive boxes in the vaults

The curator and a Piranesi design

Fabulous image - "after" Van Dyck

Graham Sutherland print

Utagawa Toyokuni woodcut

Hokusai - The Hanging Bridge

Liam Spencer painting

The vaults under Manchester Art Gallery

One of the real surprises was learning about the 'Manchester Corporation Rutherston Loan Collection' which allowed the people of Manchester to borrow pieces of art for their homes, like books from the library. What a superb idea!

It was truly a magical evening and great to go under the building to see the parts you usually only see on TV! Amongst the racking I also spotted a Liam Spencer oil painting, that surely should be on show!

To see my own work, please check out my website: www.carolynmurphy.co.uk where you will also find an online Shop with currently available work. Thanks!