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!

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.

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.

New 20:20

This year's 20:20 print swap and exhibition is going to be bigger than ever. Hot Bed Press has confirmed 500 artists from 40 print workshops will be taking part in 2013. The deadline for getting prints in is here and print sorting, a massive job, will be taking place this week, before the exhibition opens at Hot Bed Press in Salford (and online) on 30 November.

Below is my design - the first time I've put in a screen print, instead of a lino cut. I've really enjoyed the challenge. It's called 'Near Ragusa' and is a 4 colour screen print on 300g Canaletto off-white paper. I'm looking forward to getting my box of 20 swap prints. It's great to be part of such a big printmaking 'family'!

20:20 Print Exchange is launched!

On Friday (23 November 2012) Hot Bed Press in Salford launched its biggest 20:20 Print Exchange yet! Well done to Sean and all the helpers, who sorted prints from 30 print workshops across UK and Ireland. 392 printmakers in total produced prints for the collection.

Each artist has now received their own box of 20 random prints. I picked mine up on Friday night and am delighted with the mix. Some of my particular favourites from my own box were these lovely prints:

They are (in order) by: Jenny Lines of Oxford Printmakers, Emily Rae Manning of Stew Print Rooms and Peter Kirley of Fife Dunfermline Print Workshop. Copyright is with the artist.

To see the full set of 392 prints, arranged by print workshop:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hot_bed_press/sets/

Hours of happy viewing!!

Full details at:
http://www.hotbedpress.org/

Daisies

As part of the Hot Bed Press Summer School this month, I took a great course in Textile Screenprinting. Tutors Mandy Tolley and Kiran Williams packed a lot into 2 days and by the end we had created repeat designs, printed them up and made our fabric into bags and tea towels.  I’m especially pleased with my bag which is in regular use!

Taking the same repeat design principles, last week I had a go at translating this new learning into the world of lino blocks.  I’d sketched some large and small daisies this summer and the arrival of Daisy – a beautiful kitten who lives next door - prompted me to use the drawings to create a small repeat daisy design, to celebrate her arrival.

I drew the initial design onto a small tracing paper square in order to reverse my design for the lino block and also to make it easy to cut up and rearrange the design to create a 2 way (horizontal and vertical) repeat pattern. The tracing paper square became the irregular shaped template pattern for my lino shape and after transferring my design onto it, I cut the lino block. Here you can see the rearranged tracing paper and lino block ready to print.

The experiment worked and printing the lino 4 times side by side in Crimson ink, I gained a design which could extend infinitely. This is the first result which still needs to be worked on further. It’s a good start!