My Twitter Art Exhibition (TAE18) Postcard

Last year I entered the Twitter Art Exhibition for the first time and loved it. I couldn't resist taking part again this year for TAE18. My work 'Strumble Head' (16 x 12 cm) went all the way to Canberra in Australia to find a new home and it raised 48 AUS$ for Pegusus as a result.

'Strumble Head' by Carolyn Murphy for TAE18

The Twitter Art Exhibition manages to create a great sense of community with artists all around the world and every year there's a fabulous cause. It works like this... Each artist contributes one original signed postcard-sized piece of work. An exhibition is created and all work is sold at a fixed price per card to raise money for a great charity.

Last year the sale was in Stratford-upon-Avon and it raised £18,000 for children's charity Molly Olly's Wishes. This year the exhibition was in Canberra and on Saturday 7 April the charity sale took place, followed by an online sale, all to raise money for Pegasus Riding for the Disabled, this year's  fantastic local charity. Original works are currently still available to buy on the Pegasus RDA website.

I decided to submit a relief print this year, based on a sketch I'd done a few years ago of Strumble Head lighthouse in Pembrokeshire. I created the image using 3 plates, a mixture of lino and wood for a change.

Below I've included the stages so that you can see the image build up. The first 2 colours are using linocut, whilst the final plate is a woodcut, using Japanese plywood.

Stage 1

Stage 2

The edges were left rough, as I trimmed the image down to the standard size of 16 x 12 cm. I also took a very rough early proof of the woodcut block, to see how that was coming along. This image is below:

Woodcut block work in progress proof

 

I then went on to continue cutting the wood until I was happy. Once I'd created this one-off piece I packed it carefully and sent it to Australia. I don't know who has bought my postcard - but I do hope they enjoy it and perhaps they'll also like seeing it as it developed.

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!

Japanese Woodblocks in Malaga

 'Japon - Grabados y Objetos de Arte' caught my eye while I was seeing friends in Malaga. The exhibition at the Museo Carmen Thyssen in the city centre featured a small collection of fabulous late 18th century and early 19th century ukiyo-e Japanese woodblock prints by masters, such as Hokusai and Hiroshige. All the works came from the Museo de Bellas Artes in Bilbao and were originally collected by private collector Jose Palacio.

Carmen Thyseen Museum, Malaga

The exhibition space itself was stunning. And it was fantastic to see printmaking on show here. The photos below are not great quality as it was very hard to capture with the reflections from the lights, however these will at least remind me of a fantastic day and beautiful, delicate work.

Craftman's shop near Mount Fuji, by Hokusai

The Elegant Set of the Hunter, by Eizan

Fuchu, by Hiroshige

Komachi Beseeching the Rain, by Toyokuni

That 20:20 time of year!

After having had to take some time off from printmaking, I'm back and have just completed my 2015 edition for the 20:20 print exchange. This year I submitted prints with Prospect Studios, as I've done most of my recent work there. It's a hand-printed multi-plate woodcut, called 'The Low Road' based on a Scottish landscape:

I've chosen to adapt a 3 plate woodcut initially developed in Lucy Schofield's fantastic Japanese woodblock printmaking course, which I really enjoyed in September at Hot Bed Press in Salford. It was cut in the traditional Japanese fashion with a knife, called a 'hangito'. I've added some development phases below so that the transformation from the Japanese style is obvious.

My unfinished 3 block Moku hanga Japanese woodblock print was painstakingly cut in the correct fashion with the hangito knife held like a dagger to create a 'living line' (image size 14 x 10mm). The image was cut into 4mm Japanese ply, with kento registration marks, and inked up using water-based ink onto Japanese paper. It looked pretty good (though unfinished) at the end of the course on ozuwashi paper:

Course info on the link, in case you're interested:
http://www.hotbedpress.org/courses/japanese-water-based-woodblock-printing-mokuhanga/

I liked the image but wanted to add overlap colours (not a Japanese thing to do) to add interest. I also decided to add gradations and worked up a prototype to see what I could achieve with the same 3 woodblock plates. Once I was happy with the prototype (first image below) I finished cutting the final plate, removed kento marks and built up my 20:20 edition colour by colour. This is how the image built up - colours 1, 2, 3 and a border:

Below you can see the key plate, entirely cut with a knife and surrounded here by a mask to keep the 20:20 image clean. And finally all the 20:20 original woodcut prints, hand-printed at home, drying in my dining room 'studio'!

 

Going Back in Time

Today I had a very enjoyable and unusual day of printing at Hot Bed Press in Salford. Instead of printing my own lino work, I spent the day experimenting and printing from stunning, very old woodblocks, on behalf of their owner.

 The first block is a delicate wood engraving of an orchid, which I printed on a range of papers as well as mountboard card, using the Albion press and the lightest covering of ink to bring out the texture and detail. You can see below the press, the block and one of the printed image.

The second block is a coppered textile woodblock of a bull, almost certainly the trademark stamp of a former Manchester cotton trader. This block would have had a handle on the back and would have been stamped onto cotton by hand.  I used a spare pillowcase to get an impression of the image and to trial a mixture of acrylic paint and textile medium, normally used in textile screenprinting. I applied this using a roller and pressed the large woodblock onto the fabric, which I had pinned onto a textile mat to provide extra give. This worked fairly well, but I’m planning to experiment further in terms of ink, pressure levels and material – probably giving calico a try next time. The effect was good all the same and it was marvellous to see this very old woodblock share its image of a bull in chains again after what must be many years.

I will be returning to this project in the next few weeks and will be investigating further ways to enhance the printed images, including hand finishing the wood engraving with a subtle watercolour wash. A very interesting day!

Grizz gets ready for Didsbury Arts Festival

This week Didsbury Arts Festival programme was released. The Festival starts on Saturday 24 September and is in its third year. It’s the first time that I’ve been involved and I can’t wait to take part, with fellow printmaker Cathy Gibson. You can meet us at our stall in the ‘Craft Cafe’ at the Northern Lawn Tennis Club between 10 am and 4pm. And later the same day we’ll have work on the railings of Fletcher Moss park in ‘Arts in the Park’- both on Sunday 25 September. We’ve also now heard that we’ve been teamed up with the wonderful Cheese Hamlet in Didsbury village. Our linocut prints will be in the window of Didsbury’s Cheese Hamlet for the duration of the Festival as part of the ‘Arts Over the Counter’ event, along with scrummy chutneys and lots more.

Just 7 weeks to go! Plenty to prepare for, including some new work for the Festival. I’ve been busy lino cutting and printing some first tests, including this one of “Grizz”, aimed more at the kids.

I’ve noticed how interested people are in the printing ‘block’ as much as the print it makes.  This is a simple mono wood block. It’s been cut but not yet inked. You can see how hard it is to see how it’ll turn out at this point.

As soon as you ink up the block, you get an immediate impression of the image. It brings it to life and you find out if you like it. I was really pleased that the strange shadows made by the bedside lamp contrasted well with the sketchy solid feel of “Grizz” the teddy bear. At this point the image you see is the reverse of the final print.

The first print from the press gives you a really good idea of how the design will work – it’s like a first draft. You get a feel for contrasts, boldness and detail. It also shows you which bits need some tweaking and refinement. Some small adjustments are still needed – but Grizz is looking fairly pleased with himself so far!