Kollwitz, Drypoint And Woodcut. What A Weekend!

Coming up, June 16th and 17th, I’ll be running a printmaking masterclass at Swansea’s gorgeous Glynn Vivian Art Gallery. Over the weekend we’ll focus on two print techniques, drypoint (intaglio) and woodcut, linked to the fabulous Käthe Kollwitz exhibition. Book now if you want to come as tickets are selling out fast….   On DayContinue reading “Kollwitz, Drypoint And Woodcut. What A Weekend!”

Not As Simple As It Seems

I have been enjoying the Käthe Kollwitz exhibition at Swansea’s Glynn Vivian Art Gallery and I bought the exhibition book. I wanted to study her woodcut technique in more detail so I laid a black ground in the Markers drawing app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 tablet and then drew into it with whiteContinue reading “Not As Simple As It Seems”

Inspired By Käthe

  In June, I will be running a two – day masterclass at the Glynn Vivian art gallery, linked to their excellent Kathe Kollwitz exhibition.  Exploring her life and political activism through her drawings and printmaking, I will be covering two techniques, drypoint and woodcut, drawing inspiration directly from her magnificent work and using the exhibitionContinue reading “Inspired By Käthe”

May Day, Beltane And The Horse

It’s May Day, Beltane, and in some parts of Britain the Hobby Horse, or ‘Obby ‘Oss, is part of the festivities marking the beginning of Springtime fertility. There is a long tradition, predating Christianity, of celebrations involving horses, possibly linked to the ancient Celtic horse goddess, Epona. Here in Wales we have the Mari Lwyd,Continue reading “May Day, Beltane And The Horse”

The Nature Of Space….

I’m still playing around with some of the random prints I have been doing over the past couple of weeks. I photographed one of the printed pieces of paper and uploaded it into the free Markers app on my Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and filled in the white areas with black, which completely altered theContinue reading “The Nature Of Space….”

Cleaning Up

Cleaning Up. I’ve been doing some experimental printmaking onto some donated vintage paper the past few days, inspired by the random creative exercises of The Surrealists in the early 20th century. When I was cleaning up after the first day, where I used yellow ink (Caligo Safewash), I rolled my roller onto a large piece ofContinue reading “Cleaning Up”

Waste Not, Want Not.

After printing up all nine of my little brutalised randomised vinyl blocks yesterday in the final, blue, colour, I used up the ink that was left on a large sheet of Mylar, or Mark Resist, film. I’d already printed up the yellow and red leftover inks. Waste Not, Want Not eh? I’ve no idea whatContinue reading “Waste Not, Want Not.”

Surrealists, Semiotics and Fifties Frock Fabric

I finally finished the random lino project I began a couple of weeks ago. I printed the final colour, Process Blue, today, using Caligo Safewash mixed with Extender in a 30:70 ratio. These were overprinted on two previous layers, Process Yellow and Process Magenta and I like the range of colours formed by the translucencyContinue reading “Surrealists, Semiotics and Fifties Frock Fabric”

Ripped From The Darkness

Our local art gallery, The Glynn Vivian, is showing a fabulous exhibition of drawings and prints by the formidable German artist Käthe Kollwitz. I have admired her work and life for so many years, I’m beside myself to see this exhibition so close to home. I like to study artists I admire and copy fromContinue reading “Ripped From The Darkness”

Talk Turned Geeky

Husb and I had a teatime visit from friends today and, as one of them is a fellow printmaker, the talk turned geeky. She noticed a number of my blockprinted portrait heads on the wall and we chatted about materials and techniques. Instead of the traditional lino or wood, or even modern vinyl, I usedContinue reading “Talk Turned Geeky”