Hello December, you snuck up there!

….and BOOM the festive season is upon us. You know what that means.. time to treat the people you love with a gift thats unique, and preferably made by someone in your local area. Well thats where….

The Little Shop...

…comes in, in BRISTOL. It's packed full, like every inch, with beautiful handmade things.
We've got: T-shirts, framed prints, cushions, earings, cards, soap, mugs, tea towels, knitted cacti….

Here are some snaps of my wares.

The Art Troupe

Have you heard about it yet? Well if not you should certainly check out the swish new website and read about the creative types bumbling around Bristol and their creatives offerings.

http://www.thearttroupe.com 

I recently ran a printmaking workshop with The Art Troupe in Hamilton House, Bristol.
You can book me or any of the other artists listed on the website for pretty much any group situation,  (e.g. corporate event, birthday, children's party, team building, hen party). It's an incredibly enriching activity and a really lovely way to de-stress and work alongside your mates/colleagues doing something a bit different.
Heres a few snaps of the fun evening.

You can also enquire about attending a workshop as an individual. We will try to create a date that a group of about 8 or so strangers can also make!

Get in touch by visiting The Art Troupe website. 

Exhibition at BoConcept

Back in the summer I was asked to exhibit some of my work in BoConcept a unique danish furniture store. It looked quite a home next to the lampshades and above the sofas. It was up for about three weeks alongside the work of other great Bristol artists. It was lovely that they wanted to support some local talent.

My workshop with Young Bristol at The Station

I had a great time with a group of young people at The Station in the summer. I led a three-hour workshop teaching them my printmaking technique and they made prints based on their journeys to the venue. This work would be part of their Arts Award.

What is Young Bristol?

Young Bristol is a youth-driven charity that works to offer a choice of opportunities and experiences for all young people. By working in partnership with a range of community-based youth clubs, and directly with young people through a programme of activities, we respond creatively to their needs and realize their capabilities.

My next workshop at The Station with a new group of young people is on October 29^th. This time we will have from 10:00 – 15:00.

Here are some photos from the first workshop:

Workshops with Imayla

In July I got another chance to work with a great organization called Imayla.

Imayla offers fun learning opportunities for young people, families and groups, combining creative arts and environmental activities inspired by the natural environment. They aim to make connections across cultural, artistic and physical divides.

I worked with young people aged 7-16. We used stencils and my magic rollers and ink to produce individual flags, which we then joined together to make bunting, which could be used for the rest of the project over the coming months.

Upcoming workshops and exhibitions - Hamilton House, Stokes Croft

Hello, 
I've been busy choosing new frames, printing and framing and organising workshops and making new work for a Pop-Up shop (in Hamilton House, open for the month of June).
My next exhibition is on for only a week in the heart of Bristol, Stokes Croft. I will be exhibiting my prints from India as well as a few other pieces in the gallery of Hamilton House, next to The Canteen, 24th-30th May. 

I'll be setting up this Friday or Saturday and quite likely I'll be working in the gallery space on Saturday doing some printmaking so you can pop in to see how its all done and with a small donation come away with your very own hand printed greetings card or print. 

OPEN STUDIOS AT HAMILTON HOUSE:
Also a date for your diaries here, June 14th. The artists studios of Hamilton House are opened up to the public, so you can see behind the scenes where beautiful and amazing things are created and chat to some of the artists. I will be doing another drop in workshop here for just £5 (suggested donation).

There's loads of other workshops going on as well, for really cheap or free! 

Printmaking at the beautiful Boiling Wells

Also here's a lovely testimonial from Fiona who works with a great organisation called Imayla and hired me as a freelance workshop leader, to facilitate a printmaking workshop with people with mental health disorders and their families. Here's what she said, 

'Sophie is a very skilled and creative arts practitioner, it was very easy to plan our activity with her and she has a gentle and encouraging approach to participants some of whom where quite nervous about what they were being offered - she's a good find and we'd definitely use her again'

New Meadow and Poppies print for Southmead Hospital

Two new monoprints inspired by our natural surroundings. Created using my usual method of hand cut paper stencils, a durathene roller and lovely colourful ink. 

I have just passed on thirty one of my prints to the framers. Once framed they are going to be adorning the walls of one of the wards in the new Southmead Hospital in Bristol. 

These are both slightly different versions of prints I already had on my website. Because there are thirty one rooms I needed to produce some new work. 

Also I've just started on a new course called Participatory Arts in Health and Social care and its great. It's very rewarding working within the community and using creative practice as a form of therapy. 

Woodland Inspired Monoprinting with stencils

Yesterday I met some lovely creative people. Amy, Fiona and Tom showed some serious skills in my woodland inspired mono printing workshop. I held it in the reception/gallery space at the front of Hamilton House. Alongside a lovely exhibition of Katharina Nyilas's work. Check out her blog here.
Here's some photos of the evening.

Also… I've got a few workshops coming up at MAKERS gallery/shop/studio, all round creative venue in the heart of bristol. It's a lovely little cosy venue to do a workshop in, no more than 5 people can book on and also you can look and be inspired by all the lovely things in the shop. Check out their website here for more details and how to book.

Fiona even said about one of her printed creations that she thought it was the best piece of art she'd ever made.

My printmaking workshop at the Arnolfini

On Saturday 25^th of January I led a printmaking workshop as part of the We Are Family day at The Arnolfini, in Bristol, relating to their current exhibition by Joëlle Tuerlinckx. It was a busy, fun four hours.

I had some great volunteers helping me manage the budding artists, around 30 of them at a time and about 100 people over the afternoon.

People of all ages got to try a selection of three different printmaking techniques.

On the first table was a collection of different materials, from foam to leaves to cardboard, which you could cut out and arrange on your plate to create a collagraph to print from.  

The second table was monoprinting with stencils, based on how I make my own work and the third table was drawing on the back of paper, on top of a layer of ink, to get an inky drawing on the reverse.

The three techniques could also be combined to create a multi-layered print.

Thanks for having me Arnolfini.

My next workshop for people from 16+ is at Hamilton House on Feb 11^th from 17.30-20.30. Please scroll down my blog here for more details.

Woodland inspired Monopinting with stencils

Tuesday 11^th Feb 2014 / 17.30-20.30

This is a workshop based on the theme of ancient woodland, where participants learn a unique printing technique, which is easy to do at home, without needing specific printing facilities or expensive materials. The process starts with a rough sketch/design. 

This design is then cut into stencils using a craft knife. 

Beautiful colours of ink are then mixed and a durathene roller is used to apply ink through the gaps in the stencils, also referred to as pochoir. 
We will experiment with layering the inks to achieve different textures and effects to create a woodland-inspired print which you can take home. 

The participants also have the choice to work their designs onto a set of five greetings cards to take away with them. 

Its a three hour workshop, with all materials provided for £25. 

Its advisable to wear clothing you don't mind getting ink on, or bring an apron. 

If you have any woodland inspired imagery to jog your imagination on the day then please bring that. 

To book on you can pay securely over paypal, if you visit this blog.
To get to my workshop, scroll down to the very bottom and click buy now. 

Hope to see you there

Let's Make Art

Last year I helped Karen and Alice with one of their art sessions for young children, on their inset day. It was a great morning chatting to the ladies, with small children of their own and helping out with lots of fun activities. This included collage, play dough and making spoon people, to name but a few.

The lovely ladies are busy in Bristol doing lots of creative workshops with youngsters. 

To see what else they're up to this year head to their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/letsmakeartkids

The first is a charity event for British Heart Foundation at the Island on 15th Feb.
They are also finalising events at the RWA, a new play cafe in Bedminster and their own 'recycled' themed course for preschoolers.
Very exciting. 

Which reminds me, my next mono printing workshop is on in less than a month at Hamilton House.

February 11th 2014 // 17.30pm - 20.30pm. //All materials supplied // £25

More details to follow...