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.

Autumnal Inspiration

There's nothing like a warm yet fresh and bright autumn morning to inspire. I've finally set about doing something I've been meaning to do since March!

Start a painting.

I've been putting it off because I just couldn't decide what to paint. I had so many ideas it was hard to choose. I've chosen to go along the lines of abstract natural things. Just to get me back into painting, before I go for anything too realistic. These are some photos I took at the beautiful Ashton Court in Bristol, which never fails to leave me feeling super relaxed and inspired. 

Monoprinting Christmas cards

Three Kings

Reindeer

I’m feeling all Christmassy already and it feels quite warm outside. Feels a bit like my last Christmas in India. (I was somewhere cold in India for Christmas, but not like English cold and rain).

Because I wasn’t in England for Christmas last year I’m extra excited about it this year. I’m going to get fully immersed into the festivities. I’ve kicked it off by doing my Christmas cards already.

Baubles

Christmas Stockings

I’m not completely mad; I did need to get them done to sell in The Print Shop, which opens November 6^th. Come along!

Here they are, £2.50 each, all unique in a slight way, as they were each hand-printed, using my usual methods of rolling ink through stencils that I have cut by hand, from paper. Some designs, such as the Thee Kings have pencil detail in them too. So it’s basically a ridiculously cheap piece of artwork.

Also next post will be about how you can learn these techniques in my workshops. More information to come….