All Things Considered

The Mini Picture Show

I called into the Bankside Gallery on Sunday to drop off a few wood engravings, adding to the growing collection of framed and unframed works by members of the Royal Society of Painter Printmakers and the Royal Watercolour Society.

When the Mini Picture Show opens on Wednesday evening there will be a great range of small scale prints and watercolours, all available to buy and take home with you. The exhibition runs up to Christmas and beyond. Visit www.banksidegallery.com for further information and opening hours.

Mark Hearld in London

St. Jude's regular (and designer of our Doveflight textile) Mark Hearld is exhibiting in London from 5th-24th December at Potterton Books. Mark will be showing a range of prints and handmade collages. Contact Pottertons about the preview on Thursday 4th December.

Mark's busy on a new textile design for St. Jude's and will be taking part in our St. Jude's In The City exhibition at the Bankside Gallery (next to Tate Modern) in February 2009. If you'd like to receive details nearer the time, along with an invitation to our private view, please join our gallery mailing list.

Rob Ryan at St. Jude's

Please join Rob Ryan at St. Jude's from 11am this Saturday (November 22nd) to celebrate the opening of our latest exhibition.

His work is the result of the painstaking hand cutting of delicate papers. These intricate works are either sold in papercut form or developed as limited edition screen-prints.

In addition to his own projects, Rob has collaborated with and been commissioned to work alongside many prestigious names such as Paul Smith, Tatty Devine, Liberty and more recently Fortnum & Mason.

We’re pleased to be exhibiting a range of limited edition screen-prints alongside other handmade products.

Anne Desmet - Urban Evolution

In Anne Desmet's latest exhibition elements from engravings and linocuts are delicately pasted onto small fragments of glass, mirror and roof tile. Other prints show the transition from early proof to the ‘finished' cut or engraved block.

There is a dramatic change in scale from the tiniest scrap of engraving to larger scale but still finely cut linocuts. Much of the work here relates to the urban environment and in particular the Victorian Swimming baths in Manchester currently undergoing restoration. Inspiring work!

Until November 26th. Hart Gallery, 113 Upper Street, Islington, London. N1 1QN  www.hartgallery.co.uk

Alice Stevenson

It has been a pleasure working with Alice on her Treehouse textile for St. Jude's. And we're delighted Alice will be taking part in our exhibition at the Bankside Gallery in February 2009 (sign up to our gallery newsletter for details nearer the time).

In the meantime, Alice will be joining Caitlin Hinshelwood and Rose de Borman for ‘These Songs Were Begun One Winter’ - a group exhibition of paintings, drawings, prints and textiles from 25th-30th November at the Ada Street Gallery, 2A Ada Street, Off Broadway Market, London E8 4QU.

Curwen Studio & Paula Rego

I'm off to the Curwen Studio tomorrow to work on a couple of new lithographs so called in to see the studio's 50th Anniversary Exhibition at Tate Britain to absorb some inspiration from the selection of artists' lithographs on show there.

If I'm ever asked to explain how I create a linocut or a wood engraving at my home studio, it's no problem - but the lithographs that I create at the Curwen are another matter. As part of the exhibition you can watch a short video which shows Paula Rego working on a print created for the anniversary alongside Tom Martin, studio manager, and Stanley Jones, who along with Robert Erskine, founded the Curwen Studio in 1958.

As well as demonstrating the entire process from drawing to finished print (pictured here) the video shows the close interaction between the artist and the printers (who are practising artists themselves). This collaboration is also evident in a display of letters between the Curwen and artists including Piper, Sutherland and Hepworth. Also on display is Mark Hearld's commemorative lithograph 'Printing with Spirit'.

Letterpress

Below is another snap of the labels I printed earlier in the year at Harrington & Squires in London.

Slowly but surely getting our own letterpress set up in order - we're having a press restored at the minute and have just purchased a good quantity of type. This will be housed in a workshop where we'll also have our own screen-printing table for short runs of textiles and limited edition cushion covers.

As we're already bursting at the seems in Aylsham we're in desperate need of more space - hopefully we'll have some news about that very soon.

Rob Ryan

I'm not entirely sure if this has been published yet, but Rob Ryan recently created this book jacket - one of a series - for Louis de Bernieres.

We're already looking forward to Rob's exhibition with us, opening on Saturday 22nd November. We'll be featuring a selection of Rob's prints, some of his ceramic tiles and hopefully a few other goodies.

And Rob has kindly agreed to design our 2008 charity Christmas card.

Last year we raised £1200 for Maggie's Centre and we're hoping to beat that, even if it's just by a few pounds.

We'll aim to have the cards ready in early November with all profits going to charity - not the rather mean contributions made by most High Street stores (this is an enlightening article). We haven't costed this year's card, but in 2007, for each £1.75 card, 75p went to Maggie's.

As soon as Rob has completed the design we'll post details here but if you'd like to receive an e-mail as soon as the cards are launched, please sign up for our e-mail newsletter.

Mr. Bawden's House

'Mr Bawden's House' is another of the series of Christopher Brown's 14  'East Coasting' prints that will form part of his exhibition at St. Jude's. This opens on September 20th at 10am. Do join us if you can.

Brian Webb, of award winning design consultancy Webb & Webb, discusses Chris' prints...    

“If Chris Brown’s postcard size pictures of East Anglian landmarks were picture postcards they would be the ones you would send to your closest friends.

The lino cuts that illustrate East Coasting, following on from 'Cuts from Memory', are full of incident and detail - look out for Edward Bawden,  portfolio under his arm, walking out of the picture of 'Brick House'.

Bawden, Chris Brown’s tutor at the Royal College of Art wrote, “you are a line chap just as I am and as you know there is nothing that gives greater vivacity to a drawing than quality of line”. Bawden could have added colour which Chris now uses with delicious delicacy. ”

The 14 linocuts are hand-printed on Konoko handmade Japanese paper, each limited to an edition of 25 copies.

A limited number of each print are available for purchase online before our East Coasting exhibition opens at the gallery on 20th September 2008.

East Coasting

'Southwold, Closing Time' is just one of the series of 14 linocuts prints by Christopher Brown that make up 'East Coasting', the next exhibition at St. Jude's.

Christopher Brown was born in London in 1953. He attended the Royal College of Art where he was introduced to, and eventually assisted, Edward Bawden, the master of the linocut. It was Bawden who encouraged him to explore this medium.

Since then, Christopher has exhibited at the Michael Parkin Gallery, The Royal Academy, the Fry Gallery, The Fine Art Society, and the Victoria and Albert Museum.

Do join us on Saturday 20th September 2008 to celebrate the opening of the exhibition.