Friday 20 April 2012

What's New.......

                                                      woodcut
And whatever happened to March, and April is fast disappearing.....haven't blogged for so long I am having to get used to all the new layout and symbols; my brain doesn't operate as it is supposed to so it has taken me a few minutes to find the little pen sign which means I can start writing....hey ho....
The last month or two I've felt a weight of work that I OUGHT to do hanging over the space where I wanted to get on with finishing something else, but it is clearing a bit and some of the things I've done have been moving me out of the comfort Zone in a new way I suppose, with mixed results....
...have just been getting Lewes Printmakers new book to bed and I think it will be good, every year my group get better and better and I'm getting excited about seeing the result - probably won't be ready until towards the end of May however...
On the 26th May we have our launch at midday at the Linklater Pavilion, on the Railway Land, with all the original prints on show; we'll be there all week until thursday selling the book and prints, and then moving into our printing room with the bees ( the indoor observation hive) with a stand for the weekend Railway Land Festival organised by the Railway Land Wildlife Trust on the 2-3 rd June.
                                         woodcut
Here's the Linklater Pavilion - as we see it when we arrive in the winter evenings for work - light on the chalkpits and the lovely sound of the river at low tide rippling over the stones by the buildings on the left.
Lots of new trees are being planted and the fencing is protecting the special rare wildflower seeds which have been donated; all the details in the book, which we hope to be selling more cheaply this year; e-mail  prints@lewesprintmakers.co.uk for more details or look at our website lewesprintmakers.co.uk.
Lots of lovely wildlife and landscape images by the group this year; ok I got to do the building but I did also enjoy doing the tree above - its a very special railway poplar, hybridised by the Victorians to hide railway embankments...if you look carefull you can see a couple of posts, one of which has got embedded in the bark and roots of the trunk. It is the largest girth of such a tree in the country - a bit worse for wear but still alive and a haven for wildlife.
Our book is called Railway Land by the way, a view by the Lewes Printmakers.

We are also having a stand again at the Priory May Fair on Saturday May 19th at Lewes Priory ruins, with the opportunity for some hands-on printing for children.

Meanwhile, I'm just finishing my books for the Al-Mutannabi Street books project - if I don't get too many more interruptions I'll post up pictures of those in a week or two ( I know there are plenty more interruptions in the offing tho...)....
then I can get back to my three dimensional Cock Robins and installations...my new studio means I can spread myself and my messy piles even more widely and will hopefully make it easier for me to be working on several different things at once, including my huge woodcut Untenanted Room book with James Simpson.

I'm waiting for some good photos of the concrete panels with my images on The Keep - the new County Archive building along the A27. they are still under polythene wrapping and will be for some while for protection. I spent a cold windy morning up the scaffolding looking at them and watching the last ones being winched into place a few weeks back - very difficult to imagine how they will look from a distance so that is an excitement to come. the good weather over the winter has meant the building is well on course and a topping out ceremony may be possible in the autumn.

All these show is height and safety gear - I hope to get sent some better pics soon......




One of the highlights of last month for me was going the John Cage Music Circus at the Coliseum, ...

many thanks to Alex and Stephen.