Monday 30 July 2018

Lewes ArtWave Open Studio and Lewes Printmakers New Book

As usual I will be opening my studio at the Con Club 139 High Street for ArtWave
(let me say here it is NOT the Conservative Club but a wacky live entertainment venue so all may darken my door) for the weekends of 18/19 and 25 - 27 ( including bank holiday monday) and 1-2 September....
there will be old work and new and work in progress - books, prints and bits and pieces including cards 





and I will also be selling our new Lewes Printmakers book, hot off the press, which this year is called SYLVA

This book is named after an important work by John Evelyn (1620 –1706) Sylva a Discourse about Forest Trees and the propagation of Timber. Evelyn lived at Southover Grange in Lewes for most of his childhood, attending a free school in Southover – the original Lewes Grammar School. A radical Lewes character, he later travelled to visit formal gardens in France and Italy instead of fighting as a Royalist in the Civil War as would have been expected for one of his class. He understood and promoted ecological principles among his contemporaries and influenced many horticulturalists and landowners from the 17th century onwards, favouring informal use of trees alongside more formal garden designs.

The Tulip Tree
The Community Orchard

The Liberty Tree
This year is also the 250th anniversary
of Tom Paine's birth




Silver Birch and Turkish Baths

These are my contributions to this year's book; I will post up some of the other images in due course. This will be our tenth publication and we will have some kind of celebratory and introductory event at the Linklater in the autumn. Like the last book - the Spaces in Between - it is in the format of a small booklet of text and a set of card images within a neat little package.


With my other hat on I will be showing a new pop-up book - or will it be a peepshow - I don't know myself yet; plus the remaining copy of the huge and serious book I made for the Oxford Fine Press Fair, and maybe some large images from it, plus remaining copies of other books and prints. See previous posts for some images from these and details of the talk I will be giving at the House of Illustration in September as part of a symposium about Enid Marx.


Also below is reference to the Towner and Design for Today Illustration show in October and I will post up more information about this in due course.


Thursday 5 July 2018

Summer News - Enid Marx, ArtWave and new work


I am just back from hearing Alan Powers give a talk at the House of Illustration where there is a lovely show about Enid Marx - textile designs, illustrations and wood engravings and linocuts and lots of information. Alan, who got to know her well, gave a stimulating account of her life and work - his book about her is just out, called The Pleasures of Pattern; and he is also speaking at an event there in September, convened by Desdemona McCannon on 17th September, 11am-4pm, as part of the Women in Print series; other speakers will include LottieCrawford, Graham Moss - who also got to know her and reprinted some of her images and books at Incline Press, Jane Audas, and myself. Friends and peers of Enid Marx being talked about may include Phyllis Baron and Dorothy Larcher, Peggy Angus, and Barbara Jones.See the link below to book tickets ; The House of Illustration is at 2 Granary Square, Kings Cross, London N1C 4BH


Women in Print; Enid Marx and her Contemporaries; highlighting the often overlooked contributions by women to print, pattern and popular art. 


The Oxford book fair went well for me so I have been too busy printing and finishing editions, let alone trying to do new work, to blog properly and keep up with things....



but new work has included woodcuts for the new Lewes Printmakers edition coming out shortly called SYLVA about Lewes Trees.

We have called our new book Sylva after John Evelyn’s seminal text – Sylva: a Discourse about Forest Trees and the Propagation of Timber - first submitted to the Royal Society in 1662 and published as a book two years later (you can read it full online).

Evelyn, 1620 – 1706, like his contemporary Pepys a well known a diarist, lived at Southover Grange in Lewes with his grandmother Jane Stansfield, for most of his childhood. A radical Lewes character he attended a free school in Southover (the original Lewes Grammar School) rather than going to Eton as his father would have wished. He obviously knew his own mind, later travelling to visit formal gardens in France and Italy rather than fighting as a Royalist in the Civil War as would have been expected.
He designed his first garden when he was 22, returning from Europe to live in Deptford near the Royal Dockyard, where he could purchase botanical specimens from far afield. It would be nice to think that he influenced the planting of the magnificent trees in Grange Gardens, mentioned below, and he certainly influenced many horticulturalists and landowners from the 17th century onwards, favouring informal use of trees alongside more formal garden designs. He was aware too of the usefulness of tree products – from apple harvests to timber for shipbuilding, always a priority for the navy during on-going European Wars.
He understood ecological principles, encouraging new planting and inspiring Capability Brown and the 18th century Landscape Movement (not always such good news for the rural poor); but his long life suggests that sympathy for trees and curiosity about the natural world – and gardening – can be good for us.

Research now shows that time spent among trees reduces stress levels, boosts immune function, lowers blood pressure and improves mood and concentration; even hospital patients recover quicker if they can see them out of the window. With the recent headlines about felling of trees in Sheffield and by the railway companies we feel we have again managed to be quite topical. I will put up some images soon.


My images for the Tree book led to ideas for another little book of my own I am now working on for ArtWave - when I will be opening my studio for three weekends, including the bank holiday, the last weekends in August and the first in September .

Then in October I will be again taking part in the Design for Today event at Towner in Eastbourne Ink Paper and Print - this year it will be over two consecutive days as it was so successful - and crowded - last year.


here is the blurb for this event - there will also be another similar show at Margate -

Ink Paper + Print at The Towner Gallery on Sat &Sun 13th - 14th October 2018

Our first event of 2018 will be a Print and Illustration Fair at Eastbourne's iconic Towner Gallery. There will be 55 exhibitors showcasing a range of printmaking, artist's books, 20th Century design, ceramics and contemporary crafts. This is an exciting opportunity to see contemporary makers showcasing their latest work in one of Britain's leading galleries.

There will be two exhibition halls. The first hall will be for new printmakers, design collectives, university illustration departments, zines, riso prints, and fresh talent.
The second hall will be for established print makers, mid-century prints and ephemera, fine press 'artists' books, patterned paper, and those artists and publishers who are influenced by the 20th Century artists whose work is celebrated within the Towner collection.

Accompanying the Fair will be a series of engaging talks and behind-the-scenes tours of the Towner. Hear some of the UK's leading illustrators discuss their work and see behind the scenes of the Towner and its unique collection of 20th Century British Art.



at two venues. The first venue will be the iconic Winter Gardens (where the Beatles played). This will be our main venue with 55 exhibitors, bars, seated food area, exhibitions, print collectives and more. The second venue will be at the Turner Contemporary Gallery with 20 exhibitors whose focus will be 20th Century Graphic art, Fine Press Books and book arts. There will be 75+ exhibitors in total across the two venues showcasing a range of printmaking, artist's books, 20th Century design, zines, screenprints, risos, ceramics and contemporary crafts. This is an exciting opportunity to see contemporary printmakers and makers showcasing their work.

I will fill in all these events with images asap