Lots of new prints!

Hi there

Well, in lieu of the usual happenings at this time of year (lots of events), instead I have a load of new prints to show you! One small positive about this awful covid situation is that I've had time to work on and develop new ideas. More birds, more stones and, of course, more donkeys....

So there are clearly no live events taking place for the rest of the year. This is obviously the right thing to be doing, but I have to say I do miss travelling around, bumping into fellow artists/crafters and seeing the friendly faces of the visitors. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Hopefully things can get back to normal before too long next year. 

Anyway, here my new prints (All are available in my Folksy shop via the links in the titles):

Magic Donkey No.1

A3 size 2-colour screen-print

The new magic donkey prints are perhaps from the far-reaches of donkey-world, where things get pretty surreal. Or maybe they are just donkey-dreams? I had a lot of fun playing with transparency on these two print. Despite what you might think, you never quite know what  you'll get when you mix red and blue...Both are in editions of 25.

Magic Donkey No.2

A3 size 2-colour screen-print

The Donkey Moon (orange/green) and The Donkey Moon (pink/blue)

A3 size 2-colour linocut/screen-print

These prints came about after I just had this idea in my head about a donkey-moon. The moon is synonymous with lots of things, but in my mind there needed one more addition, being that special time where creature and planet are together. Makes sense, eh? The orange print is in edition of 15, and the pink an edition of 27.

Hooded Crow

A4 size 2-colour linocut print

This is the last, and probably most rare of all the corvids (well, at least in the UK anyway). A curious crow found mainly in Ireland and the west of Scotland, although they do trave lto the east coast of the UK in the winter. This is the last in my current series of corvid prints (eight in total). Printed in an edition of 100.

Jay

A4 size 2-colour linocut print

The penultimate corvid print in the series, I love the colouring of this one, as it is so different from it's cousins. I have seen them on occasions in our garden, but they never hang around for long! Printed in an edition of 100.

Five Stones

A4 size 6-colour reduction linocut print

Following on from my six large stone compositions, I decided to create a few smaller pieces, but still in the same slightly abstracted manner. Theses ones are reduction linocuts, a method I rarely use (in which the whole image is cut from one piece of lino, printing subsequently darker colours, then cutting more away as you go along). Printed in an edition of only seven.

Three Stones

A4 size 10-colour reduction linocut print

This print breaks my record for the most colours used! It did take quite a while to work out, but I think it was worth it in the end. Printed in an edition of only six.

Small Stone Study

A5 size 4-colour reduction linocut print

Although this was the smallest of the stone prints, it was probably the trickiest! Achieving the level of detail I was after took quite some time, as was getting the colour balance right. Printed in an edition of only ten.

White Donkey Dream

A2 size 3-colour screen-print

This print came about through experimenting with mark-making and playing with bitmapping (creating shading with dot patterns). The spheres are loosely related to the monoliths, and the donkey is having a somewhat confusing dream. Printed in an edition of 16.

Donkey Monolith No.9

76 x 56cm, 3-colour linocut/screen-print

This is so far my biggest donkey print, and is a follow-up to my 2019 DM series. The lone donkey finds itself in a most confusing and optically challenging landscape, but nevertheless it will have a great adventure! The print is in an edition of 18, printed on lovely Somerset paper.

Happenings In Donkey World No.5

A2 size 3-colour screen-print

If you've followed my donkey prints for a while, you'll be aware of the 'Happenings..' series. In this print, the donkey is guided across the strange landscape by a 'helping hand'. I had a dream about the shape of this print, so had to then make a drawing, the rest all fell into place! The print is in an edition of 14.

Donkey And Seven Hills

30x30cm 2-colour linocut/screen-print.woodcut

I create this print, in collaboration with fellow artist/printmaker John Pedder for my recent exhibition with him at Cupola Gallery in Sheffield. It was a lot of fun working with another artist on a project, and this idea seemed to work very naturally. There were three different versions, and ten prints of each, but I only have one left each of versions 2 and 3!

Phew! Sorry for the bombardment. I told you I'd been busy.. I'll go now. Take care x

New exhibition and more....

Hi there

I've got lots of new works to show you this month, however no news on events and workshops. It is likely that events might not happen until the end of the year now, and most probably workshops too.

NEW EXHIBITION!
Despite the current Covid 19 situation I've been focussing myself on producing new work, mostly for an exhibition I have upcoming in Sheffield at Cupola Contemporary Art Gallery. The exhibition is a collection of work I have chosen from the last two years, and focusses mainly on my stone and donkey prints. It is called 'Works 2018-2020' (very functional title, eh?), and features 20 pieces, including 7 new ones. Alongside the exhibition is another show by my friend and fellow printmaker John Pedder, showing a retrospective of his work. The shows runs from 18th July until 22nd August 2020, and the preview evening is on 17th July between 6pm and 10pm. In order to attend this you'll need to book a time slot by contacting the gallery.

Here is a video of me talking to gallery director Karen Sherwood about the exhibition:

and here is a sneak preview of the new prints:

One of the prints is featured on the exhibition poster, and is a collaboration between myself and John. We printed up a small edition of 27, and they are available from the show and our own websites. The print is woodcut, linocut and screen-print! If you can't make it along to the exhibition and would like one of the new prints, I will list any that are left in my Folksy shop.

OTHER NEW WORKS
I've also created two new poster-prints:

Swallows

I see a lot of these birds round where I live (I'm sure you do too). Rather than go for a single bird this time, and one standing, I wanted to capture them in flight, and in the acrobatic troops you sometimes see them in. The print is now available as an A3 poster-print. You can find it in my Folksy shop.

Donkey Puzzle

This is an A3 poster-print version of the hand-pressed linocut I created a few months ago. I don't normally produce a poster-print and original at the same time, but I really liked the change of colours and scale on this one, for some reason! You can find it in my Folksy shop now.

BEARS OF SHEFFIELD

For two weeks in June I had the fortune of painting a great big fibreglass bear in a warehouse on the outskirts of Sheffield It is for a charity project called 'Bears Of Sheffield', which is a follow-up to the 'Herd Of Sheffield' elephant project I also took part in a few years ago. 40 or so artists from around the county are asked to transform a blank bear into a piece of art, and they will then be displayed as a 'trail' around the city for people to look at. At the end of the trail period all of the bears will be auctioned off to raise money for the Sheffield Children's Hospital. Because of Covid, the trial has now been postponed until the summer of 2021, but I'm sure it'll be worth waiting for! Here is sneak preview of my finished bear.

How things change..

Hi there

Well, last time I posted, it was before Christmas, and life was very different. If someone had explained about the situation we are in now, I'm not sure I would have believed them.

I'm not going to go over things you already know about Coronavirus, but I hope that you're all ok, and hope that this all ends before too long. Stay safe.


EVENTS
I don't have any events going on over the next few months. Understandably they're all cancelled/postponed (as far as September/October). In lieu of this, I am focussing my time on making new work and on my online shops. 

NEW WORKS
Initially it hadn't felt like a very productive time for making new work, with the anxiety about the epidemic, but life has setting into a new routine and I've started making new work again.

Here are some of them:

Chough (3-colour linocut)

Pied Wagtail (2-colour linocut)

Tiny Donkey Prints

St Ives (2-colour linocut/screenprint)

  

Scarborough No.2 (poster-print)

'Chough' is my latest corvid print (following on from the ravens, rooks and magpies). I saw some when I last visited North Wales, swooping around the Little Orme. They're quite hard to identify, but if they stay still for a minute you can see their striking red beak and legs.

I spotted a 'Pied Wagtail' in our garden not long ago, and I don't think I'd ever actually seen one before. He/she was doing a little dance, and very striking in its monochrome pattern.


The Tiny Donkey Prints were made for a special project with the 'Make More Stuff' organisation (formerly 'Northern Craft'). they asked 20 artists they knew to design artwork the size of a business card, and they would sell them for £1 each. I created a new donkey triptych, and was very happy with the results. you can buy them directly through MMS.

I visited St Ives last year for the first time, and really loved the place. The highlight was perhaps visiting the Barbara Hepworth Museum, but I also really loved the sea front and the beaches. So I decided to create a view from the shallows looking up towards the town and the lighthouse, as a linocut/screen-print.

Lastly is a poster-print version of my 'Scarborough No.2' linocut. As the original had sold out I decided to create a poster-print version in different colours.

I have also been working on several other new pieces, possibly for a new exhibition (fingers crossed), but I want to keep them under wraps for now. I'll keep you posted!








WORKSHOPS
Obviously I'm not able to run any linocut workshops at the moment, and any scheduled ones have been postponed, but as soon as I'm able to start on them again I will post up new  dates.


COMMISSIONS
Just before the lock-down I was commissioned to produce a new logo for the Kelham Island Film Club in Sheffield.

The Great Print Exhibition 2019 +

Hi there

As we're heading towards the end of the year, it is usually a time to slow down and recharge, but no(!), hot on the heels of my solo exhibition in Bamford and my appearance at the Woolwich Contemporary 2019, I'm now taking part in The Great Print Exhibition 2019 in Penrith!

It is apparently the biggest exhibition of original print in the UK, featuring over 80 artists and over 500 artworks! I have six prints in the show; donkeys, dogs, birds and landscapes. It runs from 6th December 2019 until 8th March 2020 at Rheged Centre Redhills, Penrith Cumbria CA11 0DQ, and is open 10am-5pm each day.



This is a selection of some of the work on show  (not including my own!)


LAST 2 EVENTS OF THE YEAR
I have two events left this year, and they are as follows:

Welbeck Winter Weekend
Fri 22nd to Sun 24th November 2019, The Welbeck Estate, Welbeck, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, S80 3LL, 10am-5pm (fri & sat), 10am-4pm (sun)
I'm returning to this great event for another year. Loads of great art and craft, and fine food and drink too. A quality event!

Winter Arts Market
Sat 7th December 2019, Liverpool Cathedral, St James’ Mount, Liverpool L1 7AZ, 10am-7pm
I've not done this event before but I hear good things! If it is anything like the Summer one is should be fab (no pun intended!).


NEW PRINT!
Finally, I have one new print to tell you about, and it is a 'Barn Owl'! It is a 2-colour linocut print, hand-pressed on A4 size paper, in an edition of 100. It is available now in my Folksy shop.



FINALLY...
A big THANK YOU, as ever for showing an interest in what I do. I know there are a million artists and printmakers out there, showing their work on numerous platforms, and it means a lot when people connect with my work. I feel very lucky to do what I do for a job (I still pinch myself after all these years), and I never take it for granted. I hope you all have a great festive break.

Cheerio

JAMES x

New exhibition, prints, t-shirts and loads of events...

Hi there

As ever, I'm behind with updating my blog, but I have lots of things going on to tell you about.

NEW EXHIBITION

I have a new exhibition at The Angler's Rest in Bamford, Derbyshire. It is a print retrospective of work I have created in the last three years or so. The venue is a great community-run pub and gallery, right in the middle of the Peak District. The exhibition features seventeen pieces; birds, stones, donkey and landscapes, and runs from 4th October until 6th November 2019. there is also a 'meet the artist' evening on 3rd Oct from 7.30pm, if you want to say 'hi'! I'm also running a linocut workshop there on 19th October, which has now sold out.

NEW WORKS


I have three new prints to show you, the first being a poster-print version of my 'Matlock Bath' linocut. The original sold out a while ago, so this version is in different colours, and A3 in size. It is available in my Folksy shop.

Secondly there is a two-colour linocut/screenprint entitled 'Terraces No.2'. It is actually based on a Sheffield view, but I wanted to make the image more as a typical British terrace street scene; the patterns of windows, rooftops, chimneys, doors, clouds and trees.


















Lastly, I have a new bird print. It is a one-colour print of a couple of 'House Sparrows'. I actually created it while demonstrating linocut at the Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey, in Devon this year.

TSHIRTS!


I have a new collaboration to announce in the form of a t-shirt! I've always wanted to create a donkey t-shirt, so I'm very excited about this. Hunk Print are well known in Sheffield and beyond for being the #1 screen-printers in town. You name it, they can print onto it! Anyway, we've collaborated on a 2-colour donkey design on lovely fairtrade cotton t-shirts, and you can order them now in all sizes. They are £28 each.


EVENTS

HULL PRINT FAIR
Sat 28th September 2019, 66-68 Humber Street, Hull HU1 1TU, 10am-5pm
This will be my first time at HPF. I'm really looking forward to it. Over 30 printmakers and print demos too!

NORTHERN CRAFT - GATESHEAD
Sat 5th and Sun 6th October 2019, BALTIC, S Shore Rd, Gateshead NE8 3BA, 11am-5pm
The mighty Northern Craft head further north to the mighty Baltic Centre For Contemporary Art! Two days of mighty fine contemporary craft, plus no doubt some great refreshments too!

GREAT NORTHERN CONTEMPORARY CRAFT FAIR - MANCHESTER 2019
Fri 11th to Sun 13th October 2019, Upper Campfield Market Hall, Campfield Arcade, 300 Deansgate, Manchester, M3 4FN
This will be my second time at GNCCF Manchester. It was great last time, a really big event with so many great artists and craftspeople from all over the UK and further afield.

ART& 2019
Fri 25th to Sun 27th October 2019, York Racecourse, Racecourse Road, Knavesmire Road, York YO23 1EX, 10am-5pm
This will be my first time at Art&, although I used to take part in their previous art Market events in Holmfirth. It has grown into one of the best art fairs in the UK, with a pretty exciting line-up of artists, plus lots of other activities to get involved with.

The Donkey Monoliths

So, as I mentioned last blog, I have a new exhibition starting very soon, on 13th June 2019. It is entitled 'The Donkey Monoliths', and is a series of eight new linocut-screen-prints.

I had the idea for the series a few months back, when mulling the idea over about further donkey prints and also wanting to incorporated some kind of sculpture in my work. So off I went to buy some Plasticene, and things started happening!

I made several small sculptures on which I imagined the donkeys exploring as a landscape, as a continuation of the donkey-world I've featured previously. I felt it important to actually make the sculptures, rather than just imagine them this time, as I wanted to get a sense of solidity into the shapes, and make them look like convincing 3D-ish landscapes. I love abstract sculpture and I think this is my way of paying tribute to that.

So after I made the sculptures, I then photographed them, created linocuts, added the donkeys and then printed them finally as screen-prints. The large prints (A2) are in a small edition of ten, and the smaller (A3) are an edition of fifteen. If there are any prints left over after the exhibition I'll put them in my Folksy shop. All are printed with System 3 inks on lovely Seawhite Antique White 290gsm paper.

Here are some work-in-progress photos from the project.

The exhibition opening is on Thursday 13th June , 6-9pm at Colours May Vary in Leeds. The exhibition then runs until 2nd July 2019. It is a very lovely book/art/craft/magazine shop in Leeds that also has a gallery space.

I hope you can make it down!

James

New donkey exhibition, more new prints, a new workshop date and loads of new events..

Hi there

It is never a straightforward life being an artist, is it? Or being self-employed generally.

Life never trundles along at an even pace. Instead there are periods of calm, followed by mad panicking and self-doubt. It isn't that bad all the time, but the last few months have been a little testing at times. HOWEVER, I bring you news, some quite exciting news, really, oh plus some new prints.

NEW EXHIBITION!

I'm very excited indeed to announce that I have a new exhibition called 'The Donkey Monoliths' next month! It takes place in Leeds at Colours May Vary, a fantastic art/bookshop/gallery, just near the West Yorkshire Playhouse.

I have created a new series of prints where my donkeys explore a sculptural landscape. Eight new linocut/screenprints, and a small edition of each (between ten and fifteen copies). The exhibition runs from 13th June until 2nd July 2019, with the preview evening on Thursday 13th June, 6-9pm. Any prints left over from the exhibition will be put in my Folksy shop. I'll blog more info soon, with some behind-the-scenes pics!


NEW PRINTS
I have two new prints to show you too.


Firstly I have a new landscape print of 'Polperro' in Cornwall. I visited last year while on holiday, and loved the place. so I have created a two-colour hand-pressed linocut of a view across the bay, in an edition of 100. The print is available in my Folksy shop and at events.


Secondly, and due to popular demand, I have created a poster-print version of my 'Olive The Whippet' linocut.  It is A3 size, printed in a red/brown and grey, and available in my Folksy shop and at events..


WORKSHOPS
I don't do many of these kinds of workshops, but I have one coming up in July:

'Two-colour/Advanced linocut printing' workshop

Sat 20th July 2019

10am-4pm

The Art House
8 Backfields
Sheffield
S1 4HJ

£45 per place

This workshop is designed for people who have already taken part in one of my 'intro' workshops previously, or recently done linocut elsewhere. Participants will learn how to do two-colour printing techniques, or explore one-colour compositions further. There are eight places in total on this workshop, and all participants must be over 16.


To book, please email me on jgprintworks@hotmail.com


EVENTS
While I'm here I might as well let you know the events that I'm taking part in over the next couple of months:


MANCHESTER PRINT FAIR
Sat 11th May 2019, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria Street, Manchester M3 1SX, 10am-4pm
I'm very happy to be returning to MPF after taking part in their brilliant Stockport event. Loads of interesting printmakers and workshops too.

PAPERDOLLS MARKET
Sat 18th May 2019, The Custard Factory, Digbeth, Birmingham, 11am-5pm
This is my first time at this or any Birmingham event! Loads of lovey craft, plants and workshops. I've heard very good things about this one!

SALTAIRE ARTS TRAIL - MAKERS FAIR
Sat 25th, Sun 26th and Mon 27th May 2019, Victoria Hall, Victoria Rd, Saltaire, Shipley BD18 3JS, 10am-5pm.
I always look forward to the Makers Fair at SAT. The atmosphere is always great at this event, with loads of quality makers, workshops, music, food and drink.

SUMMER ARTS MARKET
Sat 1st June 2019, Liverpool Cathedral, St James Mt, Liverpool L1 7AZ, 10am-6pm
I took part in this last year, and it was a really great event. Loads of stalls and a good mix of art and crafts, plus an amazing venue too.

THE CONTEMPORARY CRAFT FESTIVAL 2019
Fri 7th to Sun 9th June 2019, Mill Marsh Park, Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot, Devon TQ13 9NB, 10am-5pm
When they refer to this event as a festival they certainly mean it! I took part in this last year, and was blown away by the size of the event. there are films, workshops, loads of food and drink, live music, talks and not least over 100 amazing artists and craftspeople. The standard is pretty mind-blowing. This year I have a tent to myself, as I am demonstrating linocutting. I will be cutting some new artwork, plus doing some printing (with my portable press). I will also have my prints available to buy too.

NORTHERN CRAFT - SHEFFIELD
Sat 15th June 2019, Trafalgar Warehouse, 120 Trafalgar Street, Sheffield S1 4JT, 11am-5pm
The NC team certain know how to put on a good fair. I've done a few now, and they've always been excellent; Well organised, top-quality art and craft, good food and music too. Sheffield is lucky to have them!

CRAFTED BY HAND
Sun 30th June 2019, Masham Town Hall, Little Market Place. Masham., HG4 4DY, 10am-4pm
This is a pretty well-established event in North Yorkshire. I took part a few years ago, and thoroughly enjoyed it, so I thought it about time to revisit. They curate a very wide range of great art and craft, and it is a super-friendly event too.