Cyclists, lambs and a return to Whitby...

Hello there

Not a very long update here, but just to let you know about a couple of new works and a few event's I'm taking part in over the next month or so:

FAIRS/MARKETS

Garden Up
On Sat 7th and Sun 8th June I'm taking part in a new event called 'Garden Up' in the Botanical Gardens in Sheffield. It is primarily a gardening event, aiming to 'showcase the very best talent from the worlds of horticulture, architecture, landscape and design'. I will be showing/selling my work in the 'Arts and Crafts' marquee.

Art Market - Holmfirth
I'm going to be at the Art Market in Holmfirth on Sunday 22nd June 2014. I've done this event a few times now, and it is always great, and full of really wonderful art and crafts!

 
EXHIBITIONS

Yorkshire In Yellow
Firstly, I'm taking part in a new exhibition to celebrate the Tour De France coming through Yorkshire, entitled 'Yorkshire In Yellow'. Each contributor has created some cycling-based artwork to be displayed on yellow jerseys hung in the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield. It runs from 31st May until 7th September 2014.

Printing Sheffield
Also at the Millennium Galleries, the 'Printing Sheffield'  exhibition continues. It is simply focusing on the best printmaking from the region, and will run until 15th June 2014. There are quite a few other artists taking part, including Kid Acne, EMA, Jo Peel, We Live Here, Neil Woodall and Leaf City Press. It is free and well worth a visit, and a lot of artists have work for sale in the shop as well as the exhibition. I have three pieces there, including two special limited edition donkey prints.

Broomhill Festival
Shortly after this, I have an exhibition as part of the 2014 Broomhill Festival in St Marks Church, Broomhill, Sheffield. I will be exhibiting a selection of my hand-printed landscapes and animal prints, alongside painter John Brokenshire from 14th June until 22nd June 2014.

NEW WORKS

Well, I'm afraid my 'Sheffield City View No.4' A2 screen-print has sold out. I was hoping it'd be popular, but didn't expect it to go so quickly! However it will be returning as an A3 poster-print quite soon.

Speaking of screen-prints, while I was taking part in 'Open Up Sheffield 2014' at Sheffield Print Club, I got the chance to have a go at creating a new print using this method (with the kind assistance of Jane there!). I made a new version of my 'Gambolling' print, using two colours on grey Somerset paper. I have created a very small edition of 10, which are now for sale in my Folksy shop.

I have also created a new Whitby print, entitled 'Whitby No.3' (imaginatively). It is the third of my prints from the town, and probably my last for a while. It is a view from the steps leading down from the abbey, looking across to the left. The small clock-tower really stuck in my head, so I tried to make it the centre of the image, although there is clearly a lot else happening too! It is also now available in my Folksy shop, in an edition of 100.

Finally, I have two new cyclist prints the first is a new A3 poster-print version of my 'Cyclist' print, printed in the Yorkshire colours, to commemorate the tour De France passing through this region in the Summer. It is is only available from the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield in an edition of 30 copies.

The second is a brand-new A3 cyclist poster-print, entitled 'Cyclist No.2', and this time it is a female cyclist, taking it a little more leisurely, but serious about her bike, nonetheless! It is also available in my Folksy shop in two colour schemes..

Playing catch-up...

Howdy people

I've been a little slack with blog updates recently. I can only blame the weather, the cat,  or something, or maybe it was just me being slack...Yep, thats right.

Where shall I start? apologies for the length of this post, but I've a lot to cram in...

New events, lots of new prints, an exhibition I'm part of, and learning to throw pots! Here goes...
 

EVENTS (I'll be selling at)
Gifts & Grub  - Sunday 6th April 2014, Elsecar Heritage Centre, Wath Rd, Elsecar, 10am-4pm

Sharrow Vale Market - Sunday 13th April 2014, Sharrow Vale Road, Sheffield, 12-4pm

Open Up Sheffield @ Sheffield Print Club - 3rd, 4th, 5th, 11th May 2014, 11am-5pm all days, Unit 2, 15 Lenton St, Sheffield S2 4BH (along with Jill Ray, Leaf City Press and Crow & Dunnage).

Sheffield Print Fair - Saturday 10th May 2014, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, 10am-4pm


NEW PRINTS
 I've quite a few new prints to show you... They're all available at fairs/markets and in my Folksy shop (links via each title):

 
'Grouse' 2-colour linocut print

'Long-eared Owl' poster-print (teal/orange)

 
'Long-eared Owl' poster-print (green/maroon)


 

'Cromer No.1' 2-colour linocut print

'Donkey & Bird' poster-print






PRINTING SHEFFIELD EXHIBITION
 

 
I was flattered to be chosen to contribute in a new exhibition entitled 'Printing Sheffield' at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, based on contemporary printmakers who live and work in the city. The exhibition runs until the end of June, and I have three works on display (including my Sheffield City View No.4 linocut/screenprint). Other artists include We Live Here, EMA, Kid Acne, Jo Peel, Neil Woodall, Sam Groom, Zoe Badger, Nick Deakin and Leaf City Press, so I'm in very good company! I highly recommend a visit if you are passing...


POTTERY WORKSHOP
In February I booked on a workshop to learn how to do pottery, on a potter's wheel. I've always been fascinated with this art/craft, but never had the chance to have a go. So, after Christmas I decided to treat myself and book onto a two-day workshop with Sheffield ceramicist Penny Withers. She is based in Yorkshire Artspace, in a nice big studio. there were three of us booked in for the weekend, but I was the only one who had never tried pottery before. I had visions of The Generation Game, with clay flying everywhere, and very wonky looking pots! Penny showed us how to make a basic vessel to begin with, and other shapes later on. She made it look so easy. It was very hypnotic watching someone with such skills at work. So then I had a go. I had in my mind to try and make a series of very simple vessels, mostly small, with some tapering. I had no plans for handles or spouts or such practical additions. It surprised me how much strength you needed to use to centre the clay and then make it rise. I had one wobbly effort, but the rest seem to come out ok (with a little help from Penny). She was a great tutor, allowing us to do whatever we wanted to, and always on hand for advice or help. The two days flew by, and I managed to make 12 (!). By the end I felt I'd got the hang of the basic process, and was somehwat in control of my vessels. They need glazing next, but I haven't done this yet. I'll post up some more pics when they're complete. I had such a good time. I HIGHLY recommend it!! If anyone is interested on booking on one of Penny's courses go to her website: http://www.pennywithersceramics.co.uk

and thats about it...phew! Apologies for the length...I'll try and make sure i blog more regularly...

Portrait Artist Of The Year 2013 on youtube

Yep, my (one and only) tv appearance on Portrait Artist Of The Year 2013 is now available to watch on youtube. The series was broadcast on Sky Arts in November 2013, so only people with Sky TV could watch it, but now everyone can watch me squirm on the tele!

You can watch it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJ38VxNRsa8

'Sheffield City View no.4' linocut/screenprint

Hello people

I have just completed work on a new print that I've been working on for a while, and I thought I'd mention it here. It is my fourth Sheffield city view, but this time I wanted it to be be a little different. I wanted to print it larger than I do normally, but still as a hand-printed edition, and I wanted to put in a lot of detail, and obviously linocut isn't really made for tiny features, so it had to go bigger!

I had an idea about creating a two-colour print somewhere between A3 and A2 size, but doing this by normal linocut printing would take an awful long time, and would be pretty tricky too. So, on this occasion, I decided to produce it as a linocut, then turn it into a screenprint and have the edition printed this way. I'm a total novice at screenprinting, so I got my pal Ed of Bradbury & Blanchard studios in Sheffield to help with the latter part. Here are a selection of photos from the journey from linocut to screenprint!

And here is the final print

The print will be available as part of the 'Printing Sheffield' exhibition at the Millennium Galleries, Sheffield from 29th January 2914, and also in my Folksy shop. Hope you like it!

just a little...

 










Hello there

Nearly the end of the year, and the start of all the festive chaos. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me have such a great 2013! It has been truly nuts, highlights being;

Having my first solo print exhibition, appearing on that 'Portrait Artist of the Year' tv show, building a Star Wars Lego Death-Star with my son, getting 'Sheffield Print Fair' off the ground, being involved in the 'Revealing Craft' project, finding some great new events/fairs to take part in and meeting some lovely and talented crafters, The Folksy Summer School, going on a beach holiday for the first time in about 20 years, visiting friends I'd not seen in yonks, discovering late 70's Fleetwood Mac, buying and loving my new linocut tools.....and making lots of new prints..

I'm looking forward to taking a little break, but 2014 is already building up to be pretty exciting already...

Merry Christmas!

James

Being on telly and all that...

Well, I thought it about time to tell of my recent experience on the tv programme 'Portrait Artist of the Year 2013', broadcast on Sky Arts.

you know you've made it when your face is on a barrier

The premise of the show is a bit like 'The Great British Bake-Off', but with artists doing portraits, instead of making cakes. Earlier in the year, someone passed me some information about the competition. All you needed to do was fill in a simple form and send in a self-portrait. The winner of the competition won a £10,000 commission to create a portrait of author Hilary Mantel. Luckily I had recently done a linocut self-portrait (just for fun), so I applied, and then forgot all about it...
  

my self-portrait

..and then in June I got a phone call...at first I thought it was a wind-up, but the lady on the phone was genuine. I had been selected (from over 2000 applicants!) for the finals of the show. She then explained that I need to go down to Cardiff for the filming in July 2013. Crikey. I had a month or so to prepare myself, and get some practice in. I'm not specifically a portrait artist, so felt like I needed to get more familiar with the concept, and roped in some friends for linocut portraits. The practice did help, but I was still very nervous. On the day, it was explained to me, I (and 20 other artists) had to create a portrait of a mystery public figure in 5 hours. It isn't a very long time, and I envisaged spending most of it scratching my head working out what to do.

As well as the Cardiff heat, there were heats in London, Glasgow and Dublin, and one person from each would go forward to the final to compete for the Mantel commission, which will be displayed in the National Portrait Gallery.

So the time came...My kind friends in Cardiff, Charlotte and John, put me up for a couple of nights, and looked after me so generously. I got a taxi to Cardiff City Hall, the location for the filming, bleary eyed, after a rather restless nights sleep. I found a gaggle of other nervous artists, clutching their equipment, and equally wondering how they got themselves into this. Eventually all the artists were gathered together, given mic packs and a lanyard with a number on. Mine was number 1 (not necessarily a good omen!).

lanyard no.1

We were then taken outside to be filmed entering the building, and then shown to our workspaces. As I was the only printmaker in the competition, I wasn't sure what to expect really. I saw a lot of easels, but thankfully they had provided me with a table to work on! We then met the presenters of the show Frank Skinner and Joan Bakewell, and the competition judges, Kathleen Soriano, Director of Exhibitions at the Royal Academy, Kate Bryan, Head of Contemporary at the Fine Art Society and portrait artist Tai-Shan Schierenberg. They were a friendly bunch, especially Frank, who seemed rather taken by linocut! We also got to look at all of the other self-portraits, in the flesh, which was pretty daunting. Some amazing work, and I felt very much out of my depth!

some of the self-portraits (look how tiny mine is!)

more self-portraits

One thing I couldn't get my head around was the amount of people involved with making a tv programme. There were hundreds of them, dozens of camera people, runners, directors etc, and so much equipment! We even had a person designated to each of us all day to get us drinks! I felt a bit awkward with this, but nevertheless drank about 10 cups of tea during the day. So then the competition filming began, and all the artists watched nervously as Frank and Joan introduced the show, and brought in the mystery sitters. There were three sitters, so the group of 21 was split into smaller groups of seven. And they were...rugby international Gavin Henson, Lucien Freud's model Sue Tilly and Falkland veteran Simon Weston. My group were given Simon. He came round and met us all, and seemed as nervous as the rest of us! Somehow this put me at ease a little. So the timer began and we all set to work. At first I has to stop myself being nosey. I wasn't used to being around lots of other artists, and was intregued by what they were up to. 

Frank and Joan getting ready to start the competition

I eventually got started on the portrait. I tried to follow my process, and block out everything else that was happening (lots of artists were wearing headphones, good thinking) and whittled away at my lino. It seemed to be going ok, but I wasn't totally sure, as you never really know how it looks until you do a test-print. There were a lot of interruptions too, with the hosts/judges wanting to chat and film extra bits for the show. We had a proper break for lunch, and all the artists got to have a bit of a chat and a look at how each other were getting on. however, I was a bit concerned about time, so bolted my lunch and got back to the lino! At the point of doing a test-print, I really had reservations. I really wan't sure that I'd got a likeness. To my relief, it looked ok, and like Mr Weston! So I carried on, making sure I didn't over-do it, and even added a second plate, for Simon's shirt. I pretty much finished an hour before the time was up, so spent the rest of my time trying different prints, and adjusting the colour combinations. I think a few of the more photo-realist painters struggled a bit with the time, as they were used to spending months on paintings, not 5 hours. I'm glad I'm not a painter.

my view of Mr Weston

Time was called, in a rather dramatic fashion, and us artists shuffled out for more on-camera chats about how the day had gone, and more tea and cakes. Its a hard life! We now had to leave the judges to decide on their favourite three portraits. There was a definite sense of relief and camaraderie among the artists there. It was very odd trying to be creative under such constraints, and it made the achievements of the artists even more great.

So all 21 of us shuffled back to the main room to hear the decision. We all had to stand in a big group in front of the camera while they read out the three names. It did feel a bit like we were on X-Factor for a moment....and I think everyone was pretty darn nervous/excited.

my prints and test-prints

And the first name they called out was.....mine (deliberate annoying hesitation noted)! I really did think they had made a mistake, so hesitated a little before walking to my spot, but they carried on and called out the other two artists (amazing painters Nick and Gavin). We were all a little gobsmacked, and were led out for more interviews and thoughts. I'm not really sure I was making much sense by this point. If you have seen the show, you'll notice my interviews are mercifully brief! Now was time for another break, while the judges discussed who the winner was going to be from us three. All the other artists were really lovely and gracious, not at all miffed at not being shortlisted. I felt a bit guilty nonetheless. Finally the three of us were led out to stand in front of our portraits and talk to the judges about them. I've no idea what I said. I think I might have just smiled and nodded. 

my 'Simon Weston' 2-colour linocut

Then Frank read out the winner, and it was...Nick. A deserved winner. His portrait of Gavin Henson was brilliant, and a very different approach to painting that I'd seen before. He was a nice chap too, very modest. I wasn't disappointed at all. I was very flattered indeed to get in the top 3.

the top 3 just before the result. that is Nick, far right

Phew, what a day. I was ready for a beer (and thanks to Charlotte and John, I got one). Before I could leave, we had further interviews and all that, and Frank Skinner came up to me to ask if he could possibly have my 'self-portrait' that was on display, as he really really liked it! How could I refuse?

So a weird and stressful day, but a brilliant experience, and one I'd definitely recommend to any artists.

I've seen the episode now, and it is equally odd watching yourself on tv, not to mention cringe worthy. It is a fascinating show, and I've really got drawn in to what has happened in the other episodes too. The final is on next Tuesday (10th December) on Sky Arts and I'm rooting for Nick Lord to win.. C'mon boy!

Lots of end-of-the-year goings-on (snappy title, eh?)

 
















Sheffield Print Fair 2013
As one of the organisers of this event, I'm more than a little excited, especially as there is only a week to go. It takes places on Sat 16th November, 10am-4pm at St Marys Church on Bramall Lane, Sheffield. 36 artists, print demonstrations all day. Whats not to like?!

We've had a nice bit of coverage in the press (Creative Review/Design Week/Now Then mag and more) so we are hoping for a busy day. For more info either go to www.sheffieldprintmakers.com or the Facebook event page.



New Prints
I have three(!) new prints to show you. 

 

















Firstly I have a hand-pressed version of 'Fox In The Snow'. This was only previously available as a poster-print, but I've now decided to create an edition of 100 in black ink. Folksy shop page for 'Fox In The Snow'

Secondly I have a couple of new donkey prints. They are both two-colour hand-pressed prints showing donkeys up to more mischief. 
Folksy shop page for 'Donkey Hide & Seek'
Folksy shop page for 'Watching The Wild Donkeys'

Art Market Award
I've just got back from the Art Market in Holmfirth. (As ever) it was a brilliant event, tons of amazing craft and art, and to my surprise I won a prize! It was for 'Outstanding Artist', chosen by stonemason/artist Celia Kilner.


Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year TV show
I have been told that the episode of this TV show that I am featuring in is on Tuesday 26th November 2013. It is on Sky Arts 1 at 8pm, and repeated a few times after that. Tune in if you have Sky, and watch me hopefully not make too much of a fool of myself! Programme page

Folksy 'Revealing Craft' book
Folksy, photographer India hobson and design agency Dust have created a wonderful book entitled 'Revealing Craft' showing the lives behind the people who do art and craft. It features several artists (including meself, and our cat Otto) and looks like a really beautiful piece of work. Here is where you can help. They have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund the making of the book, and you can contribute to help it happen, and also get a copy of the book and all sorts of extra too. For more info and to contribute go to:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jamesboardwell/revealing-craft


Events

These are the events I am taking part in up until Christmas.


Saturday 16th November 2013, Sheffield Print Fair 2013, St Mary's, Sheffield. I have helped organise this, so might be a bit biased, but it looking like it'll be a pretty exciting event! 38 artist/printmakers on-site, and print demonstrations throughout the day.

Friday - Sunday 22nd-24th November 2013, Christmas Arts Market, Harley Gallery, Welbeck, Notts. I'm quite excited about this one. I've never been, and I hear good things!

Saturday/Sunday 30th Nov/1st Dec 2013, Kelham Island Victorian Christmas Market, Sheffield. The big one. I borrowed a top-hat for this last year, as you have to dress in Victorian costume, and I ended up liking it so much I bought it! Apart from that it is probably the most festive thing you can imagine.

Saturday 7th December 2013, Mary's Marvellous Craft & Vintage Market, St Marys, Sheffield - Pretty much a staple in the Sheffield craft/vintage calendar, always excellent and with wonderful food too.

PHEW!