No more nonsense..

photo by Danni Maibaum

Hi there

My 'Donkey Nonsense' exhibition has now finished. It has been a really fun time, and I'm totally blown away by all the positive comments I've had from people, in person and on social media.

It is the biggest exhibition I've had in my life as an artist, and it really means a lot to me that the exhibition has connected with people who have visited. Apparently there were over 42,000 visitors!

Sheffield Museums staff have been super-helpful, the curators, technicians, workshops/events crew and the shop staff too. The workshops and talks seemed to go down well. My favourite event was meeting a group of Sheffield Museums volunteers and talking them round the show. They were a really engaged and interested bunch!

The new 'Donkey Monolith' (10 to 16) prints went down well too. I've sold a fair few of them, but the remaining prints will appear in my Folksy shop very soon.

What to do next? Watch this space...

In the meantime I have created a new rather small new donkey print called 'Donkey No.1'. This clearly isn't the first donkey print I've made, but the first in a long time of a simple portrait, so the title seemed fitting. I actually created it for a talk/demonstration I was giving to the Heeley Art Group (oldest art group in the UK apparently!), and I rather liked the result so thought I'd make a proper edition.

It is an A5 size linocut/screenprint, in an edition of 94, printed with black ink on 250gsm off-white Munken paper. It is now in my Folksy shop.

Donkey Nonsense now open!

 I'm very proud to announce that my new exhibition, 'Donkey Nonsense' is now open! It is the biggest exhibition I have ever had, and focusses on my donkey-related prints from over the last fifteen years.

It is at The Millennium Gallery in Sheffield city centre, and features 50 prints, plus textile pieces, ceramics, an animated film and more. The prints start from 2008 up until the current day, and there are seven brand new prints exclusive to the exhibition. You can buy these from the gallery shop, along with donkey greeting cards, enamel badges, vinyl LPs and exhibition posters.

The exhibition has been two years in the planning, and I can't quite believe that it is now happening! I was lucky enough to receive some funding from the 'Freelance Fund' via Sheffield Council, plus help from Sheffield Museums too, which helped a lot.

The exhibition also features collaborations with fellow artists and creatives vinegar & brown paper (linocut/letterpress print & etched mirror), John Pedder (woodcut/screenprint), Hunk Print (screenprinted t-shirt), Finger Industries (animated films) and The Stitch Society (smock and apron). I love collaborating with people and it is a great opportunity to show these pieces to the world!

There are a couple of events related to the exhibition that you might be interested in too:

Meet The Artist

This is a free event where I'll talk about the show, inspiration and answer any questions you may have. It takes place on Thursday 29th June 2023, 6pm-7pm and you can book a free place here. 

Introduction to Linocut Printing workshop 

I am running an 'intro to linocut' workshop at the galleries on Saturday 2nd September 2023. There will be 10 places available. All materials will be provided and no experience needed. You can book a place on it here.

The exhibition runs until 8th October 2023, so plenty of time for a visit if you want to check it out.

Donkey Nonsense!

Hi there

At long last I can spill the beans and tell you about my 'secret project' that I've had to keep quiet about for quite a while.

On 27th May 2023 I will have a new exhibition at The Millennium Gallery in Sheffield, entitled 'Donkey Nonsense'! It is an exhibition tracing my donkey-based artwork from 2008 until now, including 50 prints, textiles, collaborations, ceramics, films, sound and more...

The exhibition will run until 8th October 2023 and entry is free.

I was very fortunate to receive some funding to help put on the exhibition from the Freelance Fund for Freelance Workers and from Sheffield Museums, and I'm hugely grateful for this!

The exhibition is part-retrospective showing prints from the past, some long out of print, but I will also be including seven brand new prints, which will be exclusive to the exhibition. I'm very excited to unveil them. They will be available to buy from the Millennium Gallery shop, as will a range of new greeting cards, a new enamel pin badge, and an A3 exhibition poster (similar to the poster above).

There will be a couple of events happening at the Gallery as part of the exhibition:

Meet The Artist - Thursday 29th June 2023 - free but booking recommended

I'll be talking about the exhibition and my inspiration, plus signing exhibition posters if anyone wants one.

Introduction to Linocut Workshop - Saturday 2nd September 2023

Booking not yet open but it will be very soon. A day workshop to create a one-colour linocut print. No experience needed and all materials provided.

I hope you'll be able to come along to experience the nonsense!

https://www.sheffieldmuseums.org.uk/whats-on/donkey-nonsense-prints-by-james-green

x

 

Spring donkeys..

 Hi there

I hope you're well. This year has so far consisted of working on commissions, a 'secret' project and a couple of new donkey prints. I will soon be able to reveal what the secret is, but for now, I shall keep schtum!

I've also run a couple of linocut workshops in January and February. They have been a lot of fun, and good to return to after a long time away from them. I will be arranging more for later in the year, so if you're interested, keep an eye on my social media.

NEW PRINTS

I have created two new 'Happenings in Donkey World' screen-prints, and here they are. I actually created No.12 before No.11, which is a little confusing, but I shall present them in number order!

Happenings in Donkey World No.11

HDW11 is an A2 size 3-colour screen-print, printed in bright blue, pink and yellow. As I've used very transparent inks, you also get several overlayed colours too! It is perhaps my most abstracted donkey print, with the donkeys exploring a very curious landscape. It is printed on 300gsm Seawhite paper in an edition of 30, stamped, titled and signed, and available in my Folksy shop now. I really love using these bright colours, and the playful way they work when overlayed on top of each other.

Happenings in Donkey World No.12

HDW12 is an A3 size 3-colour screen-print, printed in rust, light blue and dark grey. Another very odd landscape for the donkeys to manoeuvre, as gravity doesn't seem to be working quite right. It is printed on 300gsm recycled Cyclus Offset paper in an edition of 40, titled and signed, and available in my Folksy shop now. 

EVENTS

Here are the events I'm taking part in, in March and April 2023:

North Wales Print Fair 2023

Sat 4th March 2023, 10.30am to 4pm, Oriel Mostyn, 12 Vaughan Street, Llandudno, LL30 1AB
This great print fair returns at last. The Mostyn is one of my favourite galleries in the UK, and Llandudno also one of my favourite places, so I'm obviously excited! the line-up looks great too, with artist/printmakers from all over.

The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair 2023

Sat 25th and Sun 26th March 2023 (10am to 5pm), The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, WF1 5AW

This fantastic event is back to its former size, and at a new venue on site, Tileyard North, a refurbished textile mill opposite the gallery. There is usually such a great buzz at their print fairs, and always an amazing selection of artists!

Printed Bound 2023

Sat 1st April and Sun 2nd April 2023, 10am to 4pm, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, LS28 5UJ
I'm glad to report that this event is returning after its debut last year. Over 40 printmakers and bookbinder will be on site (interestingly at the same place where 'The Great British Sewing Bee' is filmed!), with talks, demonstrations and really nice food and drinks too.




Open Up Sheffield 2023

Sat 29th April, Sun 30th April and Mon 1st May 2023, my studio in Sheffield!

It has been quite a few years since I have done Open Up, mainly to do with date clashes, but this year it works out! If you live in Sheffield and you weren't aware, it is a great open studio event for any artist living in the city to open their workspace to the general public, so they can see the artists at work and maybe buy pieces too. The event runs the dates above and also the following weekend, but I am only available the dates stated. I will be creating some new work while in my garden studio, and setting up a display of a selection of my work. The A5 booklets will be available soon throughout the city, and you can also use the maps on their website to plan your trip! My location and other info are on my page there too.

2022, thank you!

Before Christmas swallows me up whole I thought I'd just write to say thanks for all your support over the last year.

It has clearly been a tricky year for everyone, and I really do appreciate every bit of interest shown to me and my print work.

As far as prints are concerned, I've had a lot of fun experimenting with bright colours, transparencies, new landscapes, new birds, new textile products and of course a whole load of donkeys! My new screenprint studio is now behaving itself and it is great to have the flexibility to try new things whenever I like. 

Events have been so much fun this year. I have really missed getting out and about over lockdown, and it has been great to see organisers able to launch their events and the visitors too. There have been great new events, like Printed Bound at Sunny Bank Mills, Leeds, and a return to some of my favourites, including Printfest, Wirksworth Festival, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair, Welbeck Winter Weekend and Nottingham Contemporary. Also as a co-organiser myself, it was wonderful to see so many people come along to Sheffield Print Fair this year!

Next year I've already got some exciting plans, but I can't really say anything yet! I hope you have a great festive break, and I will see you in the new year.

Take care

James x

Yorkshire and the return of the magic donkeys....

Hi there

However much I wish that time would slow down a bit, it ignores me and ploughs on regardless. It has been a lot of fun returning to events so far this year, especially Printfest in Ulverston, Lake District. A long weekend of talking print with all sorts of people, including really nerdy conversations with other printmakers was a lot of fun!

The rest of the year is also looking good for quality events, including Welbeck Winter Weekend, Wirksworth Festival, Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair, Sheffield Print Fair and more.... I'll keep you posted via my newsletter and on social media about dates etc..

REDUCTIONS/SUMMER SALE!

I have decided to discontinue quite a few older poster-prints in my Folksy shop, so many of the are reduced in price, and I have also introduced a Summer Sale for the whole of July, with 20% off all of my prints, if you use the discount code SUMMER22JG at the checkout.

Also I am giving away a free poster-print with every sale purchase, from a selection of one-offs that I have never sold before. Bargain, eh?!

NEW PRINTS

I have quite a few new prints to show you since I last blogged. All are available in my Folksy shop. Here they are...

'Haworth'

A4 2-colour linocut/screenprint, edition of 80.

A beautiful village in West Yorkshire, and home to the Bronte sisters for all of their literary careers.

'Magic Donkey No.4' 

A2 2-colour screenprint, edition of 12.

Further donkey dream explorations...

'Sheffield City View No.10' 

A3 poster-print in dark red/dark blue.

This is a view at Kelham Island looking north up Kelham Weir towards Ball Street Bridge and the Victorian factory buildings in the background.

'Sheffield City View No.10' 

A3 poster-print in grey/brown.

This is a view at Kelham Island looking north up Kelham Weir towards Ball Street Bridge and the Victorian factory buildings in the background.

'Sheffield City View No.10' 

A3 screen-print in warm grey.

This is a view at Kelham Island looking north up Kelham Weir towards Ball Street Bridge and the Victorian factory buildings in the background.

'The Donkey Garden' 

A4 2-colour linocut/screen-print, edition of 50.

Who knew donkeys could have such fun in their own gardens?

 

'Red Donkey Blue Donkey'

A2 2-colour linocut/screenprint, edition of 10.

Upon scaling nearly monoliths, two slightly surprised donkeys discover each other.

New year, new studio, new prints, new events...

Hi there

So far 2022 has been a pretty productive year. I've now properly moved into my new screen-print studio (delayed a little by waiting for some equipment to arrive). But I'm in there now, probably 50/50 with my linocut studio, and I'm getting new prints done that I've had planned for a while! It feels very liberating to be able to screen-print whenever I want to.

NEW PRINTS

Crow No.2

This is the second edition I created of this print. The first was a really big 76x56cm print, in a tiny edition, and it sold out quickly. 

This time I have created it as an A3 size print, in a bigger edition of 50, in slightly different colours (black and dark blue). It is a linocut which I then transferred to a silkscreen to print the edition, as I do for many of my prints.

Its in my Folksy shop now.

Happenings In Donkey World No.9

I had so much fun playing with colour on my previous two 'Happenings' prints that I wanted to create another! It is an A3 size screen-print, using three transparent inks (yellow, pink and blue) which, when overlaid, create another series of colours. The print is in an edition of 40, and is in my Folksy shop now. 

Mevagissey, Cornwall

I went to the south coast of Cornwall on holiday last year (I seem to go every year!), and visited this place for the first time. Straight away I realised I needed to make a print! The jumble of houses on the steep harbour incline, the boats, the clouds all add up for me. The linocut.screenprint is A3 size and in an edition of 60.

It is in my Folksy shop now. 

Watson

Watson is our new cat. Sadly Otto died in 2021 (he was 18), and it wasn't the same having a home with no cat. So we got him from the RSPCA later in the year, and he very quickly became a member of our family!

I'm sure I will probably create many prints of him, but with this one I just wanted to capture his bliss in sleeping, and also his lovely stripey tabby coat.

The print is a linocut/screen-print, in three colours and in an edition of 50. It is now in my Folksy shop.

The Donkey Clouds

This was a print that I started last September, as I had planned to create it whilst demo-ing at The Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey. As it happened, I only had enough time to create another print while I was there ('The Donkey Garden'), so this one sat on the to-do pile until early 2022. I got there in the end and created an A4 size lino/screenprint in dark blue, edition of 40 (also a tiny edition of 5 on black paper too!). Yet more strange donkey dreams... It is now in my Folksy shop.

EVENTS

I'm itching to get out again to art/craft/print events! Here is what I have, so far, coming up until June 2022.

Printed Bound

2nd/3rd April 2022, Sunny Bank Mills, Farsley, Pudsey, West Yorkshire, LS28 5UJ

This is a brand new event, focussing on artist's books and printmaking. The line-up looks great, and the venue is too, a fantastic creative space just outside the centre of Leeds.

Printfest

30th April/1st May 2022, The Coro, County Square, Ulverston LA12 7LZ

Printfest returns at last! The mother of all UK print events returns, and I'm thrilled to be taking part. It takes place in Ulverston in the Lake District, at a lovely arts and entertainment hall called The Coro.

Endless Love Creative

7th May 2022, The Workstation, 15 Paternoster Row, Sheffield City Centre, Sheffield S1 2BX

These events have been going on for a while now, but I did my first one last year, and was mightily impressed. There was a great buzz, and it was really well curated too. Expect lots of contemporary art and craft.

Manchester Print Fair

14th May 2022, Manchester Cathedral, Victoria St, Manchester M3 1SX

Again another long awaited event returns! MPF is always a great event, with all sorts of contemporary and traditional printmaking, right in the centre of Manchester.

The Craft Festival at Bovey Tracey

17th/18th/19th June 2022, 1 Southbrook Ln, Bovey Tracey, Newton Abbot TQ13 9NB

Bovey returned after the break last September, but it is back again at its more familiar time of year. This is probably the biggest and best craft event in the UK. It is really like a super-cool music festival, but with the focus instead on art and craft. There are loads of demonstrations, 120 makers (!), food, music, films and all sorts of other activities. It takes place in a small village in Devon, and is definitely worth the trip!

That is about it for my blog update this time. I'm not running any workshops currently, but will post up on my facebook/instagram/newsletter as soon as that situation changes.

Cheers

James