Birds, patterns, beer and Sheffield waterways..

Should I say Happy New Year? Feels a bit weird in February.

Anyway, I hope you're all well, and past the grey cloud that is January. I've been taking advantage of the relative inactivity of that month (and some of Febuary) and have been working on some new prints.

I've also completed a few commissions which I'll show you too.

Lastly, there are some exciting events coming up on February and March to tell you about.

NEW PRINTS

Firstly there is a 'Dove' that I came across last year when I was taking part in an arts festival in Derbyshire. It was just perched on the windowsill of my b&b room, looking somewhat calm and contemplative. I hadn't thought about it at the time, but with all the global strife that is currently happening, maybe a dove is somewhat fitting as a sign of hope.. The print is an edition of 100, han-pressed in my home-studio.


 

The other new print is 'Sheffield City View No.7'. It is a view towards the city centre up the River Don. It is available in two poster-print versions, and a hand-printed screen-print/linocut one. I was drawn to this view as it contains such an interesting mix of buildings old and new, including the Old Town Hall, the current Town Hall, the Cathedral Church of St Marie and Exchange Place.

COMMISSIONS

Abbeydale Brewery
Towards the end of last year, I was asked by design agency Field Design to create some linocuts to rebrand the core range of beers made by Abbeydale Brewery. The brewery is based in Sheffield, and makes some pretty fine ales, so I jumped at the chance. The idea of the rebrand was to modernise the look of them, and make them look cohesive, but also retain an element of tradition. Here are four of the designs:

The designs were launched last month and are being used on the 'pump clips' primarily, but there is also talk of them producing bottled versions soon with the designs on the labels. It was a really fun commission to work on, and Moonshine is one of my favourite beers, too!

Sleepy Nico
I was asked to produce a textile pattern for use on a range of baby-carriers by Angeline Braidwood for her company Sleepy Nico. I have to admit, I have never created a repeat-pattern before, but I have always wanted to so gladly accepted the job! The brief was simply to come up with something 'Sheffield'. I've always thought that terraced houses had a 'pattern' look about them, with all the windows, chimneys and rooftops, so took this as my focus.

It took a bit of tweaking, but I got there in the end and was very happy with the result! The carriers featuring my design will be launched at the Northern Sling Exhibition at beginning of March 2017.


EVENTS
I'm taking part in the following events in Febuary and March 2017:
 
Sheffield City Of Makers Art Fair
Sat 25th Feb 2017, The Art House, 8 Backfields, Sheffield, S1 4HJ, 11am-5pm
A new event, organised by the 'Sheffield City Of Makers' organisation, free entry








The Hepworth Wakefield Print Fair
Fri 3rd Mar - Sun 5th Mar 2017, The Hepworth Wakefield, Gallery Walk, Wakefield, West Yorkshire WF1 5AW, 10am-5pm
Fantastic event this, and my favourite from last year. 50 printmakers, with some wonderful work, plus workshops and talks from people like Angie Lewin, Mark Hearld and Norman Ackroyd! Free entry

Millennium Galleries Craft Market
Sat 18th March 2017, Millennium Galleries, Sheffield, 10am-4pm
Quarterly quality craft fair in Sheffield city centre.