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