First Editions: Re-covered
Three artists well known to St Jude’s followers - Christopher Brown, Mark Hearld and Rob Ryan - are involved in a fund raising project for The House of Illustration, the UK’s only public gallery dedicated to illustration and the graphic arts, founded by Sir Quentin Blake and opened at the heart of King’s Cross in July 2014.
This weekend Sotheby’s will display First Editions: Re-covered, an exhibition of 33 unique first editions of classic books with beautiful original dust-jackets specially created and generously donated to House of Illustration by leading contemporary artists and designers.
Artists chose a book they felt a strong connection to and then created a new jacket, or artwork, in response to it: Maggie Hambling has created a cover for The Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch; Peter Blake responds to Alice Through the Looking Glass; Richard Wentworth has created a sculpture out of Zadie Smith’s White Teeth and Quentin Blake has created a cover for The Hunchback of Notre Dame by Victor Hugo.
After four days of public display the books and their wonderful dust-jackets will be auctioned to benefit House of Illustration at 7.30pm on Monday 11 December 2017 - you can view the auction lots on the Sotheby's website. The evening auction is held in partnership with Winsor & Newton. Find out more about the auction
Amy Dennis
I'm about to take part in Airs, Reels and Ballads, an exhibition at The Scottish Gallery in collaboration with St Jude's. I'll be exhibiting a selection of prints including new screen prints, linocuts and wood engravings.
The exhibition brings together the work of nineteen printmakers, painters and applied artists in a celebration of British art.
It's a pleasure to be exhibiting alongside my friend, the painter Amy Dennis.
Amy studied Drawing and Painting at Edinburgh College of Art, graduating in 2000. She is a Jolomo Foundation Landscape painting award winner (2013) and has exhibited with the Scottish Gallery since 2009, in regular Society group shows and has work in public collections. She currently lives and works in Edinburgh.
Airs, Reels and Ballads features six of Amy's paintings. Talking of her work...
"I am interested in creating assembled images combining landscape with still life aspects. This work uses architectural view over the Firth of Forth as an observed backdrop before which real and imagined objects and motifs are arranged and imposed. I use the ancient medium of egg tempera paint (raw pigment bound with egg yolk and distilled water according to a 15th century recipe) on Italian gesso. I am interested in emphasising the craft aspect of painting in my work and paint with tempera techniques both traditional and experimental, using meticulously prepared (pigmented and polished) gesso panels as a ground to build up the work with many thin glazes of paint."
The exhibition opens on 1st November 2017 and runs until 29th November 2017 at The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ. Find out more
Barnbougle Caste with Navigational Tools by Amy Dennis
Bass Rock with Navigational Tools by Amy Dennis
Calton Hill by Amy Dennis
Inchkeith Island with Navigational Tools by Amy Dennis
Inchmickery Island with Navigational Tools by Amy Dennis
Oxcars Lighthouse with Drafting Tools by Amy Dennis
Monica Poole
This is Monica Poole's 'Piddock Architecture' wood engraving from 1975, one of the prints that feature in A Printmaker's Journey, the exhibition I've curated for Hampshire Cultural Trust which reopened at its final venue in Lymington last week.
When I began wood engraving again in earnest a few years after leaving college, the clarity and attention to detail in Monica Poole’s depiction of natural forms was a huge inspiration. I never looked at a piece of seaweed or pebble in the same way again and discovered the fascination of studying nature in close detail.
A Printmaker's Journey features over 60 works from over 20 artists including Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Jonny Hannah, Gertrude Hermes, Mark Hearld, Enid Marx, Paul Morrison, Eric Ravilious, Rob Ryan, Graham Sutherland and Emily Sutton.
Until 25th November 2017 at St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lymington, Hampshire SO41 9BH Find out more
Image courtesy of Folkestone Art Trust
Monica Poole
This is Monica Poole's 'Piddock Architecture' wood engraving from 1975, one of the prints that feature in A Printmaker's Journey, the exhibition I've curated for Hampshire Cultural Trust which reopened at its final venue in Lymington last week.
When I began wood engraving again in earnest a few years after leaving college, the clarity and attention to detail in Monica Poole’s depiction of natural forms was a huge inspiration. I never looked at a piece of seaweed or pebble in the same way again and discovered the fascination of studying nature in close detail.
A Printmaker's Journey features over 60 works from over 20 artists including Edward Bawden, Barnett Freedman, Jonny Hannah, Gertrude Hermes, Mark Hearld, Enid Marx, Paul Morrison, Eric Ravilious, Rob Ryan, Graham Sutherland and Emily Sutton.
Until 25th November at St Barbe Museum and Art Gallery, Lyminton, Hampshire SO41 9BH Find out more
Image courtesy of Folkestone Art Trust
St Jude’s In The City
We're back in London, at Fournier Street in the heart of Spitalfields, for an event co-curated with The Town House proprietor Fiona Atkins.
The event, part of Shoreditch Design Triangle, sees the launch of the first in a series of wallpapers by Edward Bawden, forming part of our St Jude's Studio Archive range.
Painter-printmaker Mark Hearld launches a new fabric, Bantam Bough, celebrating his tenth anniversary of collaboration with St Jude's. His award winning Harvest Hare wallpaper and fabric also has a new colourway, Provençal Blue, showcased, together with his recent Cirque d'Hiver fabric.
Alongside a selection of our fabrics and wallpapers, we're exhibiting limited edition prints by St Jude's co-founder Angie Lewin, Edward Bawden and Christopher Brown.
From Wednesday 20th September until Sunday 24th September 2017 at The Town House, 5 Fournier Street, E1 6QE Find out more
Opening times:
Wednesday 20th September 11am-6pm
Thursday 21st September 11am-8pm
Friday 22nd September 11am-6pm
Saturday 23rd and Sunday 24th September 11am-5pm
Edward Bawden's 1927 Seaweed wallpaper, reissued by St Jude's in September
Mark Hearld's Harvest Hare wallpaper in Provençal Blue
Angie Lewin's Nature Study, Late Summer screen print
Working on Mark Hearld's forthcoming Bantam Bough fabric for St Jude's
Christopher Brown's Albion linocut, the starting point for his first wallpaper for St Jude's
Workshops for December
Later this year I'll be exhibiting at the City Art Centre in Edinburgh as part of A Fine Line, alongside Lizzie Farey (who I have curated the exhibition with), Frances Priest and Bronwen Sleigh. I'll be sharing further information about the event over the coming weeks.
As part of the exhibition there will be two related workshops.
On Saturday 2nd December 2017 between 10.00-16.00 I'll be hosting a one-day wood engraving workshop.
I'll start the day by sharing examples of the work of fellow wood engravers. Then we'll experiment with tools on a practice block before engraving and printing your own woodblock. You are welcome to bring sketches/reference material with you for inspiration. It’s important to note that wood engraving is a slow and precise process and some participants may not leave with a completely finished print but will learn all stages of the process. This course is suitable for adults (aged 18+) and you will need to have some drawing skills to benefit fully from this workshop.
This one-day workshop costs £75.00 and is limited to 10 participants. If you'd like to book a place, please contact the City Art Centre reception on 0131 529 3993.
I'd also recommend a workshop that's being hosted by my good friend Lizzie Farey on Saturday 16th December 2017 from 10.30-16.00. This class will teach you how to make willow Christmas trees, wreaths and stars for the festive season. The cost for the workshop is also £75.00 and this will need to be booked on through the City Art Centre on 0131 529 3993.
If you'd like to see more of Lizzie's work, she will be exhibiting at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh from 6th-30th September 2017. Find out more
Working on a wood engraving
Lizzie Farey in her studio - photo courtesy of The Scottish Gallery
Lizzie Farey 'Almost Spring' woven willow - photo by Shannon Tofts
Mark Hearld’s Platters
As part of the new work presented at this year's York Open Studios event, Mark Hearld has created a series of hand-decorated platters, a few of which are pictured here.
Emily Sutton and Mark Hearld's Open Studios, 104 The Mount, York YO24 1AR on 21st (6-9pm), 22nd (10am-6pm) and 23rd (11am-5pm) April 2017 and again on 29th (10am-6pm) and 30th (11am-5pm) April 2017.
