Rena Gardiner at MMU
Manchester Metropolitan University's Special Collections are currently hosting an exhibition dedicated to the work of Rena Gardiner.
Rena Gardiner (1929-1999) spent her life entirely devoted to her art, creating books, prints and paintings. She is best known for a series of guidebooks to historic places, buildings and the countryside, each of which she wrote, printed and illustrated herself. This exhibition will include some of these guidebooks alongside paintings, pastels, linocuts and sketch-books and a display of work by some of the artists who influenced Rena including Eric Ravilious, John Piper and Edward Bawden.
The exhibition is based upon the book Rena Gardiner: Artist and Printmaker by Julian Francis and Martin Andrew, published by Little Toller Books in association with the Dovecote Press, 2015.
Rena Gardiner: Artist and Printmaker at MMU Special Collections runs until 18th November 2016. Visit their website for full details
Michael Kirkman
'Time Was Away', an exhibition by painter and printmaker Michael Kirkman, opened in Inverness last week and continues until 29th October 2016. The exhibition features a body of new paintings, drawings and limited edition prints. Michael explains...
"The work is an ongoing exploration into how the figure in art can suggest and communicate thoughts we all have. They can appear dreamlike at times, but I strive for the old meaning of surreal rather that the confusing and often over stylised interpretation that became fashionable in the post war years. I always work from memory, so often the images come from a real moment. I try to illustrate and make that feeling or sense of time and place available to look at in my pictures. I am very interested in the new Glasgow boys and in particular, the work of Steven Campbell, and also the general tradition of figurative work in Scotland with greats including Robin Philipson, the two Roberts, John Bellany and Joan Eardley.”
Having studied at Edinburgh College of Art, Michael Kirkman graduated from an MA course at the Royal College of Art, London in 2010. His inspiration comes from a need to communicate moments in time that seem strange or extraordinary, to capture what goes unnoticed. Some important influences include Eduardo Paolozzi, Mimmo Paladino, Balthus, Edward Burra and Jonathan Gibbs.
'Time Was Away' continues at The Castle Gallery, 43 Castle Street, Inverness IV2 3DU until 29th October 2016. View the online catalogue
We have a selection of Michael Kirkman's limited edition prints available over at our online gallery and Michael will join us in London from 23rd November until 4th December 2016 for our latest St Jude's In The City exhibition at The Bankside Gallery.
Michael Kirkman 'Icarus's Wing' oil on board (48cm x 60cm)
Michael Kirkman 'Rest from the Sea' pencil drawing (57cm x 69cm)
Michael Kirkman 'On The Wrong Way' oil on board (48cm x 49.5cm)
Michael Kirkman 'Weekday' linocut (41cm x 50cm)
Michael Kirkman 'Propeller Boy' pencil and oil pastel (40cm x 30cm)
Michael Kirkman 'Pablo's Cat' oil on board (48cm x 64cm)
Mark Hearld in Edinburgh
Opening in Edinburgh on the 5th of October is Collage, Pigeons and Platters, Mark Hearld’s first solo exhibition of new work following his critically acclaimed curated exhibition The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures which opened the recently refurbished York Art Gallery in 2015.
The exhibition continues to explore his love of the British countryside, a recent trip to Shetland and Orkney and his continuing curiosity for objects with a magpie approach to collecting in this new collection of collages, limited edition prints and hand-painted ceramics.
Talking of his collages, Mark explains…
“Collage as an approach is at the core of my work. It enables me to pull together a whole range of surfaces and textures to dynamic effect. It is inherently abstract; each bird silhouette is also a cut out piece of paper and the paper profile is very important to the overall effect.”
Visitors to the exhibition will also have the chance to see a selection of Mark’s fabrics and wallpapers for St Jude’s.
The digital catalogue for the exhibition can be viewed online now.
Collage, Pigeons and Platters runs from 5th-29th October 2016 at The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street. Edinburgh EH3 6HZ.
We're currently working on a Random Spectacular journal dedicated to Mark's The Lumber Room: Unimagined Treasures exhibition in York. To find out more nearer to publication, subscribe to our St Jude's Prints newsletter.
The Shetland Times, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Grey Partridge, mixed media with collage on paper, 40 x 40 cms
Mark Hearld working in the studio
The Shetland Ewe, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Heron, 2016, mixed media with collage on paper, 56 x 75 cms
Flight Platter, hand-painted ceramic, D:38 cms
Albion – A Celebration of Britain in Print
We’re delighted to be returning to The Town House on Fournier Street in the heart of Spitalfields for an event co-curated with The Town House proprietor Fiona Atkins.
The building dates from 1720 where silk weavers originally worked and plied their trade.
In addition to a showcase of our artist-designed fabrics and wallpapers we’ll be presenting an exhibition entitled ‘Albion - A Celebration of Britain In Print’ featuring limited edition prints by St Jude’s co-founder Angie Lewin and printmaker Christopher Brown.
Christopher Brown was born in London in 1953. He attended the Royal College of Art where he was introduced to, and eventually assisted, Edward Bawden, the master of the linocut. It was Bawden who encouraged him to explore this medium.
Since then, Christopher has exhibited at the Michael Parkin Gallery, The Royal Academy, The Fry Gallery, The Fine Art Society and the Victoria & Albert Museum.
We’ll also be launching Christopher Brown’s ‘Albion’ wallpaper, his first for St Jude’s, along with Mark Hearld’s ‘Squirrel and Sunflower’ fabric and Sheila Robinson’s ‘Monkeys and Birds’ wallpaper.
‘Monkeys and Birds’ was designed in 1958 by printmaker Sheila Robinson (1925-1988) and was printed by hand to decorate the walls of Cage Cottage, the family home in Great Bardfield. The design originates from Sheila’s hand cut linocut blocks.
A chapter profiling Sheila's work features in 'Bawden, Ravilious and the Artists of Great Bardfield' published by the V&A.
As well as the original colour way, we've worked closely with Sheila’s daughter, the printmaker and painter Chloë Cheese, to create two additional colour ways.
Visit us at The Town House, 5 Fournier Street, London E1 6QE from Tuesday 20th until Sunday 25th September. Open Tuesday 11am-8pm, Wednesday-Friday 11am-6pm, Saturday and Sunday 11am-5pm.
Christopher Brown's 'Albion' linocut
Christopher Brown cutting his 'Albion' linocut
Angie Lewin's 'Sea Pinks' wood engraving
Mark Hearld's 'Squirrel and Sunflower' fabric
Sheila Robinson's 'Monkeys and Birds' wallpaper
Flora Depicta
I'm currently exhibiting as part of Flora Depicta, a celebration of botanical art at The Scottish Gallery in Edinburgh, which features work from twenty artists working across a variety of mediums.
And I'm honoured that a room in the gallery has been dedicated to my work, featuring a selection of botanically inspired prints plus two new watercolours, Wooden Dish with Uist Pebbles and Ramsons with Thistle Pot. These are the first paintings I've exhibited since election to the Royal Watercolour Society.
The exhibition will run from 6th July until 30th July at The Scottish Gallery, 16 Dundas Street, Edinburgh EH3 6HZ. The catalogue can be viewed online.
'Wooden Dish with Uist Pebbles' watercolour
'Wooden Dish with Uist Pebbles' watercolour (detail)
'Ramsons with Thistle Pot' watercolour
'Ramsons with Thistle Pot' watercolour (detail)
A view of part of the room of my work at The Scottish Gallery with a sculptural work by Andrea Geile.
'Island Summer' screen print
'Sollas Sands' linocut
Score Tae The Toor
Many thanks to everyone who joined us at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop yesterday for the launch of Score Tae The Toor, a handmade book and remix CD inspired by the Concrete Antenna sound installation at Edinburgh Sculpture Workshop created by Simon Kirby, Tommy Perman and Rob St John and developed from our previous Concrete Antenna 12" vinyl/print package.
The trio gave a set of musicians access to their sound archive, tower instruments and compositions, and asked them to re-imagine the sited material created for the installation. Seven writers were asked to write pieces inspired by the tower and the installation, with pieces covering architecture, memory, archives, urban ecology and public art, written as essays, poetry and morse code.
Named after a phrase used by fishermen in the Firth of Forth using tall buildings on the Edinburgh skyline to orientate their sailing, Score Tae The Toor is a limited edition publication printed using a variety of techniques including risography, lithography, letterpress and computer controlled pen and knife plotters. Each cover features a unique numbered frame from an animation created by Tommy Perman.
Find out more and order a copy of Score Tae The Toor via our Random Spectacular website
Many thanks to Andy Catlin for his photos of the opening event. You can view more via Andy's Facebook page.
Interrobang
Interrobang: an international showcase of letterpress print forms part of Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft's The Village of Type programme.
Selected by a panel of typographers and designers, this open submission exhibition forms part of Ditchling’s popular Artists’ Open House trail and takes place in the beautiful former studios of painter Sir Frank Brangwyn. The exhibition features the work of contemporary letterpress artists from as far afield as Australia, Brazil, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the USA.
We're delighted to have been involved in this project and have produced a Random Spectacular journal dedicated to the event.
The diversity of the exhibition is reflected with an example of work by each of the contributing artists alongside additional articles that take a look at the idiosyncratic approach to typography of Ditchling's printing press St Dominic's. We also talk to Alan Kitching about his work and inspirations and find out more about the activities of the Occasional Print Club, whilst The Counter Press look at the role and relevance of the recent revival in letterpress and Anthony Burrill takes us on a tour of a printing works in a hidden corner of Rye. Take a look inside Interrobang.
The exhibition continues at Jointure Studios (just down the road from Ditchling Museum of Art + Craft) until 30th May 2016. Find out more.
Our Random Spectacular journal, Interrobang, is now available to purchase online via our St Jude's Prints online gallery.
Dynamo Works 'House'
The Print Project 'Shapednoise / Blood Music / Joanne / Boe&Lx poster for Golden Cabinet'
Dafi Kühne 'Januarloch'
Geri McCormick 'Viva'
The front cover of our Random Spectacular journal, featuring an interrobang printed by Thomas Mayo.
Our feature on the work of Alan Kitching Find out more.
Our look at the idiosyncratic approach to typography of Ditchling's printing press St Dominic's Find out more.
