Creative Collagraphs

This two day course at the RBSA Gallery which I attended this week was conducted by

Celia Nancarrow

Celia Nancarrow graduated in Fine Art in Birmingham and now specialises in collagraphs. The infinite varieties of materials that can be used in creating a collagraph make this type of printmaking particularly exciting, and using both methods of inking up (intaglio and relief) creates a unique image. The work can be abstract, figurative or have the simplicity of a Japanese Print. Some prints express themselves better in black and white than in colour and vice versa depending on the subject matter or mood that is being expressed. The work usually has a theme and is developed to produce a series on that subject. For example there are 8 different prints based on the mystical island of Anglesey. Its ephemeral light qualities and ever changing moods are a fascination and the challenge of reflecting the extreme tonal values inherent in the Welsh landscape can be met by the flexibility of the collagraph.

I used one of the photographs that I had taken of Clemens Street as a starting point:

I am quite pleased with what I produced and will be constructing a number of collagraphs ready for when I return to uni in September.

Calligraphy

Just started a Saturday drop in session in foundational handwriting at The Pen Room in Birmingham
www.penroom.co.uk - a really fascinating place.  Good tutor too ... Sandra Sandilands http://magistrauk.blogspot.com.  It's very therapeutic and calming to be writing carefully but very difficult too ... you think that you have got a handle on one of the letters and it then slips away ....

RA Summer Exhibition

Well my family have returned to Australia, I am now recovered from pharyngitis and various complications.  Went to the RA Summer Exhibition in London and had a super super time.  The following artists were particularly of interest:

Julio Brujis - Takayama (Collaged Photographic Prints); Guy Sargent - Place des Heros, Arras (Architectural Photograph); Richard Kirwan (Giclee print)
Anthony Whishaw RA (Acrylics) Anthony Eyton RA (very much enjoyed his oils - particularly Two Rock Forms, Uluru), Tom Phillips RA The Remains of the Day I & II - oils which had been cut into sections and re-applied to the background like a mosaic) + his epson & silkscreen works ; Keith Tyson's Deep Impact; works by Barbara Rae RA; prints from Bill Jacklin RA; Jim Dine; Melvyn Petterson; Norman Ackroyd RA (St Kilda - Soay and the Cambir Etching was particularly appealing); Rob Ryan, Sir Nicholas Grimshaw PRA; Eileen Cooper RA; Max Marschner (White Dog - photo etching); Jennifer Dickson RA; Anthony Frost's abstracts (just been reading his recent interviews); Celadon vessels from Edmund De Waal who I also saw in Middlesborough but who Catherine reminds me is the author of the Hare with the Golden Eyes which is my next read.  Back to the exhibition with stunning works by Ed Ruscha of Ghost Station a mixografia print on handmade paper a snip at £11,700 and wonderful; and Anselm Keifer.  What a great thing it is to have all these artists together!  I could go on but ... just to say that it was really good to see Paul Hipkiss' relief print of Towanroach Pumping Engine House from Chapel Porth Beach.  But where were submissions from my tutors?