Exhibition AwardD

Delighted to receive the Public vote for favorite artwork at the recent Birmingham Art Circle Exhibition at RBSA Birmingham. my thanks to all of the wonderful visitors who took tome to consider and vote .

Exhibitions 2023

I have work in several exhibitions in November

1 Birmingham Art Circle @ RBSA Birmingham, 2 the Art Yard Cradley Heath, 3 Dudley Canal Trust - Dudley 4 Members and Associates Exhibition @RBSA Birmingham

Exhibition Himley Hall Dudley

I have an exhibition of 25 art works at Himley Hall - Dudley which will shoe until January 2023. There is also cake and coffee!

Making a two block lino print

Block One

Final Image

Block Two

Initial Design

End of Stage One

The challenge in this piece of work was to get registration clean and on point whilst retaining the vibrancy of the bluebells as seen in Clent Woods - Lower Path. I usually use a one bock reduction for my work but this time branched out to generating two unique cutting blocks which then had to match up on printing. A little nervy because you never truly know if things are working out as planned until stage two with the second block.

Happy with the end result although the mass cutting of three tones in the bluebells led to arm arch!

Into Spring

The first flowers to emerge from winter have been crocus. these have been sketched and rendered into a lino cut print which is now displayed in the Gallery of this web site.

In March I delivered a Zoom talk on the influence Japanese woodcut has had upon my own work along with some historical context . The Midland and Reddich Bonsai Societies were most welcoming and forgiving of my limited but improving Zoom navigation skills. the PowerPoint I created as the foundation of the talk seemed to be well received.

Soon planning will take place for a series of outdoor painting expeditions once restrictions are eased. a thought that keeps many of the creative community feeling positive and hopeful

Into Winter

Into Winter

Artwork has been in a difficult place recently along with everything else! I have focused on studio work based on sketch books and photographs taken during socially distanced rambles.

My Lino Prints have been to the forefront, these being exchanged visually with colleagues through Whats App artist groups, these have been a great boon since exhibitions have been understandably curtailed for the time being.

A session sharpening my cutting tools ready for new projects was called for. My cutting tools consist of Pheil Swiss tools, Powergrip tools, etching tools, scalpel and Japanese wood cutting tools.

To sharpen I use a red sandstone grit stone and a shaped leather strop to hone the tool edges. All done and ready to go!

Japanese cutting tools

Honing Strop

Pheil Cutting Tools

Autumn Begins

And so we are still under a form of lockdown conditions here, although the details do seem to change almost daily! I have managed to enjoy regular Thursday Plein Air painting and drawing ( socially distanced of course) and the time spent at home / in the studio have resulted in a garden which has never looked so vibrant , the positive being that it has provided a regular source of material and inspiration for my print making and drawing.

The outcome has been my “Garden Series” of prints which has been both challenging and enjoyable. I entered four of the prints into a recent exhibition at RBSA and was delighted to be awarded a Highly Commended by the judges.

My work derived from the locality of the West Midlands has also been recognized . Four of my industrial / Urban prints have been forwarded to be included in a Warwickshire based project celebrating the industrial heritage of Birmingham and the West Midlands. I look forward to visiting the exhibition in the near future

Painting at Himley Hall

Lockdown easing

I hope everyone out there is managing to stay well and yet still manage to get creative. My garden has been a source of inspiration for my reduction lino printing and has pushed painting in oils back into he frame.

I have manage to get out with a local group to engage in some socially distanced plein air painting giving my new set outdoor set up a workout for the first time. I really must limit my colour selection next time, it s so tempting to add just a few more tubes to my tray and to weight and cumbersomeness! I find that my new tripod and Pochard box set up is lighter and more manageable than the old French Julian box. Out again tomorrow hoping the rain keeps away. I hope to get some of the plein air work onto this site soon

Lockdown Art

So , lockdown has limited my source material for making art. The garden has fortunately come to the rescue with many tulips daffodils etc. sketches and reference photographs has contributed to lino cuts and pen and ink work. My cutting knives have been flying and sketch books worked. I have also been mining the stash of sketches accumulated in life drawing sessions to develop images.

I am a great believer in sharing experiences and as such have been contributing to the wonderful body of work on the Dudley Society of Artist Facebook page. This has included two (rather clumsy first attempts at video demonstration. There has been huge demand experienced by online art materials suppliers, some have sold out of certain lines, this is evidence of growth of creative activity during lockdown. Hopefully the will result in membership of art societies when this surreal situation is over. I hope that the mental stresses of lockdown have been eased by the application of paint and line!

Stay safe

Andy