Caught on the hop...

...just as I was giving myself a few too many excuses for not having blogged in over a week, I popped on to find that the very lovely Stef at http://jaysmonkey.blogspot.co.uk had nipped in to nominate me for the Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you Stef.

There is something of the chain letter about these things but they also serve to widen our online appreciation and get to know others better when we follow the links. I am grateful for being thought of for this award but if anyone on my list isn't happy to go ahead with it, then I also understand that perfectly. x

The Rules

1. Add the award to your blog.

2. Thank the blogger(s) who gave it to you.

3. Mention 7 random things about yourself.
4. List the rules.
5. Award to 15 bloggers.
6. Inform each of those 15 by leaving a comment on their blog.

Ok, so now for the hard bit - 7 random things off the top of my head - truly, otherwise I'll go mad over-thinking it:

1) I can produce an unnaturally high ear-splitting beep. Why? Don't ask me, it started when I was young and now my children love to make me do it.
2) I am double-jointed in both thumbs.
3) My favourite sweets are Lions midget gems - the real ones, not the pretend 'original' ones in the supermarkets. The original Lions gems are fruitier, harder and the black ones are liquorice flavoured.
4) I've never tried sushi and probably never will.
5) I find the Waltzers scary. Really.
6) I love walking in heavy rain. Well sometimes.
7) Ticking clocks drive me potty and I hide them under cushions to muffle the noise.

....phew, too late, they're done...and here are my chosen 15 bloggers:

1) http://jacquidodds.blogspot.co.uk/

2) http://littlebrickhouseclayworks.blogspot.co.uk/

3) http://noodlebubble.blogspot.co.uk/

4) http://mandyhills.blogspot.com/

5) http://amz-afewofmyfavouritethings.blogspot.co.uk/

6) http://ello-design.blogspot.co.uk/

7) http://redbrickglass.blogspot.co.uk/

8) http://marievickersart.blogspot.co.uk/

9) http://sayitsays.blogspot.co.uk/

10) http://foundinkeswick.blogspot.co.uk/

11) http://handmade-by-edwina.blogspot.co.uk/

12) http://www.helenlimbrick.com/

13) http://dabandadash.blogspot.co.uk/

14) http://audreyscat.blogspot.co.uk/ *

15) http://dottiedesigns.blogspot.co.uk/ *

*Already awarded (there may be others, if so, sorry) but I had to include in my list because I do visit these regularly. No-one can expect you to do the list thing again, but it is nice to be mentioned. X

In between times

I am in the middle of completing commissions, printing fresh stock to send out to galleries (great news), and generally getting ready for things coming up soon (more in another post), and  I find myself distracted by images I want to pursue.

I promised myself I would concentrate on getting Inkyprints-Originals established with a portfolio and stock base before heading back into art for art's sake, but I need to do some and I think it will be good for me and for Inkyprints if I let myself. I have been wanting to do a series of bird prints for quite a while - I had collagraphs and drypoints in mind, but I think I'll do some in linocut as well. I am sure that there is room for some linocut prints in my Inkyprints range and hope that they will complement the notebooks and other stationery.

Here are a few of my sketches.  I love all of the bad-boy birds: crows, rooks, magpies etc (jackdaws are a real treat, but we don't have any near us) - I think it's the sense that they have attitude that I like.

I have a messy loose style when sketching - quite different from the graphic qualities of linocut, which is why I have previously caught them in drypoint. It'll be a challenge giving them new life, I'm looking forward to it - oh, and it'll take time (mum stuff has to come first) but I'll post the results eventually!

I'm hoping to see some more birds today - we're off to a Falconry display in a minute - a Father's Day treat (there will be coffee and cake in a cafe I'm sure)  - hard to get good pictures when they're in flight, but it'll be fun trying.

Time to start saving up.

I've been very busy this weekend juggling my way through a schedule of competing printmaking tasks but it's been great to tick them off and make room for more work - in my studio as well as my head.

Apart from finishing a wedding commission set, I also printed my dala rocking horse linocut onto notebook covers - these are delicious in cherry red - moving onto gift/wedding favour boxes in rose, white, plum and cherry (more colours to come) - labels and bunting were not forgotten either - so altogether, well over a hundred impressions which isn't bad given that we also managed an outing with the children to take advantage of the clear skies!

As the prints took their places on the drying lines, and then the shelves, and then every flat surface available...I came to the decision that it's definitely time to save up for a couple of free-standing drying racks to augment my trusty suspended lines. Printmaking studio racks can be very very costly once you've exhausted more purse-friendly options so I'd better start scouting ebay tonight.

Half-term is over, the downhill run of summer term is here - it's all school trips and fairs, picnics in the park and general winding down until the clock only whispers through the long holidays. Am looking forward to it.

List Bliss - Folksy Friday

I have been a mad monkey recently, spinning round trying to get ideas out of the sky and back on the ground before they disappear on a cloud.

To do this, I write lists and I jot them down wherever I'm standing, so I have notebooks in every room, smuggled into every bag, lurking in drawers and generally making a lovely nuisance of themselves....if only they could always keep a pencil by their sides, but am afraid the children see these as fair game and I have to hang onto pencils as if they were made of gold!

I'm lucky I guess - as a printmaker of notebooks I have an endless supply of my own  - all trials and proofs go into home circulation, waste not want not. All this list making helped this week's Folksy Friday find its own theme - I want to celebrate some of the other printmakers on Folksy - so this one's for my fellow listmakers and all those who love their paper to be pretty as well as practical.

Jacqui Dodds £8

Peony and Thistle £6

Lisa Durrant £15

Sarah Bays Original Prints £7

Bread and Jam £11.50

FinestImagery £4

Debbie Osborn Art Studio £18

Now then, where's that pencil I had earlier...?

Weekend Break

Just had a really lovely weekend break, - nowhere fancy - at home, out&about, picnics in the park, exploring round Sarehole Mill (again - it's a family favourite), mooching about the house hunting down the cool spots. But it was more than that - it was a break away from work, and I needed it and at a guess, I reckon we all did.

 
 I work at weekends because I don't have much time during the week - but this weekend showed me again how much fun we all have together when we're just chilling out and I have missed it - a lot. I need to make sure this happens more regularly, although not necessarily with wellies on in the hottest part of the day!

So it's time to streamline - the ranges and the processes. My work is becoming more popular, which is fantastic so I need to spend more time printmaking, developing the ranges and less time on some other aspects of the process - it's called out-sourcing or some other such horrible management speak term. I'll let you know, but am talking book-binders, nothing sinister (a nicer bunch would be hard to find lol). Talks are underway, but it's still at the cauldron stage. No magic answer yet, but at least I know it's in the air.

Also trying to get some more general album shots together for work marketing - 'feel' photos I suppose, and this one is just the start:

Now I must get back to making up Jubilee Bunting - not for sale, this is for us...the children have been potato-printing red white and blue and now it's time for the string and glue! Big family party this weekend and some time away together...we need the jubilee jazz to be in place before we go or they will never forgive me after all their effort!

Studio61 near Matlock

I recently sent some of my hand-printed notebooks and art-flag bunting over to Karina Goodman's gorgeous gallery boutique and if you take a peek over here on Facebook you will see some lovely goodies nestled in the gallery shop along with my art-flag bunting in one of the window shots. Thanks Karina!


http://www.facebook.com/www.studio61gallery.co.uk

I am looking forward to popping over some time over the next couple of months - hopefully it will still be as sunny as it clearly was when these pics were taken, lovely!

Honesty seeds

I have been experimenting with bookbinding papers. I recently printed up a new linocut design based on honesty seedheads - they're so beautiful. I am allowing myself to play with colours although am still drawn to plums, greys, greens and mustard. Moriki Kozo is another handmade Japanese paper - gorgeous to look at and touch, it is a dream to use for printmaking and with lovely strong fibres yet great pliability, it is also great for bookbinding.

I am very much at the practising-until-I-get-this-perfect stage right now, so anything I show on here is mine all mine lol. I will be selling these soon though, but I want to be sure that I've got the process just so before getting Folksy about it all.

It's not a bad start, and I love the way the mustard paper almost looks gold contrasted against the purple bookcloth. This will fill up soon enough with sketches, ideas and lists no doubt. A5 size, it'll be the smallest that I do with papers like this - albums and larger journals/sketchbooks are on my to-do list.