Showing posts with label Letter Exchange. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Letter Exchange. Show all posts
Friday, 5 October 2012
LX Exhibition 7 - Beginning and End
I like running with two pieces then choosing the best. In this case it was even more important because I had one chance to screen print a circle and I wanted a second chance. But to do the same design twice is so boring, so I changed the design from the original concept. (In the end I did a third on silk while the screen was set up)
I did a column of stamping, leaving a middle bit for a gold square (which never materialised).
Then I did my loose pen writing with watercolour and a C-O Speedball nib over the stamping, and added some water. This has a softness that is so very different from "First and Last".
By the way, you may wonder why I drag out the telling of all of this.
Well, it's a blog and a kind of daily diary, and as it is, I am still condensing a few weeks worth of work into a few days. So there! Its kind of nice to keep you wondering as I do, what the outcome will look like! Also I can't always talk about things as they happen because for exhibitions its not fair to show work prior to the exhibition opening.
So, more tomorrow.
Thursday, 4 October 2012
LX Exhibition 6 - First and Last
The concept:
Words set Free: Birchwood with laminated paper which has a torn edge. Size 40cm x 40cm.
I showed the laminating process on the post dated 24th May.
Paper: BFK Rives which is soft and lovely for stamping into.
Text: John 1: "in the beginning was the word..."
The top half of the paper would be covered in text and contrast with the lower half.
A circle symbolising eternity would be screened onto the text, and the text would sparkle through as white lettering.
I could not have used ink with a brush as this would fill the dents made by the letters, but I thought screen printing would work. Besides, trying to do a perfect 20 second circle over 20 hours of stamped letters? No!
I made a photographic screen and screen printed this over the stamped letters. This was extremely nerve-wracking as I had one chance and screen printing is never 100% predictable.
(I had a second chance with a different design, but even so...)
And the ink did not behave as I had expected because it filled most of the letters.
So I washed the screen and went home.
When you expect a certain outcome it is often difficult to appreciate what the actual outcome is. When I reassessed, I rather liked the way there were some deep velvety black letters and some sparkly white letters.
(hard to see in the photo as its quite subtle). In the end when choosing between the three some of my family chose this one. I decided on the silk because I thought I liked the warmth of the soft golds especially as I could not control the environment where it would be hung. Black and white is less versatile.
Labels:
First and Last,
journal,
Letter Exchange,
metal stamping,
Words Set Free
Friday, 28 September 2012
LX Exhibition 3 - Alpha and Omega
Here is the piece I finally submitted. When framed: 40cm x 40cm.
The circle is screenprinted onto slub silk with black acrylic ink.
The lettering is handwritten with a pointed brush using gold acrylic ink.
The signature square is gold leaf on gum ammoniac, with very fine brush lettering - about 1mm high.
Letter Exchange Lettering exhibition:
Words Set Free
Mondays - Fridays
27th September - 19th October
9.00am - 8.00pm
9.00am - 8.00pm
The Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
EC1R 3GA
Farringdon Tube Station
Thursday, 27 September 2012
LX Exhibtion 2 - Words set free
What is my feeling about this piece? It's beautiful. Robbie is exploring the open window idea against the suggestion of prison bars and the way air can travel back and forth through the grid. This is a sympathetic piece carved with warmth and gives a sense of longing and optimism in the style of lettering and also in the choice of materials.
Robbie is a letter carver with a a real commitment to his art. He lives in Crieff, Perthshire but travels to London frequently. You may enjoy more of his work on the letter exchange website:
http://www.letterexchange.org/letter-exchange-membership/members-home/robbie-schneider.html
P.S. Don't you just love that his surname means "cutter" in English. Clearly a genetic talent then.
There are 24 works of art all by full members of Letter Exchange, each measuring 40cm X 40cm. Look out for the catalogues on the website - they are worth buying as beautiful little books because they are little gems - beautifully edited and collated by Mark Noad, chairman of LX. http://www.letterexchange.org
Letter Exchange Lettering exhibition:
Words Set Free
Mondays - Fridays
27th September - 19th October
9.00am - 8.00pm
9.00am - 8.00pm
The Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
EC1R 3GA
Farringdon Tube Station
Blog Update: This blog is getting refurbished and moving address soon to www.limetreesstudio.com. It is written for people who like to think creatively and enjoy visual information. It's filled with things I find inspiring and "behind the scenes" info and tips. Obviously it's biased towards my interests of lettering arts, printmaking and watercolours. Because I'm a real person you'll also find it seasonal, celebrating feasts, holidays, family and friends.
We are changing the look slightly and the address to www.limetreesstudio.com. Early next year we'll be launching the Limetrees Club, where members who join can download pdf's of tutorials, created by me and some other professional tutors. We'll launch with calligraphy, bookbinding, alphabet design, watercolour basics and Creative Inspiration (Find your artist). There'll be a members' gallery and forum. And the blog will still continue as usual for members and non-members.
Then there will also be a professional gallery which will sell artworks and letterworks by artists.
Hopefully this will be launched by mid-November, in time for Christmas
Wednesday, 26 September 2012
LX Exhibition 1 - Words set free - starting out
Opening: Today - see below.
We started talking about the LX exhibition a year ago - the venue is The Free Word Centre and our exhibition was themed Words Set Free.
I was chatting to my daughter about it and she said she has started writing a short story titled Rope of Words, so I played with that idea in my head. But that idea blossomed into my current big project of making an artist's book using the script. The 40cm square format didn't suit it and the illustrations all seemed as though they'd look better with their friends - i.e. as part of a collection.
A few more ideas came and went and I went back to something I've wanted to work with for a long time - a brush-drawn circle suggesting eternity and then some quotations from St John & revelations - "In the beginning was the word" and Alpha and "Omega". I planned to cover birch ply in paper and stamp the lettering in using metal stamps. If I stamped the letters first then screen-printed the circle perhaps the ink would leave the letters stark white. Perhaps?
So I got my huge Japanese brush and ink and did some circles to select the one I thought would work the best. Much as I like the top left circle, it has to be fairly solid to work with the stamped letters. I love the shiny Chinese ink.
Letter Exchange Lettering exhibition:
Words Set Free
Mondays - Fridays
27th September - 19th October
9.00am - 8.00pm
9.00am - 8.00pm
The Free Word Centre
60 Farringdon Road
EC1R 3GA
Farringdon Tube Station
Tuesday, 11 September 2012
Donald Jackson at Letter Exchange
Donald Jackson will be addressing us at the Artworkers GuildLetter Exchange on the 17th October 2012. We are expecting a full house so get there early!
Making
letters - Making letters speak
In 1995 Donald Jackson proposed the idea of
an “American Book of Kells” to the monks of Saint John’s
Abbey and the academic community of Saint John’s
University in Minnesota .
After 3 years of courtship and 15 years of
contractual “marriage” to the project, the original handwritten pages were
completed in May 2011.
The Heritage, Limited Edition facsimile
sets will be ready for delivery in the spring 2013.
Donald Jackson will share stories, letters and
images illustrating some of his journey from Genesis to Revelation and back
again.
Lecture starts at 6:30pm prompt
Venue: The Artworkers Guild, 6 Queen Square, London WC1N 3AT
Entrance on the door: members £6, non-members £8, students £4
Season ticket (8 lectures for the price of 6): members £36, non-members £48, students £24
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