Bottle Ovens and Boats

My linocut of Gladstone Pottery Museum's smallest bottle oven is now properly underway, the first colour is on paper for the first set, and when time allows I'll get the second colourway started too. The oil-based inks need to to dry out for a couple of days, here they're suspended on my Pooki Press drying rack which hangs over a door and is nicely compact, perfect for my small editions!

I have also been working on another set of cards, this time using my oldest lino block which was the first thing I made when I started printmaking again over a decade ago. This boat is taken from a drawing made in 1990 in Cardiff Docks, as it was then.

Here you can see a variety of ways that I've inked this one up, the centre set are this last week's work. The drawing of the boat resting on the mud in the docks is definitely a historic image as this area is now Cardiff Bay, permanently flooded and maintained by the barrage, and redeveloped as a major tourist destination.

One month later....

... I have made slow progress, but things are afoot! Work is progressing on my next bottle kiln linocut, the smallest one at Gladstone Pottery Museum and I'm hoping to print the first of three colours soon.

A very exciting opportunity is coming up in conjunction with Made In Staffs in the next month or so, as a new community gallery, shop and workspace is opening in Church Street, Uttoxeter. Called Two Silver Pennies , it will showcase Staffordshire artists and crafters, giving customers the opportunity to buy unique products handmade in the county. It will also house two small businesses, as well as hosting a meeting space for workshops. I am extremely happy to be involved and will have a number of my original linocuts for sale when it opens in April!

I have recently been trying to track down a few old single-colour lino blocks that I use for hand-printed cards. So far two have eluded me, but the old faithful pelargonium block has been pressed into service again, ten years old and still going strong. I enjoyed working through some shades from salmon to shocking pink, it was a satisfying session of printing. Hopefully my rose and fishing boat blocks will surface soon..... These cards are available through my Folksy shop and will also be at Two Silver Pennies.

Catching up

This month I'm taking part in the Made In Staffs visibility challenge, making an effort to post every day along the daily theme. It's been a challenge to me as I've been posting more about myself than my work, so I've had to grit my teeth a bit as it's not my favourite thing! It's been good though, and cathartic in a way, and is definitely encouraging me to post daily in a way that I never would have thought I could.

I'm also grateful to have now finished both versions of 'Chetam's Pottery', the remaining part of their factory in Longton, Stoke-on-Trent. I was able to visit the site of Dolby Pottery in Stoke town yesterday and got some reference shots for a future piece of work. There are a lot of textures going on in there and I'm looking forward to exploring what I can do with them!