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!

Busy week...

Amongst many things, the magenta layer has arrived on the brighter version of the Chetam's Pottery linocut as I'd hoped. I've also been working on a larger A4 . version, still at the drawing stage, and a new version of Gladstone for my single colour A5 series. My hope for this coming week is to finish cutting the final layer for this print, and to use the dark brown and then the cyan to print the Gladstone with each of the final layers for the pottery.

This past week I've also been able to meet up with the Made in Staffs group for the first time - Angie who facilitates the group and runs the website does a fantastic job supporting local makers as well as running her own business! There's also been a meet up for an informal group of printmakers from all over the country and across the Atlantic for a natter which was very much appreciated. Time to see what the new week will bring!