Hot off the press: tea towels, canvas bags, summer workshops

Here are some photos from Sunday’s screen printing session at Emma’s, which was wonderful fun.  Many tea towels and canvas bags were adorned with Scandinavian horses (based on my recent paper cut design). Almost by accident the original design worked well as a repeat pattern, so we have a mixture of repeats in a fiery orange, and a single, larger image in a rich chocolate brown. ‘Vilda Hästar’ is Swedish for ‘Wild Horses’…

All designs copyright : Sarah Edmonds

As I’ve previously mentioned, I love Scandinavian design, and have enjoyed experimenting with a paper cutting technique to inform the look of the finished print. Maybe the forthcoming cabins will take a similar route?

While researching (alongside the arranging and rearranging of my Mum’s Swedish horse collection), I came across the wonderful website that deserves a share:  ‘From Scandinavia With Love’. It is truly inspiring. Click on the image below (these are just a few of my favourites on there) to visit the site. Searching ‘Print’ brings up some nice things and then you may, like me, spend hours lusting after a home of multi coloured chairs and procrastinating on the internets for a Very Long Time.

The tea towels and bags will be launched at the forthcoming market at Milkwood Gallery in Cardiff on Sunday 8 July. There will also be prints, both 5 colour and 1 colour, available.

Following that they’ll be on sale in my online shop… 

WORKSHOPS
I am running three workshops this summer at the Cardiff Open Art School.  They’ll all take place at the Howard Gardens Campus up in the Printmaking department. Places are limited to book soon to ensure you get a place…

Saturday 28 July 2012, 10am – 4pm
Creative Collage
During this one-day course you will explore ways to work with a range of media, from paper to found objects, magazine pages to rubber stamps. Taking inspiration from life, the media, collage practitioners and your imagination you will create several collages, and learn about the ideas behind this fun and fascinating medium of cutting and sticking.  
£65.00

Saturday 4 August, 10 am – 4 pm
Handmade Books
During this class you will explore several approaches to making a book, from traditional Western and Eastern stitch bindings to one-sheet books, concertina and pocket books and also more innovative and surprising ideas for what books can be.
£70.00

Saturday 11 August, 10 am – 3 pm
Letterpress Printmaking
Come and play with a range of original wooden and metal type and learn how type was designed, set and printed before the rise of digital technology. For all font enthusiasts and those wishing to try out a new process that is being brought back to life by artists and designers across the world.
£65.00

All of these courses can be booked over the phone: 029 2041 6628 or click here to book online. Do share with friends etc – the more, the merrier!

Laters x

Ladies of Letterpress: a weekend workshop in pictures…

Fonts galore! Messy inks turning our prints into all kinds of colours on an old Adana 6×4 letterpress and a cute little flat bed. Welcome to a peek at this weekend’s Letterpress workshops, as part of the COAS Summerschool. Big thanks to Heather, Ruby and Nanna for taking part and creating some fantastic prints and designs. Below are some pictures to give you an idea of what we did…

All pictures copyright Sarah Edmonds / the artists!

The Letterpress weekend course at Howard Gardens will run again next year. Keep checking the WORKSHOPS page for news of forthcoming classes / creative get togethers etc. We four ladies of letterpress from this weekend hope to meet again (sounds like the witches of Macbeth!) for a crafty catch up!

I was pleased to win a load of interesting type on eBay last week, which should be arriving in the post very soon. Expect some further letterpress play coming soon from me!

Blackstock’s Collection: The Drawings of an Artistic Savant (I wish there was wallpaper like this)

I haven’t posted in a couple of weeks. My veg garden is being very demanding : the potatos look like a small forest, bean plants more like beanstalks and an onslaught of over 50 pumpkin/squash hybrids sprung unannounced from the compost heap. I now have 4 glorious days off work to get some stuff done. Including visiting the Cardiff School of Art and Design degree show (last day today), research for forthcoming workshops, making stuff, drawing, digging and resting.

Book for today: Blackstock’s Collections: the drawings of an Artistic Sauvant.

Blackstock is autistic and an artistic savant. He creates visual lists of everything from wasps to hats to emergency vehicles to noisemakers. “Blackstock’s Collections” contains over 100 extraordinary examples of his splendidly original taxonomy, offering a unique look inside the mind of a man making sense of life through art. He has simplified the subtle differences between ‘families’ of objects and animals. I would love this as wallpaper, or pages pasted up randomly around my house so I could absorb these facts so cleverly drawn.

Check it OUT – click on the book’s front cover to visit Amazon.

I have a few things to post up (and hopefully more bits I’ll make and draw over the long weekend). Breakfast now!

Transform and tinker…

This is a recipe for escape – an altered book – is now complete and installed in the Book Arts Exhibition at Cardiff Central library together with other bits of my work. Here is a spread from the finished piece – click on the image to look further inside this book.

If you want to have a go yourself at altering books and tinkering with text, I am running a 2 – day weekend workshop  on 16 – 17 April, as part of Cardiff Open Art School.

During two intensive day-sessions you will learn how to revamp an old book with all sorts of paper-cuts, pop-ups, folding and gluing. Taking inspiration from contemporary book and paper artists, you will alter the content and shape of the original pages and gain an insight into how to completely transform the size, shape and function of a book. The book will be your canvas, and your task to use what it already contains to create something unique.

Click here for further details and to book your place.

In researching altered books and paper sculpture I’ve come across some stunning artwork, a few pieces of which I’d like to share:

The incredible book sculptures of Brian Dettmer, crafted from encyclopaedias, dictionaries and antique texts:

The living breathing creatures that are Georgia Russell’s paper-cuts:

and the magical worlds which grow from the pages of Su Blackwell’s books:

Click on each image to link to the artists’ websites, see more examples of their work and find out a little more about the ways to tinker and transform books and paper.

Forthcoming Book Making Evening Class!

It’s been a while since I’ve posted here – had some long needed hibernation time spent restoring an old letterpress (more on that soon) and making Christmas presents and generally shambling wrapped in many many layers! Over the next week or so I’ll post up new work and links and all sorts of other things, but right now I want to tell you about an evening class I’ll be starting in January:

Introduction to Handmade Books – Evening Class

Starting on Monday 17 January 2011, 7.00 – 9.00 pm
Ten week course at Howard Gardens School of Art and Design in Cardiff.

Find out more and book a place: click here!

The handmade book is an exciting and versatile form, which artists continue to be inspired by. During the course you will explore a variety of folding, binding, covering and finishing techniques, with access to a collection of artists books to gather ideas from. Examples will include one-sheet books, concertina and pocket books, several stitched-binding techniques, and also more innovative and surprising ways to construct and finish your book.
To develop your skills you will work on several inspiring projects, using a range of recycled materials, ephemera, papers and photographs to construct unique journals, albums and story -books.  You will also have the opportunity to alter existing books and transform old pages into works of art.

Drop me a line at sarie8 (at) gmail.com if you have any questions about the course. Please do pass this information on to anyone who might be interested. Looking forward to seeing you there.

Yay!

Between then and now – what I’ve been up to this September

In the time between the last blog post and this, I’ve mainly been busy compiling all the material for the Shoe Tales project exhibition, at Milkwood Gallery on Friday 24th September! The production line includes, so far, double sided concertina books which tell the story of the project on one side, and display a small selection of postcards on the other.  My spare room is also brimming with charity shop picture frames, postcard enlargements, donated old shoes, lots of brown paper – all in all, it’s a hive of activity.

So: here’s what’s happening for Shoe Tales:

Friday 24th September – Monday 18th October
Milkwood Gallery, 41 Lochaber Street, Roath, Cardiff.
Important dates for your diary!

– Friday 24th September: Exhibition opening party, 6.00 – 9.00 pm at Milkwood Gallery
The Shoe Tales exhibition opens its doors and kicks off with a bit of a party! View the display of all postcards received by the project in an installation which also gives viewers a chance to tell their own stories and add to the Shoe Tales showcase.
* * *
– Saturday 25th September: Shoe Decoration Workshop, 2.00 pm – 5.00 pm at Milkwood Gallery
Shoe decoration: turning old shoes into works of art!
Bring a pair of your old shoes that you no longer wear (or that are no longer wearable) and revamp them as a work of art!
Materials such as fabric scraps, needles and thread, wire, paper and other odds and ends will be provided to magic your forgotten footwear into something spectacular!
Suitable for all ages.
Under 18s £4.50, adults £8.00 to take part.  Limited places available – to book  a place contact Milkwood Gallery: 029 20473373
* * *
-Saturday 9th October: Shoe Tales at the Book Arts Fayre, Ffotogallery, Turner House, Penarth. 11am – 4pm
Come along to Ffotogallery for a day of zines, artists’ books and handmade pages: the concertina books which will accompany the exhibition will be on display and sale.
More information: http://ffotogallerybookartsfayre.wordpress.com/
* * *
-Sunday 10th October:  Book Making workshop, 3.00 pm – 5.30 pm at Milkwood Gallery
So you’ve written a poem, made a list, found a quote. You’ve doodled something at work or cut something out of a magazine. Want a book to put it in?
Take part in a book making workshop, where you can learn how to make envelope books, scrap books, folded books and books with pockets to hold letters, keepsakes and even postcards!
All materials will be provided, just bring yourself and friends.
Suitable for all ages.
Under 18s £4.50, adults £8.00 to take part. Limited places available, to book a place contact Milkwood Gallery: 029 2047 3373

For further information about the Shoe Tales project, visit http://www.shoetales.co.uk <http://www.shoetales.co.uk&gt;
Shoe Tales is on Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/home.php?

See you there!

Flag making on a rainy evening

Flag making workshop…..tonight!!

Tonight I’m running a flag making workshop at the lovely Milgi Lounge in Cardiff. We’ll be making colourful flags to contribute to a giant piece of bunting made by women all over Wales.What story might your flag tell? Of a faraway place you visited once, or of your home town? A portrait of a childhood object? Words that describe your favourite shoes?

We’ll have an array of materials for you to use; you’re also welcome to bring your own cast offs and fabric scraps. This is part of WAA’s Keepsakes project.

See you there!

Be Inspired…Get Involved!

Women’s Arts Association are teaming up with those creative types at Milgi to host a

Flag-Making Workshop.

Come and share your recycled fabric, stitches and stories!
A range of exciting materials will be provided, but feel free to bring some things of your own as well. Join us for a creative summer’s eve of craft, sewing, stitching and decoration!

Thursday 15th July
6-9pm

A great way of supporting WAA and helping us to raise £1,000
in support of the Keepsakes community arts project…

The Yurt – Milgi
213 City Road, Cardiff, CF24 3JD

£5 on the door

http://www.milgilounge.com

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With help from our busy team of volunteers we’ll magic your flags into beautiful bunting to be exhibited in the autumn. This is

a great way to support WAA’s new community arts project, Keepsakes.

For more info about Keepsakes and to download a flag template – visit the WAA website:

http://www.womensarts.co.uk

Tel: 02920 487850
Email: info@womensarts.co.uk