JANET DICKSON - pressing news

Linoprinting - by steam roller or more conventional means

2011-11-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

As part of the International Print Biennale currently ongoing throughout the North East, the Northern Print team came up with the idea of using a steam roller to make a print from a very long piece of lino, 8 metres of it. Print studio members and friends (including myself) joined in the cutting of very large pieces of lino and on a bright Sunday morning, they gathered under the Tyne Bridge for a bit of printmaking, using a steam roller called Coquet Lass. A really great little film has been made to record both the cutting and the printing and this jolly event can be viewed on www.vimeo.com/31552684.

See the Northern Print website for more details on www.northernprint.org.uk. The lino print will be displayed at Northern Print during the Northern Footprints exhibition which opens on November 26th.

A more conventional linocut is also hot off the press, this time made in my own studio in a more traditional way. Inspired by earlier drawings made of some fantastic trees in a park in the West End of Newcastle (featured in an earlier blog 3.5.2011) "A Walk in the Park" combines monoprint drawing and linocutting techniques.

Ode to Grayson Perry

2011-11-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

It has been a long two months since I last wrote something for my blog, but among other things I have spent time with family, have been away and have been working on a new website. My brain is now back into gear.

During a recent trip to London I went to the British Museum to see the Grayson Perry exhibition "The Tomb of the Unknown Craftsman". Quite apart from the stunning qualities of the BM itself, this exhibition was among the best I have seen and enjoyed. So much so that once outside I could have gone in to see it all over again. The pieces chosen by Perry from the extensive museum collection were fascinating in themselves, a celebration of craftsmanship, but the pieces that he himself created in response to these were witty, clever, and beautifully made. Most of these pieces included a reference to Allan Measles, his teddy, and his most valued possession and arguably the star of the show. There has always be something very endearing about Grayson Perry for me, the man and his work, and his place in the contemporary art world, that of the Turner Prize. There is an honesty about him that I like immensely and I do think that he is an extremely clever and talented artist. He also makes me smile. Importantly, there is a clear dialogue going on between his work and the viewer, which is rare in that mysterious genre of contemporary art. The story he is telling is there for all to see.

A visit to the Saatchi Gallery echoes this theme (beautiful gallery space) but unlike Grayson Perry's work, much of this work failed to have any dialogue with me at all. Richard Wilson's room full of oil was amazing however, in the sense that your brain has to work so hard to work out what exactly you are looking at. This and a couple of other pieces were extremely powerful, emotive, but pieces made of plaster for example, badly made of plaster with none of the craftsmanship of the BM exhibition, escape me, particularly when they are 'untitled'. Let me in, I am a very willing viewer! I haven't yet seen the Turner Prize exhibits at the Baltic so we will see if they 'talk' to me or not.

I began to ask myself if I actually had an understanding of when something can carry the label ART? Is it something that is in a gallery? Many people look at contemporary art pieces and feel quite sure that they are not looking at ART, not as they understand it, but I have pondered. For me, ART is the maker's visual interpretation of an aspect of the world we live in. Each artist has their own personal visual language - we may or may not understand it or like it even, but I would like to think that there is something about it that we can all appreciate.

Enough! If you get the chance to see the Grayson Perry exhibition, do. It continues until February 2012.

Out and About

2011-08-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

August has been another largely wet month and there have been few opportunities to garden, but I have spent many hours working at my computer designing a new website which should be up and running next month. However, I have been out and about to see a couple of exhibitions and gardens too.

The annual weekend open studio of Pauline Burbidge, textile artist and her husband and sculptor Charles Poulson at Allanton in the borders is always a really stimulating visit. The farm buildings that they live and work in are a testament to their creativity - the house interior, the garden with sculptural living willow forms and sculpture, and of course the work on show too. Do take a look at Pauline's website to see her quilts and make a mental note to visit next year, particularly if you have never been before. www.paulineburbidge-quilts.com It is a real treat and the pub at Allanton is very good too.

Dame Elizabeth Blackadder is soon to be 80 years old and there is a fantastic retrospective exhibition running now until the end of the year at the National Gallery of Scotland in Edinburgh. I am familiar with some of her work, her watercolours of irises and other flowers, her cats and some of her printmaking, but the exhibition is extensive and includes many of her paintings with which I was less familiar. For me, she has a real skill for composition and design, so evident in her paintings, but her observation of flowers and cats and her still life arrangements of the many objects in her collections, made it a really interesting exhibition to visit.

Newby Hall near Ripon is a garden to see for its amazing long borders and 23 acres of landscaped woodland and garden 'rooms'. We visited it this weekend whilst visiting friends and I had seen a television feature about plans to change the borders over the next few years - these impressive borders which run from Newby Hall itself down towards the river do not disappoint, even at the end of August. A number of willow sculptures feature in a sculpture trail throughout the woodland setting and the deer in particular look remarkably life-like - all are for sale and do less damage than the real thing! The shop and Arts Centre (one must go to the shop) is surprisingly good in that it features work by several contemporary printmakers and illustrators - Angie Lewin, Mark Hearld, Johnny Hannah, Emily Sutton etc, work including cards, but also framed screenprints and ceramics among other things. Worth a trip!

Lithograph edition

2011-08-23T07:58:00.000-07:00

I have now printed an edition (15 copies) of the lithograph Inula seedheads - autumn border, Chesters walled garden, which is part of my Northumberland Gardens work. Whilst this particular garden is no longer open to the public, still working with images from this atmospheric place instills a feeling of great nostalgia, but many artists were inspired here and hopefully we will continue to see familiar images to remind us of its natural beauty.

Workshops

2011-08-02T07:47:00.000-07:00

Following the success of two workshops, Printmakers Picnics, associated with this summer's Art Tour, I am now offering further opportunities to spend time in the studio and have a go at some Monoprinting. In addition to these three dates, there is also a workshop introducing Drypoint, an intaglio process which involves drawing into a metal plate, with some similarities to etching, but without the chemical processing. Places are limited so book early.

If you would like any further details about these and other workshops, please contact me at jd@janetdickson.co.uk

Monoprinting - painterly printmaking a one-day workshop with a choice of dates

Saturday 20th August 10 - 4.30pm

Saturday 17th September 10 - 4.30pm

Saturday 1st October 10 - 4.30pm

Tutor: Janet Dickson

Course Fee: £65 inclusive of all materials, refreshments and a delicious lunch.

No previous experience is required and a maximum number of 5 students on each workshop ensures lots of individual attention.

An Introduction to Drypoint - a one-day workshop

Saturday 22nd October 10 - 4.30pm

Guest Tutor: Steve Burdett

Course fee: £65 inclusive of materials (one initial plate) refreshments and a delicious lunch.

No previous experience is required and a maximum number of 6 students ensures lots of individual attention.

Hats off to Leeks

2011-08-02T06:52:00.000-07:00

It was great to meet everyone who ventured to my studio during the Art Tour, but now that it is in the past, work has resumed, as has the gardening, and I have finally returned to my blog.

I have been itching to get out in the garden to draw some leeks that were overwintered and just left to do their own (most wonderful) thing! I have watched them over recent weeks develop from almost pixie hat to hats off on top of beautiful spherical flowerheads, changing from white to a delicate mauve. Actually, these particular hats wouldn't go amiss on the catwalk.

Open Studio

2011-06-15T10:06:00.000-07:00

It has been nearly a month since I last created a new post, I did take some time out to visit the Chelsea Flower Show which is always inspirational for garden/plant enthusiasts, but lots of time has been devoted to preparing for The Art Tour which started last weekend. The weather was not great, visitors to Healey Mill came sporting umbrellas, but the rain kept off on Sunday despite a dreadful forecast.

The studio looks great, the foxgloves having positioned themselves perfectly to welcome visitors across the door, and once inside, the printmaking includes monoprints as always, linocuts and lithographs for the first time. The favorite seems to be a study of Ammis majus, an annual rather like cow parsley, but more unusual - it looks stunning when the flowers begin to open.

Lots of interest from would-be printmakers for courses and workshops. I am running two monoprinting days, Printmakers Picnics, on 23rd and 30th May for complete beginners and there is one place left on each of these days which include a delicious lunch to be taken outside if possible, in, if not. More workshops are planned, including one in drypoint, later this summer. More details on this will follow later.

Garden birds - from monoprint to linocut

2011-05-16T10:41:00.001-07:00

I was experimenting with some monoprinting, working in single colour layers, reducing each layer to shapes of hedges and trees by wiping away ink and then 'drawing' into it. The end result had potential, as they say, as an approach for further work, but what struck me was that it might also work as a lino print and in this way could also be reproduced. So this is how it turned out.

Whereas the monoprint has a softness to it and is probably well worth some further development, the linocut is quite graphic in its interpretation.

Drawing trees

2011-05-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Drawing in my sketchbook is something I love to do and I have been driving past some fantastic trees in the centre of town (Newcastle) all winter, being fascinated by them and wanting to draw them. Only very recently however did I remember to pack my sketchbook when going that way and only just caught them before they burst into blossom. The day was cold, breezy and it started to rain, but the shapes are amazing and will surely feature in some print work very soon.

They reminded me of another tree that never fails to catch my attention, not far from where I live. I pass it regularly and it is on a bend in a country road with a wonderful name, The Fiddler's Elbow. I am sure that this has to be the name of the tree!

Spring has most definitely sprung!

2011-04-11T04:11:00.000-07:00

Spring is always just a little later in arriving around and about the studio. Being in a frost pocket means that first the snowdrops and then the daffodils and narcissus in the orchard, are always slightly later than elsewhere. However, Spring is definitely here now and whilst it it is more grey today, this warm weekend has been amazing - the change in the weather however, makes it easier to work in the studio, rather than in the garden.

The Art Tour Cometh

2011-04-04T11:31:00.000-07:00

With the Art Tour only just over two months away now, the need to create new work intensifies, apart from that associated with a couple of ongoing projects that is. This also seems to be a pretty good time to start writing about and sharing what I'm up to in my studio.Recently I have been obsessed by some beautiful white stemmed birch trees (Betula jacquemontii) we planted about five years ago now and have been creating a series of monoprints with the trees at different times of the year, in different light and so on. I am fascinated how repeated study of the same subject documents change, in time, weather, season. Some years ago now I walked my (now deceased) dog along the beach at Boulmer almost daily, to the same point on the rocks and recorded the view out to sea in watercolour, then walked back. I did this for several months and the variation between each image in my sketchbooks was quite marked. These trees hold a similar fascination for me now. Still working on a fairly small scale, these images are all 150mm square.