Author Archives: Tony
Reduction Linocut planning
A question on the Linocut Friends page of Facebook prompted me to document (for my own future use if nothing else) how I’d previously worked out how to plan a reduction linocut using ArtRage (on the iPad but now on my Surface Pro 3).
Reduction linocut, part 1
I wanted to look at ways of planning a reduction linocut using art apps on the computer. I’ve previously done some prep in ArtRage using a rubber as a cutting tool into different layers of colour; all without actually translating the work into a print though – will try that again some time. No, this time, I had the idea of translating a B&W photograph into the cuts required for a reduction linocut with 4-5 layers of grey.
I started with a b&w version of a photograph I’d taken in Byron Bay, Queensland, of some sort of lizard, about 70cm or 80cm long, sunning itself after a deluge on the roof just opposite my motel unit. I was really hoping he wasn’t going to try coming into my room even though the motel owner had said they were harmless.
Solar Plate: Trial prints 01
Very late, but this is a quick post about my first, post-course, attempt at solar plate printmaking. Along the way, I made a lot of mistakes – expensive mistakes since each A4 plate costs about £11 – so I’ll list them up here at the top to help others who check this post.
Solar Plate printmaking course
A couple of months ago I did a course at Leicester Print Workshop on Solar Plate printmaking (aka Photopolymer printmaking and photo etching) with Nick Mobbs. I have only just now started doing my own such printmaking and thought, before posting work-in-progress reports, I’d post a couple of pics and a few notes from the course.
Mead Gallery: Imagining a University
I visited Warwick University’s Mead Gallery yesterday to see the exhibition, Imagining a University: Fifty Years of The University of Warwick Art Collection, which closes on Sat 20th June.
Chart embed trial
After a twitter request by Nicola Griffith about how to put a chart into a WordPress site, I thought I’d have a go. I found this help document and followed the instructions to embed the following meaningless chart:
Seems it works!
Agave Print Studio
Dianne Longley is one of those people with connections so extensive that it seems every printmaker in Australia knows her. When mentioning to Tess Edwards at Baldessin that I was from Adelaide, she told me that Dianne had had a studio there for many years but had recently moved and just this year opened a new studio at Trentham, north-east of Ballarat. I was lucky enough to find that Dianne would be able to see me on the day that I left Melbourne for Ballarat and so I turned up at Agave Print Studio on Friday 27th Feb.
Australian Print Workshop
I visited Melbourne’s Australian Print Workshop on Thursday 26th February and was shown around by technician, Chris Ingham. Sadly Dianne Shannon, Deputy Director: Business Operations, with whom I’d organised the visit, was tied up with auditors and only had time for a quick hello. Chris did an admirable job of filling in.
The workshop is in easy reach, along the route of the number 86 tram:
Firestation Print Studio
I visited the Firestation Print Studio on a sunny Wednesday 25th Feb, after figuring out the Melbourne tram system and which route was best for me to use (see transport info on the website here). The building presents a lovely frontage with its warm red brick and bright red arched doors:
Baldessin Press Studio
I visited Baldessin Press Studio on Monday 23rd Feb, was greeted by Silvi Glattauer and then joined by Tess Edwards. Tess was married to George Baldessin, one of Australia’s most prominent artists in the 1970s. He and Tess built this studio for his etching work. An artist, printmaker and sculptor, he tragically died in 1978. Tess returned to the site in 2001 and restored it so that the studio could operate as a working memorial to George (see more here).
The studio takes a little finding: my satnav misdirected me slightly so if you visit, do use the satnav to get you to the area and Tess’ instructions for the final part of the journey. The last part is along an unpaved but easily passable road and the journey is very worth while. The bluestone construction nestles naturally amongst the surrounding eucalypts, various sculptures dotted around the grounds.
Basil Hall Editions
On my way from Canberra out to the coast, I stopped at Basil Hall Editions in Braidwood to meet Basil and talk to him about his work with remote indigenous artists and their communities. I arrived, was greeted by Pam, Basil’s wife, and was immediately invited to stay for lunch, which I accepted (good choice: they have the most amazing baker in the town making superb pies – Dojo) and then had a look around the studio with Basil.
Here’s the back of the studio, extended to the very edge of the property, with Basil standing in the lane next door:
Megalo Print Studio
I visited Megalo Print Studio and Gallery in Canberra on Thursday 19th Feb. I had spent the morning in the National Gallery of Australia (which in itself made me wish I’d planned a much longer stay in Canberra) and had taken a picnic lunch down by the lake. After lunch (partly spent watching an angler hauling in a huge fish), I allowed the satnav to direct me to Megalo’s address. I needn’t have bothered, it was only a couple of k’s down the same street but what an introduction to the studio: driving past what seemed like (and was) an enormously long frontage. Parking and walking back to the entrance was even better. I had to cross the street to fit this much in:
