I'm not dead…

…I just don’t really have time for my blog any more. Nor anything much that is post-worthy!

I’m still writing for the Art of Punk series on Colin’s Punk Rock World (a post about logo designs was published today). I also write reviews sometimes, such as the lengthy gig review for Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls at Alexandra Palace that was posted last week.

In more visually creative news, I linoprint-ed some Christmas cards the other weekend. You may or may not remember my designs from last year – check them out here too. I think I like this year’s little reindeer more than last year’s design.

The woodcuts of Ray Morimura

Ray Morimura is a Tokyo-born artist specialising in beautiful woodcut prints. His work primarily features landscapes, often with Japanese buildings and structures – such as temples, bridges or torii gates.

He has a slightly different approach to his art than your typical landscape artist, focussing on geometric shapes, repeated patterns, distinct colours (mostly blues, greys, pale greens and red) and textures. So, rather than capturing a like-for-like copy of a particular landscape, he instead creates stunning interpretations of iconic Japanese scenes.

The Way Combined Collection

Sunday Crafternoon

It’s been a busy weekend for me. Starting Friday, I had a day off work and spent it Christmas shopping, with mama-Prew in Milton Keynes, and then shot off to London to watch Once the Musical, with Becca and Lana. The shopping was very successful and the musical was truly wonderful. Saturday I didn’t do so much but I stuck around in MK and decorated the parents’ Christmas tree among other things.

Today I returned home to Bedford for my weekly pilates class, then spent the afternoon happily out of the cold and busily doing some arts and crafts.

First on my crafting agenda was the WTFest/Menzingers poster-setlist-ticket-wristband combo collage I’ve been meaning to work on since October. Well, I think it was well worth the wait.

I added some ‘polaroids’ of my photos from WTFest weekend, as well.

The next craft is more of a work in progress. I plan to have linocut printed Christmas cards this year and these were my very first attempt. I was intending on this particular lino design being only a tester but I liked my first print so much that I went ahead and produced many more. It won’t be the last linocutting/printing I do this side of Christmas, but I have to wait for all of these mini prints to dry before I do any more! 

And finally, the third ‘craft’ is a bit of a cheat as I simply paper-mâchéd gold tissue paper onto a cardboard reindeer that I bought in Hobby Craft yesterday – on a whim. 

Also worth mentioning: as well as my WTFest collage, I now have these Japanese prints up in my room. The two larger prints I was given by my parents when I moved and the smaller four are postcards that I picked up in Tokyo. All are replicas of ukiyo-e by Hiroshige, my favourite artist.

And it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Both in my flat.

And at the parental home.

Bryan Nash Gill's woodcuts

I love trees, I love wood and woodgrain. So, I love these literal woodcut prints by Bryan Nash Gill. They would look amazing printed really massive, like that huge slice of tree in the Natural History Museum.

And there's a book, which can also be viewed digitally!

Open publication on Issuu

Cat & Fox adventures

I do rather like this woodland animal prints. Particularly the wolf – favourite animal.

http://catandfoxadventures.bigcartel.com/product/woodland-animal-collection

Coffee & Cake

I scanned a few of these in today, rather than my poor phone photographs.

Letterpress workshop: Day two

Day two, the day after day one. Today I made business cards and experimented with chunky wooden type. Both were fun.

Not sure what I was trying to photograph here... but you can see some type.

Test prints.

Yellow-ish, nice texture business cards.

Some white ones, I possibly prefer.

I suggest taking a closer look. Clicky, clicky.

Setting some wood type.

I don't think I'm supposed to like the print on newsprint, but I do.

It's shiny because of the camera flash, this is the most "inked" of them all.

Sorry for only sharing phone photos, I shall scan some of these bits at some point. Whether my scanner will show the detail very well... it's obviously not as good as the real, physical thing!

Definitely want my own printing press/type/other printing things.

Letterpress workshop: Day one

I've been at a letterpress workshop today, at St Brides Library near Fleet Street (London). I've set type - picked it up quite quickly, memorising where each letter is in the type tray as well (they're not laid out a-z). Also did a bit of lino cutting, useful practice for when I use the lino I purchased a few weeks ago. And used two different printing presses.

Honestly don't think I'd ever seen St Paul's cathedral before today...

This is where I set my type.

Spot my typos!

And then corrected...

Arcade Fire letterpress well.

Back for more tomorrow.