Studio News: Edition 1: 27 March 2020

Studio News: Edition 1: 27 March 2020

Welcome

We are hoping that you are all keeping safe at home and getting into a new rhythm. We have spent the last week closing the studio and getting ready to work from home. All the regular Northern Print team are still busy with a mix of regular tasks; plans for the future and how we can continue to support and connect with you all.

We are very fortunate that Arts Council continue to support Northern Print with regular funding, though our other sources of income are less certain.

We have been putting some thought into how we can continue to work with you all to support your printmaking. As you can see there are some suggestions and plans below – but we would love to hear from you if you have any ideas or would like to help set up any other ways of connecting with fellow printmakers over the coming weeks and months.

In keeping with our current exhibition, we have decided to illustrate this newsletter with images using intaglio processes – these are accompanied by links to other websites and films about etching and printmaking. We hope these will interest and inspire you to search out other resources online and share these with us.

 Ellen Heck: The Bat and the Bottle     Ellen Heck: Elizabeth at Her Laptop

Ellen Heck:The Bat and the Bottle, Woodcut and drypoint, 2017 (right) Elizabeth at her Laptop (woodcut and drypoint). You can watch a 5 minute artist talk by Ellen Heck from earlier this month about her new exhibition here

Remote Technical Support Sessions

We know some of your will be missing your regular sessions in the studio with Helen and Alex, or perhaps struggling to get new ways of making prints at home to work as you would wish, so we have  Helen and Alex on hand to share their skills and knowledge.

As a trial we are offering the following bookable slots:

Helen date time
Thursday 02/04/20 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm
Thursday 09/04/20 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm

 

Alex date time
Tuesday 31/03/20 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm
Tuesday 07/04/20 10am, 12noon, 2pm, 4pm

We’re just testing out time slots and days to see how it goes to start with, but you can still have tech support outside these times, during normal NP opening times, if you wish. You can have support via email, a phone call, video - zoom, skype, teams or we can find a solution that works best for you.

To request a slot, please contact Helen or Alex directly – helen@northernprint.org.uk or alexmcintosh@northernprint.org.uk  and let them know if you have a preference for contact method.

Examples of support we can offer:

  • Advice about printmaking without a press e.g. Japanese woodcut; monoprinting etc.
  • Advice about preparing work for printing when the studio reopens – e.g. collagraph plates; positives for screenprinting or photo-mechanical processes.
  • Photoshop
  • Setting up Instagram - to share photos and connect with others.

We are of course now closed but it is still possible to buy printmaking materials online. At the time of writing Intaglio Printmakers are still open to online customers.

 Joe Tilson: Postcards from Venice      Joe Tilson: Postcards from Venice

Joe Tilson: Postcards from Venice series, collage and aquatint, 2018

These prints were published by Cristea Robert Gallery. If you’re missing the socialising and wine drinking of private views you can view this series of prints being launched at the Royal Academy here. There is also an old BBC film of Joe Tilson made in 1964 that is available on iplayer here.

Printmakers Coffee Break

Every Tuesday at 11am starting from 07 April

For those of you who are missing a chat with other printmakers in Northern Print’s kitchen we are proposing that 11am every Tuesday is Printmakers Coffee Break. It’s the time to settle in with your favourite elevenses treat and using Zoom you can join in the conversation. If you need help setting up Zoom from your phone, tablet or computer, why not book a technical support session.

Wayne Thiebaud: Hot Chocolate  Wayne Thiebaud: Cake with Slice

Wayne Thiebaud: (left) Hot Chocolate, photogravure and drypoint 2015: (right) Cake with Slice, watercolour over etching, 1964. These prints were made at Crown Point Press, San Francisco. Crown Point specialist in intaglio processes and has some good films with various artists to explore on their website.

Digital studio visits and demonstrations

We’re looking at doing some live-stream studio visits with studio users and other artists in our network. If you would like to offer a ‘studio visit’ so we can see where you work; what you’re working on; or perhaps demonstrate a technique with other studio users please let us know. We thought a weekly ‘studio visit’ would be great. Please contact us with invitations to host or suggestions of studios you’d like to visit and we will see what we can arrange!

Sharing your work online #printmakerspost

If you have images of work in progress, finished work or perhaps sketchbooks or ideas you would like to share we are doing this via social media (Instagram; facebook and twitter) using the hashtag #printmakerspost. For those of you who would prefer to email images and short text we will share as part of our weekly newsletter. Just email to enquiry@northernprint.org.uk

You can post on social media at any time but we thought it might be good if we tried to post new work on Fridays to round off the week.

Staying connected

We will be sending out this weekly newsletter and using our social media accounts and website to keep in touch. We are happy to share your news and act as a conduit for those of you who may wish to set up smaller groups for digital conversations – for example maybe a few of you would like to use Zoom to have a group crit? Just let us know how we can help.

Other opportunities

  • Arts Council have set up a fund to support individual artists – you can find out more here
  • Do Think Share – you can sign up for creative challenges; gain inspiration and share your work here.
  • Artists Support Pledge – This has been set up by artist Andrew Burrows on Instagram - Artists who commit to the pledge will post images of a work that’s for sale, for no more than £200, and each time their sales reach £1,000 they promise to buy another artist’s work for £200.
  • New commissions for artists from Disability Arts online
  • Parker Harris have a number of opportunities for artists including open exhibitions and prizes here
  • Culture in Quarantine – with new digital commissions for artists here.
  • Our neighbours in Ouseburn, The Crack magazine have a special issue of their magazine coming out. They've created a special '@ Home' issue, including all the usual reviews plus one off articles & top tips for things to do at home. You can have it delivered straight to your door for just £2. Just visit their homepage and click on the link. Please support them and buy an issue.

Finally…

AmazonSmile:

If you’re placing any orders with Amazon (and you haven’t already nominated a charity) please could you nominate us? It doesn’t cost you any extra and you don’t have to sign up to anything complicated, it’s just a matter of going to smile.amazon.co.uk rather than the regular Amazon address, you can then nominate a charity (Northern Print please)

If you have any suggestions or would like to contribute to future editions of Studio News please get in touch via enquiry@northernprint.org.uk. We’d love to hear from you!

Very best wishes from us all

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