A blog about Stockport landmarks by artist/printmaker Neil Robinson which follows a printmaking project depicting the diverse architectural styles of my hometown both new and old.
I managed to visited the Derby Print Open exhibition recently to view the amazing printmaking at various venues around the city of Derby on a warm and sunny afternoon.
While visiting the exhibition, I spotted one of my etching prints at the nearby Dubrek music recording studios next door to Green Door Printmaking Studios.
It was great seeing my own artwork in the exhibition and I also purchased a high quality exhibition catalogue which featured all the prints in the show. The exhibition has closed today and I will be returning to collect my prints in the coming weeks and also visit some of the museums in Derby town centre such as the Museum of Making.
Earlier this month, I visited the newly opened bus interchange in the heart of the town. The bus interchange can be accessed on foot from the main A6 and also a new pathway and bridge not far from the railway station.
Rooftop garden at Stockport Bus Exchange
There’s an oval roof top wall walk way with a tree lined garden and observation deck overlooking the Mersey.
My first impressions of the bus station were good and I liked the roof top garden which is called ‘Viaduct Park’.
Following on from the bus station, I arrived at the newly refurnished Hatworks museum to host a meetup event with my local history meetup group call ‘History Get Together’.
The Hatworks building
The museum explores the international connection with the hat industry. We were lucky to have a tour of the museum and witness the hat making machinery in motion. There’s a gallery of hats on the second floor.
Gallery of hats
From the 1st to 30th June, the Derby Print Open 2024 will be displaying artwork by printmakers from around the UK. The exhibition organised by Green Door Printmaking Studios is dedicated to original hand pulled prints and I am thrilled to have 3 of my etching prints in this year’s exhibition.
DerbyPrintOpen.org
The exhibition is like an art trail with a small number of local venues which are all nearby one another around the town of Derby.
I decided to use a subject from my printmaking project which I had covered previously as a drypoint. I decided to use a photo of St Thomas’s hospital buildings as the basis of my screen print. The idea was to combined a photographic image, a loose outline sketch of the building, an old map of the town some background sky. I combined these elements to form a colourful illustrative set of unique prints.
Photo of myself at Green Door Printmaking Studios in Derby
The results were impressive and I intend to do more prints in this way.
After visiting the Fusiliers museum over the road, we made our way to see the Bury Open exhibition which was still showing in the upstairs gallery.
Photo of myself at the Bury Open looking at my Robinsons brewery burnished etching print
The art gallery at Bury has a superb permanent collection of fine art and sculpture such as the painting by JWM Turner entitled “Calais Sands at Low Water, Poissards Collecting Bait”.
Calais Sands at Low Water, Poissards Collecting Bait by JWM Turner
I am currently preparing ideas for future prints while I take a short break from the printing. The photo below shows the remaining prints I will be working on in the coming months for this printmaking project.
I have also been updating the website gallery with my latest prints from the last 12 months. There are now two online galleries. You can access them in the menu navigation.
Next month, I will be attending a 1-day Japanese woodcut printmaking workshop. More to follow on this soon…
Here’s a gallery of prints and images from this year.
My main highlights from this year was having work accepted into The Real Public Art Show (Stockport Open), the first Bury Open exhibition and the 102nd Stockport Art Guild exhibition.
2024 marks 10 years since I started this printmaking project / blog, and in that time I have created a catalogue of printmaking which I am going to present in a future exhibition. The project is not over yet, as I will be producing some new artworks in the coming months. Watch this space 👀
By the way have a happy and relaxing Christmas and here’s to 2024 and more creativity. Cheers 🥳🎄☃️🎇🎁
Dürer exhibition at the WhitworthThe BlossomsGhost signThe Real Public Art ShowBury Open exhibitionVernon ParkRileys Pool hallRileys Pool hallRileys Pool hallEdgeley ParkRileys Pool hallLark HillRileys Pool hall102nd Stockport Art Guild exhibition Robinson’s brewery
I have three of my prints in this year’s exhibition which has its preview today at 2pm. The exhibition is on until 19th January 2024 at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery.
Strawberry Studios (Etching Aquatint)192nd Stockport Art Guild exhibition 2023 in association with Stockport Town of Culture.
I had some time off recently and decided to visit the Dürer exhibition in Manchester at the Whitworth Art Gallery. This is the first major exhibition of Dürer’s work for fifty years.
Rare woodcut blockExhibition introduction
I was fascinated by the process of woodcut printing and the woodcut block on display, so much detailed work and observation of the subject matter. The exhibition covers the career of Dürer over his life and is located over two galleries linked by a long corridor which has a timeline of event in his lifetime.
My favourite woodcut print was of the large horse (circa 1505).
The large horse (circa 1505)
Later in the day, I had an appointment with Bury Art Museum to drop off and collect some of my prints at the art shop. One of my prints i submitted is the canal print (as seen below)
I attended The Real Public Art Show at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery this afternoon.
Me today besides my print depicting Stockport Exchange.
An excellent exhibition celebrating Stockport as part of the Stockport Town of Culture. I enter one of my prints depicting Stockport Exchange which was based on a sketch I did on location a few years ago.
I recently started work on a new etching on the theme of pubs in Stockport as part of my printmaking project. The new print depicting The Blossoms pub which incidentally is opposite the old pool hall building which I mentioned in my last blog post.
Printing plate ready for aquatinting.
I might use this print for the upcoming 20:20 print exchange or I might do a brand new linocut instead.
On Saturday, I was due to take part in a Japanese woodcut 1-day workshop down in Derby at Green door studios. The workshop has been rescheduled for later this year due to illness. I hope to do a blog post in late October. I have never done any woodcut prints before so the wait will be worth it.
I am also continuing to work on my Vernon Park Linocut depicting a carved stone bench which I printed the second colour last week. Today I carved away a third layer which will be a light brick colour. I will show the results in my next blog post.
In mid May, I visited the capital London and spent a couple of hours in the British Museum. The museum is free and there are rotating exhibitions in the main forecourt building which you have to book for. One of the free exhibitions was the Japan’s festival float on the ground floor in Room 3 gallery as you enter the museum on the right hand side of the entrance. Apart from the beautifully crafted wooden model boat which was donated back on 1908 for the Summer Olympics, there were some amazing woodcut prints on display. I would recommend this place as a day out if you are visiting London as a tourist, lots to see.
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