Workshops

August has been a busy month for me and it’s not over yet.

On Sunday 10th August, I helped my friend out at an Intaglio printmaking workshop organised by Stockport Art Guild.

Alan Birch was running a 3 hour drypoint session at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery with approximately 15 participants. I was in charge of preparing the paper ensuring it was damp enough and blotted and ready for being printed. The prints created that day were of high quality and there is the possibility of running some more workshops.

A week later on Sunday 17th, I had my chance to run my own workshop at the art gallery which was demonstrating how to create Eco Image Transfer prints.

The 2 hour session went well and participants created some interesting work on cartridge paper, Balsa wood and Fabriano paper. The purpose of the workshop was to introduce this mono printmaking technique using household objects and materials.

I included a photo of the art gallery as a printing subject as it tied in well with the centenary celebrations of the war memorial and art gallery.

Last weekend, I visited the heritage centre based inside St. Mary’s church at the marketplace. The centre is open every Tuesday and Saturday.

The archive includes many photographs, found objects from archeological digs and books about the history of the town.

I spoke with one of its patrons, Jill Trumble and had a look through some of the photographic archive. I think a repeat visit is on the cards as next month there will be an exhibition on Woodbank hall.

I still have to sign and edition my prints for International Print Exchange and the Hotbed press 20:20.

My IPE submission: ‘Calm’ Eco Image Transfer on Fabriano paper.

The Centenary Open at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery came to an end on Sunday 24th August and I will be collecting my etching print depicting the Produce Hall this coming weekend.

Me next to my etching print of the Produce Hall.

Graphical interpretations

As October draws to an end and the nights are getting shorter, I am writing this latest article on Halloween. Over the last few weeks, I have been busy documenting the last batch of print subjects of Stockport landmarks I need to complete the project. I’ve got a decent selection of images to use for future prints.

A few weeks ago, I attended a drawing and printmaking workshop in Stockport organised by Stockport Art Guild entitled ‘Graphic interpretation of Stockport landmarks combined with print’. The workshop was organised by the owner of the Art Club in Heaton Moor by former textiles designer Angela Lock.

I decided to create an artwork depicting the Plaza with a starry sky. The process involved creating landmarks drawn on cartridge paper in a simplistic monochromatic style. Once the drawing had been made, a larger piece of paper was then printed on using polystyrene thin sheets backed with card using water based ink. One of the printing blocks I used had a start pattern which I felt was a suitable background for the artwork.

After the event, I decided to donate my contribution to the gallery for all to see.

The finished results are shown in the photo below.

Finished artworks on display at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery

One final note, congratulations to Prospect Studios which celebrated its 20th Anniversary last weekend.

Hats, prints and a print exhibition

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 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.

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.

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.

A few weeks ago, I attended an experimental 1-day screen printing workshop organised by Green Door Printmaking Studios.

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.

Next month: Mezzotint printmaking.

Review of 2023 in pictures

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 🥳🎄☃️🎇🎁

New Year photo walk

Happy belated new year. I thought I would publish my first blog post of the 2023 about my recent photo walk around the marketplace that I did yesterday on a cold sunny Saturday afternoon.

Starting my photo walk on Lower Hillgate, I made my way along Wellington Street up to the Robinsons brewery visitors centre which is on Apsley Street. Making my way pass the stables housing the shire horses for the brewery, I made my way down Churchgate heading towards the marketplace.

Robinsons Brewery in background with the patterned pavement barrier in front.

On Churchgate, I took a couple of photos of the signage on the side of the brewery building in the distance and noticed a metal barrier in front of me had an interesting pattern which looked like aircraft rotary blades. This could be a connection to the former AVRO aircraft factory which was prominent in the town for many years and which has since closed down. The factory was based south of Stockport town centre in the Cheshire village of Woodford where there is now a heritage museum at the former site.

I arrived at the marketplace and decided to walk down towards Mealhouse brow, a steep incline of a street which eventually heads down towards the Underbank. As it happens, the dungeon was open for viewing and I had a look round as I have never visited this heritage site before.

Before 1824, Stockport justice was administered from this small building and prisoners were held in the cells. It was well worth the visit and I managed to have a look around one of the two cells that was accessible to the public from some steep steps. I was able to look through a hole in the cell wall and view the adjacent cell. While I was in the building, I learnt about the people who had been unlucky to have been imprisoned in the cells and learnt of the gruesome stories of murderers and their fate at the hands of the authorities.

After visiting the dungeon, I walked up towards Staircase House located in the marketplace. I took a few photos of the building and also some of the produce hall which I remember used to be a fish-mongers hall. It is now a trendy food outlet where you can dine-in and have lunch from various eateries. The produce hall is very popular especially at weekends all year round.

Having taken some photos of Staircase House and the Produce Hall, I headed for a much needed coffee at a well-known coffee shop outlet on Warren Street.

After enjoying my Flat White, I returned to the marketplace and took a series of photographs of the exteriors of the Boars Head and the Bakers Vault public houses from different angles. I must admit I’ve never been inside the Bakers Vault.

On my return to my car, I spotted a ghost sign on Park Street near the marketplace. I think the sign was advertising a men’s tailoring shop. There are quite a few ghost signs around Stockport and I spotted another one as I drove home.

Maybe I could do a blog post about these sorts of signs as there are many of them in the area.

December photo walk

While visiting the art gallery last weekend and doing some Christmas shopping, I did a mini photo walk around town to capture buildings I will be making prints of using my photographs as a reference. I headed down to the old Debenhams store which is now closed and took some images.

From there, I walked back up the A6 and saw that progress has been made on the new 1 billion pound bus interchange next to the Hatworks museum and you can see the apartment block being constructed.

As I made my way back up the A6, I made a slight detour and had a look at the Stockport Village area behind the Plaza theatre is in the progress of being demolished. I took a few pictures from behind a metal fence.

Stockport Village (now being demolished)

Stockport Village was once a thriving little shopping precinct hidden away and has been abandoned for over 15 years. There used to be boutique shops, gym and cafe. I remember it in its heyday and is sad to now see it all abandoned and being knocked down. Hopefully some of it can be kept and redeveloped as with the other parts of the town.

Here is a last shot of the viaduct with the sun starting to set.

March photo walk

I recently took some photographs of the exterior of Stockport College in anticipation of the redevelopment of the site. There is currently a lot of building work taking place in town such as the soon-to-be build Stockport Bus Interchange on the existing site next to the railway viaduct. I hope to use some of these images as inspiration for future prints.

Railings — Stockport college from the A6 road and the last image shows the site of the new bus exchange.

Covered walkway — Stockport college from the A6 road and the last image shows the site of the new bus exchange.

April photo walk

I received an email reply from the organiser of the Cotton-on-Manchester open exhibition which I recently submitted work to. The rejection email was pretty upbeat. They offered me feedback on the two etching prints I submitted which were from this project and also to have my work displayed on their exhibition website as a consolation, which sounds good to me.

Recently, I learnt that Stockport Art Guild will be hosting their 100th annual art exhibition from Thursday 20th May to Friday 16th July 2021. I still haven’t decided what I will be submitting to the centenary exhibition. I may experiment with a mixture of paint and printmaking techniques for my submissions.

I managed to submit two digital artworks for Stockport’s Giant Leap Ahead project; one for the NHS, and one for the Eco frog. Not heard any news as yet, but reckon there was a lot of competition in the designs submitted.

At the end of next month, I will be resuming my visits to Prospect Studios to continue working on my etching print series for the Stockport In Print project. It will be my first visit since autumn of last year. Social distancing and precaution such as wearing face masks and the installation of clear plastic screens will still be in operation. I hope to continue where I left off with my last etching depicting the river Mersey.

The other weekend, I continued my photo walks around Stockport and this time I have captured ‘The Blossoms’ pub which is on the A6 main road which is south of the town.
During my visit, I took many photograph’s of the pub and also a few of the abandoned pool hall directly opposite which used to be a cinema in it’s heyday. Below are a selection of photographs taken on the day.

Enjoy.