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.
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 printed the last colour on the Vernon park bench linocut recently. I added a light grey ink to the inset panels on the bench. Scroll down to view the different colour layers and the final print.
Earlier this month, I hosted a meetup event of Staircase House museum which is situated in the marketplace. Staircase House dates back to the 15th Century and houses artefacts right up to World War II. Each room houses a different century and you get the experience of stepping back in time. It’s a gem of a museum and certainly worth a repeat visit. While on the tour of the house, we were shown hidden beams and section reveals showing how the building was constructed.
Trip to Staircase House.
I am continuing to work on the Vernon Park linocut, which I have been slowly building up layers of colour these past few months. For each colour added, I then remove parts of the linoleum which I no longer need in preparation for the next colour layer. I tend to remove the linoleum at home to save time when I attend the workshop. So far I have printed 3 colours; Light grey, dark grey and a brick red colour on thin black cartridge paper. I have about 8 good prints so far. My next colour will probably be dark Green for the foliage in the background and on the path below the bench.
Vernon Park linocut. Added a brick red colour.
At the same time as printing the Vernon Park linocut, I continued working on The Blossoms etching. I managed to print off a proof print at the workshop. There seems to be a blemish on the print which I will need to fix probably by re-aquatinting the area affected. The print itself looks good so far, and hope to complete this print next month on my next visit to the studio.
I have produced a new larger drypoint print of Stockport County Football Club Edgeley Park stadium. For some of my prints I have used the chine-collé technique by adding glued coloured tissue paper to parts of the print before printing.
Size A4 (297 x 210mm)
Printed on Fabriano Rosapina 220g paper from Intaglio Printmaker, London.
‘Edgeley Park’. Dry point‘Edgeley Park’. Dry point‘Edgeley Park’. Dry point with chine-collé
12 Artists will be seeking their original prints and cards. All works have been printed at Prospect Studios in nearby Waterfoot. Chat to artists, snap up a present. Alan Birch will be demonstrating the art of printing. Choirs, music, mulled wine, festive food, makers.
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.
Stockport In Print 
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