Started a new print yesterday, which is a drypoint of the now closed Debenhams store.
Continued working on my etching of the Robinsons brewery and created 5 prints on Fabriano paper.
Debenhams store
Category: Stockport
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 🥳🎄☃️🎇🎁
102nd Stockport Art Guild exhibition 2023
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.
The Blossoms pub print
I completed my latest etching of The Blossoms pub yesterday at Prospect Studios and here is the final result.
I used a darker black printing ink which brings out the detail and contrast more on the image.
Autumn Photo walk
The clocks went back one hour this morning so I had a lie in which is something I rarely do nowadays due to early starts with work etc. I had planned to do this as a summer photo walk in mid-August but other commitments got in the way. My plan was to park my car in Stockport not far from the college campus and walk the 15 minutes or so up to Lark Hill road which is next to Hollywood Park.
Back in 1961, the film ‘A Taste of Honey’ by dramatist Shelagh Delaney starring Rita Tushingham and Dora Bryan was released in cinemas. Some of the filming locations were shot in Stockport around St Mary’s church, the viaduct and Lark Hill road in Edgeley. The film was originally a novel which was then turned into a play. More details about the filming locations can be found here at the Reel Streets website.
From Lark Hill road, I walked down the footpath towards (A560) Brinksway.
The path looked a bit slippery and there were lots of ladybirds on the handrails. I decided to walk back up the footpath to continue my walk.
From Lark Hill road, I walked the streets of back-to-back house towards Alexander Park and on towards Skye’s Reservoir.
Alexander Park is not far from the town of Edgeley and is a public park with bowling greens and playgrounds. A nice leafy park with Skye’s Reservoirs nearby.
Sykes’ Reservoirs was so named after businessman William Sykes who rented then bought the land in 1793 to establish the Edgeley Bleach Works. The reservoir supplied fresh water to the bleach works which aided in bleaching the cloth using natural alkaline derived from ash. The cloth was then stretched and dried in the sun. The whole process could take up to 8 months. The cloth was then sold to Manchester and London merchants.
The business which later became Sykes and Company ceased trading in 1986.
From the reservoirs now frequented by anglers and geese, I walked towards the football stadium at Edgeley park.
Formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, they were renamed Stockport County in 1890 after the borough of Stockport. The club is currently first in league 2.
Back to the walk. I made my way towards Shaw Heath towards the old workhouse buildings.
There seems to be some activity at the old hospital site with some clearing work in progress. The area is sealed off by high wood and metal fencing. I was able to take some photos through the fence.
Hopefully this area will be regenerated in the not too distant future into maybe housing or an extension to the college.
Finally, I headed towards the college and visited Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery to look at a couple of exhibitions.
Most of the campus at the college looks as though it’s been abandoned and is in a sad state. Hopefully as with the workhouse buildings, this whole area can be fully regenerated and bring back some dignity to the place.
I headed back to my car and set off for home. I was lucky with the weather (14c) and really enjoyed the photo walk with plenty of images from a Sunday afternoon stroll.
Vernon Park Linocut update
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.
The Real Public Art Show
I attended The Real Public Art Show at Stockport War Memorial Art Gallery this afternoon.
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.
Abandoned Recreation
I’ve been working on a small series of gelli plate/matt medium prints depicting the abandoned pool hall that was once a cinema in its heyday. There’s a stone sign above the entrance which reads ‘The Wellington’.
I am naming the series of print’s ‘Abandoned Recreation’.
On one of my recent photo walks, I photographed an oval shaped boarded up window which I have used as a framing device for my some of my prints.
I use acrylic paints in my Gelli printmaking and for these set of prints I have experimented with textures such as bubble wrap and stencils. On top of the gelli prints, I have added using Matt Medium to add a high contrast black and white reverse laser print. I reverse the image if there is text in the image so the text appears the right way around when the laser print is glued face down to the gelli print.
The results have been amazing and unique as each print is slightly different as not all the transfer sticks to the paper once the excess paper is removed through the process of soaking the acrylic print in a bath of water and after 5 minutes soaking removing the paper from the print by rubbing off the paper gently with your fingers.
Finally, once the prints are throughly dried out, you cure and seal the prints by applying 2 coats of acrylic varnish.
Crowther’s family gift linocut
Here is the latest print I have been working on recently which is a reduction linocut depicting a quirky stone bench located in the rose garden of Vernon park. More prints to follow soon…
Football stadium print
Just before the new year, I created a new dry point print which depicts the football ground at S.C.F.C. I used a thin sheet of transparent plastic and etched the image onto the plastic using a sharp etching tool. This type of printing plate is useful if you need to copy a photograph or drawing as you can place a copy of the image underneath the plate. Be sure to reverse the photograph or drawing (use a photo editing software product like Photoshop Elements for example) so that if there is any text in the image it is printed the right way around.
Stockport In Print 
You must be logged in to post a comment.