Celia Hart's blog about what's going on in and around her studio.
Art, printmaking, inspirations, gardening, vegetables, hens, landscapes, wild flowers, East Anglia, adventure, travel.

Monday 19 May 2008

Magic Cochin unplugged - days 2 & 3

I wasn't in Norfolk for a holiday, I was there for a three day printmaking workshop at the Broadland Arts Centre. The tutor was Richard Bawden, one of Britains most experienced printmakers and an undoubted expert in linocuts.


Richard brought along a portfolio of some of his recent work, this one of his cat and a pink amarylis is a tour de force!


I wanted to experiment with using more colour in my prints – I tend to play safe and use one or two colours. I used a watercolour sketch of purple podded peas and my Japanese fish brush rest as my inspiration for a series of multi-layered prints.


I was pleased with my pea pod design but the layers of colour need much more work. It has sparked off a whole series of ideas for vegetable and plants based designs which are a mix of stylised foliage and more formal images.

There was a great bunch of people on the course and we all worked incredibly hard to make the most of having Richard there to give us help, advice and encouragement. We felt so lucky that he still generously passes on his wealth of knowledge, and does so with such wit and charm. No wonder many students return year after year!

9 comments:

  1. Mmm! Wish I could have been there!
    I have a picture of another Bawden print(in a magazine) which might be from a series;it's a stripey cat and a tipped-over pot plant!
    Your colour experiments look interesting. Disliking the fiddle of reduction, I'm playing about with printing over images.

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  2. Wow, this looks like it was a fabulous class... I'm so envious! Reductive prints are such a 'commitment' for me, I like to do several plates when I go that route. (which has been awhile now!)

    Lucky you!

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  3. A great looking couse...I'm sure you really enjoyed it:-)

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  4. Isn't it amazing how one person can energize and inspire so many? The sign of a natural teacher I think. Glad you enjoyed yourself.

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  5. Yes, I loved the one of his cat and the amaryllis but Celia, the colours you used in your print of the purple podded peas and the fish are really a delight to the eye.

    Diane

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  6. The Bawden print is exquisite and I loved seeing your print too.

    I really admire you Celia, always pushing out the boundaries!

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  7. Celia - That is a beautiful print. I never noticed that the shape of a fish is quite pod-like!

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  8. This was just the course for you. A fantastic linocut from this artist, and your one looks pretty good too. x

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  9. Dianhmow - Richard Bawden loves cats!

    Artslice - I dislike reduction prints, no chance to revisit and adjust the colours!

    Alison - hard work but very enjoyable too!

    Toffeeapple - Richard Bawden obviously enjoys teaching.

    Diane - I'm looking forward to working on these some more.

    CS - I like trying new art techniques.

    GBVC - thank you, you're right fish are pod shaped (or are pods fish shaped?)

    Louise - I think I'll go back next year!

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