All Things Considered

The Curwen Studio
by Angie Lewin on January 18th, 2012

Although most of my prints are linocuts and wood engraving which I draw, cut and print on my own press in the studio, certain images might develop which are better suited to lithography and screen printing.

An example would be Festival Mug (below) which has areas of shading and tone that would be hard to achieve with relief printing methods.

This is one of the prints that I've had the pleasure of working on at The Curwen Studio in Cambridgeshire. Founded in 1958 the studio has now worked with artists including John Piper, Edward Bawden, Graham Sutherland, Henry Moore, Barbara Hepworth, Michael Rothenstein and Paula Rego.

Yesterday BBC Radio 4 broadcast a programme about Stanley Jones (master lithographer of the Curwen Studio) that captured the special quality of this highly-regarded print studio.

Artist Susan Aldworth - whilst working on her own prints - interviewed Stanley, revealing his longstanding devotion to lithography and also perfectly describing the inspiring, challenging relationship between artist and skilled printer. It's making me impatient to be back there!

You can listen to the programme over at the BBC Radio 4 website.

Blue Monday
by Simon Lewin on January 16th, 2012

Supposedly, today is the most depressing day of the year.

Hopefully Nouvelle Vague can cheer us all up with this New Order cover...

The Joy of Books
by Simon Lewin on January 14th, 2012

An amazing piece of stop frame animation that is proving very popular on Facebook and the like...

Randall’s Folly, Salthouse
by Simon Lewin on January 11th, 2012

We recently commissioned Ed Kluz to create this collage/painting of a long lost landmark of the North Norfolk coast.

Randall's Folly (also known as Great Eye Folly) was originally built by Onesiphorous Randall in the 19th century but was seriously damaged by the great floods of 1953. 

The novelist Sylvia Townsend Warner (1893-1978) rented the folly in Salthouse from 1950 to 1951.

She describes her first impressions of the folly in a letter to Alyse Gregory - written in 1950 (courtesy of Literary Norfolk)

"...I think Valentine will have told you about the Great Eye Folly. I have the oddest impressions of it, since we were only there for about fifteen minutes, and conversing all the time with its owners. But the first five of those minutes were enough to enchant me. It is the sort of house one tells oneself to sleep with, and sometimes I almost suppose that it is really one of my dream-houses, and no such solid little assertion of the rectangle breaks the long sky-line of salt-marsh and sea."

Find out more about the folly from the Salthouse History website.

Ed is currently working on a new fabric for us - the follow up to his Painswick design.

Ben Bryden
by Simon Lewin on January 6th, 2012

Now living in New York, saxophonist and composer Ben Bryden is back in Scotland for an appearance in Edinburgh on Saturday night.

Ben has collaborated with poet Rab Wilson on 1957 Flying Scot, a book and CD set celebrating Glasgow's great heritage of building high quality racing and touring bicycles. The eponymous marque was once the dream and aspiration of many working class boys in Scotland. They were incredibly expensive, exotic and desirable objects in their day.

Rab's sonnets feature both in the book and read on one of the CDs. The second CD features music inspired by the work, composed and performed by Ben.

The book and CD set is illustrated throughout by Hugh Bryden and published by his Roncadora Press.

On Saturday 7th January 2012, Rab and Ben will launch the edition from 7pm at Ronde Cycle Café, 66-68 Hamilton Place, Edinburgh, EH3 5AZ.

Whilst in New York, Ben also collaborates with fellow tenor saxophonist Steven Delannoye on the Bright Noise project.

An EP of new material has just been released, with an illustrated sleeve by our mutual friend Jonny Hannah. Full details via Ben's website.

Ronald Searle
by Simon Lewin on January 3rd, 2012

We were sorry to hear that illustrator/cartoonist Ronald Searle, perhaps best known for his St. Trinian's girls' school creations, passed away on 30th December 2011 at the age of 91.

Here's one of his cover illustrations for The New Yorker.

Rob Ryan’s Christmas window
by Angie Lewin on December 30th, 2011

Something I'd meant to write about before Christmas is this brilliant window display that Rob Ryan has created for Coutts Bank at 440 Strand - opposite Charing Cross station.

The window has been created to raise fund for Kids Company. There will be an auction of the stuffed elephant, doll's house and rocking horse that form part of the display. But you can also make a £5 donation to Kids Company by texting KIDS HELP to 70700.

Neil Cowley Trio
by Simon Lewin on December 17th, 2011

Here the Neil Cowley Trio perform 'Rooster Was A Witness' from their forthcoming album 'The Face Of Mount Molehill', out on 23rd January 2012 on Naim Jazz Records. The video was shot at the Nelson Brewery in the heart of Chatham's historic dockyard.

The album is available for pre-order now - and the first 50 copies ordered from Proper Music will be signed by the Trio.

The Trio will tour the UK from 15th March 2012, starting at London's Queen Elizabeth Hall. Full details from www.neilcowleytrio.com

Regine Ramseier
by Angie Lewin on December 12th, 2011

The structure of dandelion seedheads has always fascinated me. But I think Regine Ramseier’s installation captures their delicate nature in a wonderful way.

My total lack of German means I can only enjoy the photographs and I just wish I’d a chance to see this piece in reality. I wonder how long it lasted? View further images

At the first fall of snow
by Simon Lewin on December 4th, 2011

We're up on Speyside at the minute and had our first snowfall of the year last night.

Here's a snap of our view of Ben Rinnes, shrouded in cloud.

It seemed appropriate to also post Jonny Hannah and Mark Hearld's collaborative poster for their exhibition with us back in 2007.