All Things Considered

Words on Water
Posted by Simon Lewin

A quick mention for our friends over at Caught By The River whose social club is presenting this night of 'Words on Water' featuring John Andrews, Luke Jennings, Charles Rangeley-Wilson and Chris Yates.

The event takes place on Tuesday October 4th between 7-11pm at The Stag, 67 Fleet Road, London NW3 2QU. You can purchase tickets online.

Posted by Simon Lewin on September 29th, 2011

Faber & Faber
Posted by Angie Lewin

I was delighted to be asked to contribute to the latest 'Romantics' poetry series from Faber & Faber, illustrating the cover and endpapers for the Percy Bysshe Shelley edition.

Designer Miriam Rosenbloon commissioned covers from printmakers Andy Lovell (Samuel Taylor Coleridge), Ralph Kiggell (John Clare), Emily Sutton (John Keats), Colin Moore (William Wordsworth), Jane Hyslop (Robert Burns), Mark Cazalet (William Blake) and Harry Brockway (Lord Byron) .

There's a great interview with Miriam over at It's Nice That.

You can also order a copy of the book online at Amazon.

Posted by Angie Lewin on September 23rd, 2011

The Map of Spitalfields Life
Posted by Simon Lewin

'The Map Of Spitalfields Life' is a fresh look at an historic neighbourhood, produced by Herb Lester Associates in collaboration with the lauded website Spitalfields Life and illustrated by noted cartographer Adam Dant.

It explores this corner of East London through its distinctive characters and businesses, providing a glimpse into a world few people even notice, where chestnut sellers and story-telling waiters rub shoulders with milkmen, artists and scrap-dealers. From Gilbert and George and Tracey Emin to Molly the Swagman and Sandra Esqulant, landlady of The Golden Heart, all Spitalfields Life is here.

You can purchase a copy for £4.00 from both Spitalfields Life and Herb Lester Associates.

Look out for Tim Rich's interview with The Gentle Author - creator of Spitalfield Life - later this year in Random Spectacular.

Posted by Simon Lewin on September 17th, 2011

Poster Poems
Posted by Simon Lewin

The post below about Martin Clark's poster for Andrews of Arcadia has prompted me to post about another recent project.

Our friends at Tinsmiths currently have a series of letterpress posters - a collaboration between Martin and poet Nick Alexander.

Twelve lines taken from Nick's work made graphic in twelve limited edition posters.

There are just a few copies of each edition left, available from Tinsmiths.

Posted by Simon Lewin on July 11th, 2011

Andrews of Arcadia
Posted by Simon Lewin

Here's the wonderful letterpress printed poster publicising 'The World of Andrews of Arcadia – A Tented Installation of Vintage Fishing Tackle for the Soul' which you'll find in the Caught by the River Field at this year’s Port Eliot Festival between Thursday 21st and Sunday 24th July 2011.

The installation will be created and hosted by John Andrews a.k.a Andrews of Arcadia who can often be found at his stall in Spitalfields Market. You can also view a selection of John's vintage fishing tackle online.

To find out more about the installation visit the Caught By The River website.

Posted by Simon Lewin on July 6th, 2011

Ravilious in Essex
Posted by Simon Lewin

Our friends at the Fry Art Gallery in Saffron Walden are part way through their Ravilious in Essex exhibition of 18 watercolours of Essex created by Eric Ravilious and brought together specially for this exhibition from private owners and galleries throughout the country. It complements the illustrated book 'Ravilious in Pictures: A Country Life' published by Mainstone Press.

On Wednesday 13th July 2011, the book's author, James Russell, will be giving a talk at the Friends Meeting House, High Street, Saffron Walden at 7.30pm - tickets £6 on the door.

The exhibition continues until 14th August 2011.

Posted by Simon Lewin on June 15th, 2011

On Nature
Posted by Simon Lewin

Our friends at Caught By The River publish the follow up to their eponymously titled collection of words on water.

On Nature is a hardback book published by Harper Collins featuring contributions from some of the site’s regular contributors alongside a host of new names.

In it, you’ll find the likes of Chris Yates, Stuart Maconie, Tracey Thorn, John Andrews, Richard King, Dan Kieran, Michael Smith, Ian Vince, Martin Noble, Jon Berry. Colin Elford, Mark Dredge, Dexter Petley, Ceri Levy, Nick Small, Nick Hand, Sarah Boden, John Wright and others waxing passionately about all aspects of the British countryside.

The book is illustrated by Jon McNaught - we feature Jon's screenprints over at our online print store and he'll be contributing to our journal Random Spectacular which we publish later this year.

The book is published on 23rd June 2011 but pre-orders for signed copies are being taken now via the Caught By The River store.

Posted by Simon Lewin on June 8th, 2011

About Britain No. 2
Posted by Simon Lewin

Here's the second in the "About Britain" series of books published for the Festival of Britain office in 1951.

'Wessex' features a title page illustrated by Kenneth Rowntree. I've also included a rather striking image of a swanherd.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 22nd, 2011

About Britain No. 1
Posted by Simon Lewin

It seems an appropriate year to give an airing the various pieces of Festival of Britain ephemera which are dotted around the house.

I thought I'd start with the covers of the thirteen "About Britain" books published in 1951 with their coloured title pages, illustrated by artists including Barbara Jones and Kenneth Rowntree.

We love the spirit of this little guides:

"Not everyone has ten shillings or fifteen shillings to spend on a fat topographical volume. Here are 94 pages of lively matter including upwards of 50 illustrations for a reasonable price."

I'll post the remaining twelve in the series over the next few weeks.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 18th, 2011

The Rialto
Posted by Simon Lewin

Very pleased that another St. Jude's artist is gracing the cover of The Rialto.

Jonathan Gibbs joins Angie Lewin, Mark Hearld and Penny Bhadresa as cover artists for the UK’s leading independent poetry magazine.

The Rialto magazine was set up in 1984 by Michael Mackmin and John Wakeman. The first issue that autumn had poems in it by Margaret Atwood, George Barker, Gavin Ewart and Miroslav Holub, and four poems by a then not so well known Carol Ann Duffy. The editors set out to be deliberately eclectic and to promote what John called a ‘republic of poetry’.

Jonathan Gibbs is Head of Illustration at Edinburgh College of Art and we'll be launching his first fabric for St. Jude's, Herring Moon, in the next few weeks.

In the meantime, you can view a selection of his limited edition wood engravings over at our print store.

Posted by Simon Lewin on March 5th, 2011