The latest rubber stamp illustration in my collaboration with Eva Hejdstrom, exchanging Swedish and English words. I is for illumine, meaning to light up. Inspired by my early evening dark dog walks now the clocks have gone back.
Sketchbook update
Rubber stamp stencil prints
1950's vases and vessels
Sketching from a book called 'Indian Birds'
Sketching from a 1950's wildflower book
Small gouache painting of flowers on my kitchen table
Since joining Instagram (@corinne_welch_) I have been neglecting this blog a little, lured by the instant gratification of regular, quick posts. However, I have been busy - getting ready for the BS9 Arts Trail in Bristol on 10/11 June. And also making the most of some time in the evenings to start developing new ideas in my sketchbook. Some recent pages featured here...
Taking a leaf out of a (digital) book
Trimming and binding 40 copies of a digitally printed version of the very first book I made back in 2012 - Autumn Leaves. I used scans of the original carved rubbers, stamped in black and then coloured in Illustrator. Card covers with a title block cut away with my trusty Sizzix machine. Top notch printing job by printed.com - printed as A3 flat sheets on Acquerello paper.
Published Primitive Printmaking
Really chuffed to have some of my prints featured in Stephen Fowler’s wonderful new book ‘Rubber Stamping’. The found object and plasticine prints were created on Stephen’s Primitive Printmaking summer school course at UWE in 2014, and it’s very exciting to see them included in the book. I may be biased but I can highly recommend getting hold of a copy - it’s absolutely jam packed with unusual project ideas and inspiration for all kinds of low tech printmaking. As Stephen explained in an interview with Sarah Bodman in the latest issue of ‘Printmaking Today’: “(the book is) very much in the spirit of ‘60s and ‘70′s Batsford art books - to share an open recipe rather than say ‘you have to do it this way’. It’s about inspiring people with examples and letting them think how they will use the process; it’s a beginning of something rather than an end.”
Rubber stamping free-for-all
Spent a very enjoyable Saturday afternoon helping out at Stephen Fowler’s drop-in rubber stamp workshop at the Arnolfini in Bristol. It was busy all afternoon, and by 5 o’clock two huge paper-covered walls were decorated with an array of beautiful stamps. Really inspiring to see everyone’s work and the excitement it generated - the instant gratification of rubber stamps seems to appeal to all ages.
Starstruck by association
Very excited to learn that Margaret Atwood has tweeted about ‘Serena Joy’ the collaborative World Book Night rubber stamp project, inspired by her book ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’. A copy of the box of prints is now winging its way to her courtesy of Sarah Bodman. Many thanks to fellow stamper Linda Williams for writing to Margaret to let her know about the project. Have also just heard that Tate Britain will be accepting a copy of ‘Serena Joy’ as a donation to their artists' books collection. Great to hear of ripples from a project long after you think it’s completed...
The roll call of rockets and robots
Stamps from the Rockets and Robots concertina book
Rockets, robots and rubber stamps
A brilliant day yesterday teaching a rubber stamp workshop for MA Printmaking students at UWE. The theme was rockets and robots… chosen as an excuse to use the lovely stash of metallic stamp pads acquired by the university earlier in the year. It was also a good subject for looking at building up an illustration out of component parts. Really impressed with the quality and variety of the finished stamps, and thanks to some hard graft and teamwork, we ended up with an edition of seven stamped concertina books. Many thanks to Liz, Sophie, Linda, Rozzie and Vicky for a mighty fine end result.
New for BS9 Arts Trail
On sale for the first time this weekend will be a new range of hand stamped A6 notebooks - covers were created using a combination of handmade photopolymer stamps and hand carved rubber stamps. Way out in patternsville...
World Book Night 2016
My ‘pleasure is an egg’ rubber stamp - part of Sarah Bodman’s wonderful collaborative project to mark World Book Night 2016. Forty rubber stamp prints Inspired by ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, ‘Serena Joy’ is a box of forty, eclectic rubber stamp prints. More details on the project, including the production process, can be found here, and also here. With thanks to Mette-Sofie D. Ambeck for expertly printing my egg!
Ten orange cracker books
Flocked and finished - hurray!
Cracker books are go
Final stages of the edition of ten cracker books… all the components are ready for assembly - just need to start sticking.
Collage tree
Using rubber stamp off-cuts
Rubber plants
Stamped snowflake
Stamping sampling
Interesting to see the different results from using the same tiled stamps as a base, and then ‘accessorising’ with other hand-cut rubber stamps.
Seasonal production line
Gearing up for the annual production line of Christmas card stamping...
printmaking + animation
Inspired to investigate basic animation after a brilliant talk by Joshua Gaunt and Catherine Cartwright at yesterday's 'Redefining Print' symposium organised by Double Elephant Print Workshop in Exeter.