The Winter Months
Contre-jour on a frosty winter walk in our local Lancashire countryside
When observing artists and makers, the winter months following Christmas can seem to be a rather inactive period where their social media goes relatively quiet and fewer new pieces of work appear. Numbers of shows and craft events, of course, decrease after Christmas alongside general retail shops as people tighten their wallets following the big spend at the end of the previous year.
Unsurprisingly, this is often the most productive time in the year behind the scenes for creative people. It is the time where we can get much more ‘brain space’ to come up with new ideas and have the time to work through ideas and techniques without the disruption of preparing for events. Having longer uninterrupted time is crucial for developing ideas through trying things out and making improvements, as anyone who writes or designs anything will know.
So I thought I would explain what I have been up to in the last month and a half…
The Boring Bit!
The rest of the year can be a bit of a whirlwind between making and exhibiting and managing my time between day to day life and running my business. The slow down after Christmas is a welcome opportunity to do the admin such as catching up with monetary elements of the business as we approach the end of the financial year.
I also take the opportunity to stock take my work and also all the materials I use, restocking those where I need to. Most of the materials I buy are from local businesses where possible so I spend time collecting those as well as ordering specialist materials from places further afield in the UK.
The Fun Bit!
Printing
I print all my linoprints and collagraphs by hand on the kitchen table so it’s best if I can do this as efficiently as possible. I use January and February to do as many reprints of my most popular linoprints as I can to ensure I have enough for the upcoming year. I got this estimate rather wrong last year and so ended up printing several times throughout the year, however, at least I now know which are my most popular!
This is also the time for creating new prints and so I focus on sketch ideas made in the last year and refine them into final ‘designs.’ I then choose either traditional lino or ‘softcut’ lino depending on what method I want to use to print them or how many I want to be able to make (traditional lino doesn’t last as long so has a limited print run whereas Softcut lino lasts much longer but doesn’t allow for the finer details and textures that traditional lino does).
I have been working on a few new themes alongside new bird prints - I have a botanical series of 4 prints and an architectural print currently in progress (more detail to come on these in the next month).
See gallery below for some print pieces in progress…
As I don’t currently have a dedicated printing area, I tend to print in big batches in one day as it’s more convenient for prepping my workspace and cleaning up. We live in an old Lancashire farmhouse and so our kitchen and dining room beams are currently festooned with sheets of paper strung back to back along both sides until they dry which can take between 1 to 2 weeks!
Once dry there will be a big push to mount (we cut our own mounts) and pack prints ready for sale and also frame a few for my stockists.
Studio Dog (AKA George the Wire Fox Terrier)
George likes to ‘assist’ me at the table when I am working. Here he is checking on the quality of my handprinting technique and looking a little disgruntled.
He knows when it’s a printing day and finds a comfortable chair in the sunshine where he can keep an eye on me but also knows he has a full day ahead with few disturbances!
Painting
My copper foiled paintings tend to take a back seat during January and February so I can focus on my printing. However, I do think about ideas that I never had time to do the previous year and I have completed the odd painting here and there since the start of this year. I have enjoyed having the time to review my lists of what was particularly popular or requested last year - funnily enough, pigeons were one of the most requested! I also spend this time trawling antiquities shops and railway ephemera events to find interesting papers for future work. I’ve got some absolute crackers to work on from the end of this month and an exciting collaboration coming up.
Hedgehog on a 1950s British Railways Wagon Label to Leeds
In the meantime, here is a hedgehog that I just couldn’t resist painting. We have several living in our garden and I just love coming across them when outside in the evenings!
This little one will be available in my website shop very soon…
Before we know it, it’ll be time to get out the tent ready for spring and summer events! Really looking forward to being back out again on the road!