​Drumroll...... and here they are! I've finally framed some of my mini-prints. This is a new series of prints I have been working on - they are all around A5 in size and are original hand printed linocut prints.

The aim is to produce smaller prints which are available unframed, and therefore can be used to create a gallery wall effect at a sensible price! My lovely sister-in-law Sam has been my sounding board in terms of designs, and I think they'd be a really good addition to anywhere in the home - including children's bedrooms of nurseries. There'll be more designs coming soon!  Some of the prints have also been hand-coloured - there's some more images below of the ladybirds in red, and I also have some with the conker with a hint of brown!  You'll need to pop along to Art in the Park to see them though as that's where they'll first be available. There should be link above to the event or you can find the links on my homepage too - including to my festival artist's page.

It's been a busy few weeks since Warwickshire Open Studios - there's been some more printing going on - see above plus a lot of prep work re-stocking for Art In The Park, and fitting in some supply teaching around that too!  With all this heat it's played a bit of havoc with when I've been able to print and carve. The heat is not a friend to Japanese Vinyl as it can make it very soft and it makes slipping even more dangerous both for the vinyl block and my hands!  Hot hands are also not a friend when hand printing either; I find it can make the print slip on the ink as I'm holding it down, and if your hands are feeling really sweaty it's just not good!  However, the heat does make the printing ink work beautifully! 

The house has been covered in cards and prints drying in lots of different nooks and crannies and any spare ledges out of the way of the dogs! I've re-stocked and printed all of my hand-printed and hand-stamped cards, and there's a new penguin design too - again, you'll need to come to AITP to see them first!

Here's some pictures of what I've been up to - some close ups of the prints, printing chaos in progress, and also one of my mouse - I've also done a little series of harvest mouse drawings which I'll share at some point.

And finally, another Art in the Park plug: 4th and 5th of August at Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa -  it's open from 10am to 6pm and is a great day out. Over 150 artists, food, drink, music, dance and drama. We went last year and had a great time - I'm really looking forward to being a part of it this year.  Plus, Dad and I have rigged up something very funky with some old doors to help with displaying my pictures!  If in doubt of where to find me...... just look for the Dodos!

alix x

​The last three weekends have been spent doing Warwickshire Open Studios - for those people who have been following my blog,  it also marked a year of me having my work physically out and about in the public eye rather than just on this website!  Doing WOS for the first time last year was my 'New Year's Resolution' to get my printmaking and drawing out there!

The set up took a bit longer this year as I had far more framed prints (hooray!) - and it was a nice reminder and review of how my portfolio of work has grown, and developed, over the year. 

I had the pleasure of being at Hilary Poole's house again - a glassmaker and ceramicist (her leaf is on the picture above) who also has a glass studio at her house, along with Sue Barclay a silversmith and Athina Bastien a ceramacist (it's her bowl on the picture above).  Thank you to the ladies for their chat and company over the weekends, and again a HUGE thank you to Hilary for letting us all in to her house to be able to take part.

Again it proved to be a very warm couple of weekends!  It was lovely to talk to folks about printmaking - some people came especially to see me to talk about printmaking which was lovely - and they left with lists of stuff to look at or try. It made me think that I could do with writing a blog on here specifically to do with things that I've found helpful and things I've tried too.... and I also talked to more people who haven't done printmaking before, or last did linocut when they were at school!  I'd taken along some carving examples as well as my pre-prints for a reduction linocut which helped people to understand the processes involved. 

It was a good two weeks, and this year I managed to get round some other Open Studios too by visiting on the mornings on the days we were open as I wasn't teaching on those days. It was fabulous to go and see different artists in their studios. If you haven't visited or are aware of how it works, essentially artists, or groups of artists, open up their studios or homes and show off their art and techniques for people to come and chat to them and also to buy artwork on display.

As well as Open Studios, I've also been working on some new mini-prints and drawings looking towards my next event which is Art in the Park in Leamington Spa. It's at Jephson Gardens on the 4th and 5th August from 10am - 6pm. It's free to get in and there are around 150 artists as well as dance, music, food and different art displays/installations and workshops. We went last year and it was great - such a fabulous vibe! I'll be in one of the bigger marquees in the Artist's Village if you are about to say hello. 

Time for a few photos from Warwickshire Open Studios and then next week (hopefully!) I'll pop up another blog with a couple more updates - and I'll get thinking about the blog about things that I've found out about printmaking over the last couple of years. If there's anything you would find helpful, leave a comment below and I'll see if I can get it sorted or can help out.

And a quick shout out to say my etsy shop (HERE) is up and running again for selling cards and digital prints.  The shop on here was not working too well as it was charging too much for shipping costs - on etsy it's much easier to control! The picture below is one I took for #justacard week - a way of promoting support for small businesses; believe me that one card really does help! It also shows just how many more designs I now have available!

Hope you're all enjoying the warm weather - it' s a bit too much for our dogs!

​alix  x