A Brand New Season of Courses at Hot Bed Press

ORIZOME - Japanese Paper Dying & Bookbinding 

Weekend Course

Starting: 

Saturday 10th October 2015

Ending: 

Sunday 11th October 2015

From: 

11:00 am

 to 

5:00 pm

Tutor: Lucy May Schofield

About the course: 

Using Orizome Japanese dying techniques we will explore the effects of geometric folding forms on mulberry paper to create endless combinations of possible patterns and colour. In using folding as a resist method and dye pots of inks, you will experience the surprise of the unfolded orizome emerge. 

You will gain insight into a traditional Japanese practice which continues to be in use as a decorative technique still mastered today. On day two we will use the unique papers created as covers for a series of 4 Japanese stab sewn bindings (four hole, noble, tortoise shell and hemp leaf). 

This course is suitable for those with an interest in cross-processing, a love of textile repeat pattern, and those with a degree of bookbinding experience.

For enquiries and bookings visit

Hot Bed Press.

JAPANESE WATER-BASED WOODBLOCK PRINTING (MOKUHANGA)

Weekend Course

Starting: 

Saturday 24th October 2015

Ending: 

Sunday 25th October 2015

From: 

11:00 am

 to 

5:00 pm

Tutor: Lucy May Schofield

About the course: 

Mokuhanga is perfect for artists interested in a non-toxic, table-top, meditative printmaking technique. Learn the basic skills to create a key block and colour separation print, in the tradition of Ukiyo-e, using Japanese tools and materials. With countless possibilities, and minimum equipment (only a baren, no press required!), you will be sure to fall in love with both the process and results of this accessible printmaking method.

For enquiries and bookings visit

Hot Bed Press.

Artist's Talk and Demonstration

This Wednesday 9th September I will be giving a talk and demonstration on my experiences with Japanese printmaking and paper making. Please consider yourself invited and come along from 7 - 8.30pm for some free washi samples and Japanese sweets! For more details: 

http://www.hotbedpress.org/courses/japanese-paper-making-printmaking/

'Returning to the UK for the Summer, after spending two years in Japan, Lucy May Schofield will give a talk about her recent residency at 'MI-LAB' (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory) and paper making workshop at 'Awagami Factory'. Drawing on the important cultural relationship between paper making and printmaking, she will introduce and show samples of both washi (handmade Japanese Paper) and mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock printmaking). Lucy will share her knowledge, ideas and inspirations from Japan, with a focus on how to adapt these traditional materials and techniques into a contemporary art practice. '

Cost: £10.00 on the door / £5.00 members and advanced tickets.

Extra Course in Japanese Bookbinding and Box making announced



*Due to oversubscription a New Course has been added to the Summer Schedule at Hot Bed Press Printmakers ! Please contact them for enquiries at http://www.hotbedpress.org/contact-us/ 

*JAPANESE BOOKBINDING & BOX MAKING 

Weekend Course
Starting: Saturday 12th September 2015
Ending: Sunday 13th September 2015
From: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Tutor: Lucy May Schofield
Experience a unique weekend workshop in Japanese book binding and box making. Learn the skills to make 4 different Fukuro Toji binding styles, (four hole, noble, tortoise shell and hemp leaf) housed within a Hako Chitsu fold-down Box. Using authentic Japanese printed papers, washi, and vintage kimono fabrics sourced from Japan, this course will give you the opportunity to create a selection of the strongest, most elegant and practical bindings for printmakers and artists’ working with the book form.

Summer time WORKSHOPS & TALKS in the UK at Hot Bed Press.


 

JAPANESE BOOKBINDING & BOX MAKING

Weekend Course
Starting: Saturday 15th August 2015
Ending: Sunday 16th August 2015
From: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Tutor: Lucy May Schofield
About the course: 
Experience a unique weekend workshop in Japanese book binding and box making. Learn the skills to make 4 different Fukuro Toji binding styles, (four hole, noble, tortoise shell and hemp leaf) housed within a Hako Chitsu fold-down Box. Using authentic Japanese printed papers, washi, and vintage kimono fabrics sourced from Japan, this course will give you the opportunity to create a selection of the strongest, most elegant and practical bindings for printmakers and artists’ working with the book form.
Cost: £130.00 / £110.00 members
Maximum of 9 people - For enquiries and bookings visit the Hot Bed Press site here.


JAPANESE WATER-BASED WOODBLOCK PRINTING (MOKUHANGA)

Weekend Course
Starting: Saturday 5th September 2015
Ending: Sunday 6th September 2015
From: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Tutor: Lucy May Schofield
Mokuhanga is perfect for artists interested in a non-toxic, table-top, meditative printmaking technique. Learn the basic skills to create a key block and colour separation print, in the tradition of Ukiyo-e, using Japanese tools and materials. With countless possibilities, and minimum equipment (only a baren, no press required!), you will be sure to fall in love with both the process and results of this accessible printmaking method.
Lucy May Schofield has been working in Japan for the past 2 years, taking part in the artist-in-residence program at ‘MI-LAB’ (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory) and learning about Japanese hand paper making at ‘Awagami Factory’. We are really pleased to have Lucy back with us on a flying visit. Lucy has taught for Hot Bed Press for 8 years and is an internationally renowned book artist with work in many collections. She also works with Sylvie Waltering, (who runs our year-long book arts course), as the other half of 'Battenberg Press'.
Cost: £130.00 / £110.00 members
Maximum of 9 people - For enquiries and bookings visit the Hot Bed Press site here.


JAPANESE PAPER MAKING & PRINTMAKING

1 Evening Course (ARTIST'S TALK)
Starting: Wednesday 9th September 2015
Ending: Wednesday 9th September 2015
From: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Tutor: Lucy May Schofield
Returning to the UK for the Summer, after spending two years in Japan, Lucy May Schofield will give a talk about her recent residency at ‘MI-LAB’ (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory) and learning hand paper making at ‘Awagami Factory’. Drawing on the important cultural relationship between paper making and printmaking, she will introduce and show samples of both washi (handmade paper) and mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock prints). Lucy will share her knowledge, ideas and inspirations from Japan, with a focus on how to adapt these traditional materials and techniques into a contemporary art practice.
Note Prices are £5 Advance and £10 on the door irrespective of membership status.
Cost: £10.00 / £5.00 members
Maximum of 40 people - For enquiries and bookings visit the Hot Bed Press site here. 

Sake Brewing























The Wakatakeya Brewery annual o-sake gathering featuring late night nabe, ten kinds of sake to taste, wonderfully meandering conversation, cold futon, warm warm welcomes, sunrise strolls, 7am hairnets, morning koji massaging, rubber boots, a shirtless septuagenarian, a sleepy long lunch, a station sprint, brewed-stored memories.

Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory Residency






MI-LAB Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory 2015.

Located at the foot of Mount Fuji, in peaceful rural surroundings, MI-LAB is a dedicated space for artists to learn and develop skills in Mokuhanga (Japanese Woodblock printing). Residencies are awarded to around 6 artists each year for a period of 35 days in April to May. Workshops are led by professional Mokuhanga artists, master carvers and printers; enabling participant artists from differing cultural backgrounds to explore their practices through the traditional techniques of Mokuhanga. I will be taking part in this years residency from April 20th until May 25th. 

'Founded in 2011, MI-LAB is an artist-in-residence programme designed to provide extensive knowledge of Mokuhanga (water-based woodblock printmaking) and its techniques to international artists, printmakers and teachers of printmaking, as well as to enable them to make use of traditional tools and materials.'
For more details visit their site.

International Mokuhanga Conference 2014 - Tokyo






The 2nd International Mokuhanga Conference was hosted by Tokyo University of the Arts, with the Satellite show held at 3331 Arts Chiyoda. On Thursday I attended the Washi Dialogue - Printmakers Meet Papermakers after spending some time in the gallery absorbed in the Printmaking Studio / AIR Showcase exhibition. Feeling excited and moved by some of the possibilities and potential of Mokuhanga and impressed by the artists I met (Melbourne Printmaking), my hands were itching to get carving. 

Friday brought the opportunity to browse the wondrous Isetatsu paper shop to stock up on decorative woodblock printed papers, wander the haunting Yanaka Rei-en cemetery and visit Scai the Bathhouse gallery. I hot-footed it to Omotesando to catch the Letterpress From London exhibition at Paul Smith Space, where a collection of inspiring London-based printer makers presented an eclectic selection of Letterpress broadsides, books and ephemera. The exquisite work of Harrington and Squires made me feel homesick for England and for my own Adana press. 

I returned to 3331 Arts Chiyoda later on to listen to the The AIR Open Forum, where printmaking studios introduced their workshops and artist-in-residence programs. The opening reception was a good opportunity to talk to the directors and representatives of international studios and meet talented artists such as Dolores de Sade of East London Printmakers and Toshihiko Ikeda currently showing at Museum of Machida. 




On Sunday I spent the day at the main site of the IMC as a delegate attending a packed schedule of lectures and exhibition viewing. The speakers lectured on a huge variety of subjects and were so informative and inspiring. A few highlights for me were the artists' talks by Norwegian artist Karen Helga Murstig who spoke of Nordic light, snow, paper and print, and Katie Baldwin whose collaborative project 'Wood Paper Box' described a ten year friendship bound by Mokuhanga evolving into a 1 year project between the 3 printmakers with stunning results. A beautifully titled paper 'Handing out Happiness' delivered by the magnetic Tuula Moilanen was pure inspiration, focusing on  Japanese subjects of happiness in the form of mokuhanga ephemera. I was privileged to hear Yuasa Katsutoshi discuss the concern in the decline of Japanese elementary school children being taught mokuhanga in the current curriculum, and lucky to hear Kitamura Shouichi, master woodblock carver talk about his recent printmaking collaboration with Ogawa Eitaro in Shanghai. 









During the lunch break I explored the group exhibition 'The Content', where I could view the beautiful 'Wood Paper Box' collaboration as well as 'Yuki', a small collection of artists' print responses to the notion of snow. The Artist Print Book Exhibition 'Mokuhan-Ehon' showed treasures from the talented Karen Kunc and the lovely Sumi Perera . The wonderful humour and simplicity of the book by Tuula Moilanen stayed with me, as did the stunning mokuhanga works of a current student at Tokyo University of the Arts, who beautifully depicted moments titled 'Sigh' in woodblock and watercolour. The conference filled me with ideas and knowledge in an area I long to flourish, yet am only a sapling. 

Contemplating Obsession





‘ALL THE NEWS THAT’S FIT TO PRINT’
75 years ago Homer Collyer was found dead in an armchair in the 5th Avenue Brownstone mansion he shared with his brother Langley. The NYPD emptied the house of 130 tons of refuse including 1 horse’s jawbone, 25 thousand books, 14 pianos, 5 dressmaker’s dummies, several guns and 15 year’s worth of daily newspapers. 19 days later they discovered Langley’s body less than 10 feet from where his brother had died, suffocated under the weight of his collapsed hoardings.
In an ode to brotherly love and the Collyers’ obsessive compulsive hoarding, I created this ghost edition of the New York Times distills 15 years of minor news stories taken from the NYTimes archive between 1933-1947. Re-printed and re-published for the benefit of the late blind Homer Collyer as a comment on the futility and sadness of saving everything.
Letterpress printed broadsheet, white ink hand printed on 50gsm newsprint, 597mm x 374mm, edition of 5 2012.  

 In addition to the broadsheet I created twin mausoleums housing interpretive personal collections reflecting some of the objects discovered in the Collyer home.

I gather and keep my own hair in jam jars. I collected thimbles as a child and was consequently teased. I hold onto a defunct Adana printing press, whose instruction manual is useless. I own a dead mans collection of ambiguous printing plates. I have rooms worth of miniature furniture yet no dolls house to house them in. 

Specimen boxes contain Sunograph prints, Letterpress prints, inkjet digital prints, and various objects. The coffins are not to be separated, and only exhibited as a pair, re-visited in 2014.

A Book on Bookmaking


Last year, before moving to Japan, I was invited to contribute to a new publication by Charlotte Rivers & Esther K.Smith titled 'The little book of bookmaking'. Some of my artist's publications are featured within the pages on 'Folded bindings' along with a description of some techniques I employ in making the editions. The book is published this month and is well worth a read. You can find more details here.




Proud as Punch





My sister is magnificent. 
She will be demonstrating her wonder at a magical pop-up shop in Brighton next weekend with a special discount off her current jewellery collections. Beautiful, delicate, edgy, elegant. Go see. 

Souvenirs of Vulnerability *special edition










           
A collection of object portraits that marked moments of vulnerability in relationships. Each page is a Riso-print translation of the original watercolour paintings of the souvenirs kept post exposed vulnerability. Each object a memento of a shift in feeling. The pages are french folded, perforated and sewn using a variation on a Japanese Stab binding. Each page must be separated by the viewer in order to expose the artwork souvenir. Each book is housed in a bespoke slip case, covered in teal blue or candy pink Colorado book cloth, with a foil debossed yellow banana on the cover. 

 Two colour Risograph printed in soya based ink (Gold & Orange/Flouoro Pink) on Zerkall 145gsm paper, soft-back cover Riso-printed on handmade paper with reduced stab stitch in silk embroidery thread, handmade slip case with exposed foredge. Edition of 8, teal or pink slip cases available 130 x 190 mm, 2013, £38. Available Here for Worldwide shipping and

  Here in the UK

New York I Love You


. ..but you're bringing me down 








 New York I Love You, but you're bringing me down.
A recent book edition created as an ode to the Big Apple and my three months spent there in the winter of 2011. A photographic and text response to the patterns of life in an unrelenting city. A struggle/survive, embrace/despise, resist/collide tone resonating from beginning to end. A love letter to the man, rather than Manhattan.

 One colour digitally printed, perfect bound with hand made cover in Atlantic Mist book cloth, heat foil debossed with silver Empire State. Edition of 10, 2013, £15 available here.

Special Commissions







Since the beginning of the year I have been working on several special commissions for a number of artists. The satisfaction of collaborating on a design solution that works both functionally and conceptually has been a valued addition to my process of making.  Recently completed commissions for Artist Mishka Henner include an edition of portfolio boxes made for his photographic series 'Eighteen Pumpjacks'. Each one was handmade using millboard covered in heritage library buckram,  each foredge inlaid with 16 tiny magnets, achieving a very satisfying closure and mobility.