Love Letter to a week of contemporary bookmaking




The wondrous Eleanor at Bridge House Art  invited me to teach a week-long course during her Summer art school in the sublime surrounds of her Ullapool studio in the Highlands. It was truly refreshing to be around such a group of inspiring, committed students that were as keen as mustard to learn the techniques and explore the possibilities of contemporary bookmaking. Thank you to you all for responding so eloquently and imaginatively to the briefs I set and making my working week a joy. Lovely cakes too. 

Ullapool






Sleeper trains & missed buses, local kindnesses & hero lifts, early birds & shared ideas, communal cooking & pitch-black sleeps, hill stomps & hot puddings. 

PAPER gallery



Now a part of the Paper Gallery family, you can now view, and purchase if you choose, a series of my new works on paper. From a series of object portraits memorialising the literary legacy acquired by significant loves. Each book painting becomes a reminder and lesson in how to stand, rather than fall in and out of, Love.  



All the News that's fit to print *new edition






‘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 collapsing hoardings.
An ode to brotherly love and the Collyers’ obsessive compulsive hoarding, 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. £45.00. Available here.

+Brand new Course+ Sewn Structures


SEWN STRUCTURES

Weekend Course
Starting: Saturday 8th September 2012
Ending: Sunday 9th September 2012
From: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm
Spend a weekend learning several very satisfying book binding structures using simply paper, needle & thread; from the basic 'pamphlet stitch' to the beautiful and ingenious 'single sections sewn onto tapes'. You will come away from the weekend with 4 new and exquisite ways to house your artwork, without the use of any glue! This course is ideal for artists who want more options to incorporate their work into book form and suitable for those with some experience of basic book making. Cost: £125.00 / £105.00 members . 
Enquire or Book here: Hot Bed Press, Salford.         
Come. x


Sabbatical



A short time away to where there are no ways in for the outside to get me, to turn my head or disturb my flow. I say goodbye to technology that daily defeats my efforts at stillness. I have been drawing and making quietly and now it's time to write, deep in the woods with not a responsibility to anything but my pen. See you on the other side. 

Cartography Exhibition Opens tomorrow



I have had the privilege of working with members of the Salford community on the 'Writing Lives' creative writing project for the past 3 years and it is with great pleasure and the proudest voice that I invite you to view their uniquely beautiful and moving digital artwork at Media City between July 24th and August 10th. 

The animations, short films and audio recordings are digital interpretations of the poetry and prose created during the weekly outreach sessions led throughout East Salford. They will be on show at the University of Salford's Egg Space during the Summer of 2012.  Please do, if you can, take the time to visit this most inspiring exhibition.



Brand New COURSE this Weekend!

INSIDE OUT BOOKS
Weekend Course THIS WEEKEND! 
Starting: Saturday 21st July 2012
Ending: Sunday 22nd July 2012
From: 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Using an existing unwanted hardback book you will learn how to detach the cover, turn it inside out, and sew in new selected pages and prints of your own with a button hole stitch. These structures become fascinating sketchbooks or artist's books. You will learn the fundamentals of the stitch on day one before going on to create your unique 'inside out' book. No experience of bookmaking is necessary but you are encouraged to bring along plenty of your own papers and ephemera for inclusion in the structure. Book your place here!




*Studio Sale Special



Last week I had a monstrous re-shuffle in my studio and discovered a couple of long lost copies of books/some print-run overs/and precious books without covers. I have decided to have a little sale here.  New homes for them are greatly encouraged. 

Stop. Frame. Animate.




For the first six months of this year on most Wednesdays and some Thursday mornings time s l o w e d down. Two hours were delicately teased out to film twelve frames per second of poetic animations for the Writing Lives creative writing Project in Salford. With the inspiring and spirited participants (& a young helper) we created 5 beautiful short films to be exhibited at Media City's Egg Space, forming part of the CARTOGRAPHY showcase opening on July 24th. So proud I am of the ladies' commitment and achievements this past year I could pop. If your spirits are in need of being lifted and your belief in humanity restored, take a hankie in your pocket and visit the exhibition between July 23rd - August 10th 2012.

TSOL Live




The School of Life came to Manchester on their recent Live tour. 7 friends attended, 3 how to live books were purchased and binocular-full insights were gained! 
I can't put Philipa Perry's 'how to stay sane' down.