Sunday 19 July 2015

Changing my opinion of someone

It happens. 

I used to think he was a complete tit but this week Will Gompertz has gone up in my estimation, and for two reasons. Firstly for an article I saw in the week promoting a book he has out, claiming that, "We are all artists. We just have to believe it. That’s what artists do", sentiments that I whole-heartedly agree with. I don't care for some of the people he socialises with or his adoration of Damian Hurst, whom I consider to be a charlatan, but I applaud his acknowledgement that we are all/can be artists.

As if that wasn't enough, quite by accident, yesterday a caught a programme he's done on Radio4 called Will Gompertz Gets Creative. Yesterday's programme was about spoken word and I was totally mesmerised by it. It is a beautiful programme. Catch it on iPlayer before it disappears.



Sunday 12 July 2015

In print

Yesterday I did something I've wanted to do most of my adult life. Finally I got the chance to try screen printing. I went on an induction day course with those really nice people at Print To The People in Norwich. And, oh what fun it was.

It was very much a last minute decision to go on the course, and I am so glad I did. I hurriedly took a pen and ink drawing I'd done back in 1983, scanned it, and then made some alterations in Photoshop Elements including adding some blocks of colour to make my template design.

There were eight of us on the course and I think it's fair to say we all had a good time. We were playing with a new toy, and we were having such a good time. Experimentation was encouraged and we all went for it. As a consequence we all produced some wonderful prints. If you live within striking distant of the fine city of Norwich I'd recommend that you go on one of Print To The People's courses. You don't need to be 'artistic', just enthusiastic. I came away with a big grin on my face and some very pleasing prints.

As soon as I get the chance I'm going to work on an image or two with a view to using their open access facilities to print some mores. It's a medium that offers loads of creative possibilities and I'm keen to go down that road.

Here are a few of the prints; I'll put some more on my Facebook page.