Counting and sequencing

Calderbrook . 24 July 2018 18:10. Photo-etching 2020

I’m a bit stumped now. I’ve a few blog posts part-drafted, but am unsure about how to order the images to post. So, thought I would start with the start of the Calderbrook series, that I used the original image for my last post.

In response to a question, there are 157 original prints in this series (plus a few that went straight in the bin), made from ten plates. My plan was to show about 20-30. I might show a few more on the blog to illustrate how the work has developed.

Thanks and clarifications

Thanks for all the encouraging comments and interesting questions. I realise that by starting at the end and in the middle of this process I’ve done as much to confuse as to inform. True, I did rush to pull this together, as part of a response to the many fears and isolation we all now face. So, thanks for bearing with me while I make some order from this.

The South Pennine Paths series is of hand-made landscape prints. They are landscapes in small section, each section is no more than a pace across. They are the roads, paths and tracks of the South Pennine towns and hills that form the backbone of northern England, and that have been so hard hit by flooding in recent years. I have walked here regularly for many years, gradually expanding my route map of these places. The photographs from which these prints develop were taken on walks during 2017 and 2018, either on family walks or on journeys taken alone.

These small sections identify some of the most obvious human interactions with the natural environment. Unsurprisingly, these are all unstable or impermanent: perhaps a passing feature (a lost glove or blowing leaf), that will inevitably disperse or a surface strained through repeated use. These are everyday elements of a lived landscape.

I made these prints at Northern Print studios https://northernprint.org.uk/ during 2019 and early 2020. All are photo-etchings, with some developed using mono-print, or further worked later with gouache or acrylic paint. The colour layers allowing for some illusion of depth and opportunity for mystery, sometimes concealing sometimes revealing or emphasising parts of the subject. The paint can then further emphasise the detail.

In producing this work, there are many I need to thank, particularly my family for giving me the time and space to make and show this work. Also to all at Northern Print for their encouragement, support, and technical advice especially when things aren’t going to plan.

In response to your questions and comments, two longer posts are to follow over the coming days: one on methods- a brief account of how these prints are made and another on the subject matter of the South Pennine Paths series. For now, one of the original photos, that provided the source material for these photo-etchings.

Publishing

Prints waiting for final sifting

Today’s image- prints waiting on final sifting and seems the opposite of publishing. But today is to be the day I publish this blog, and hopefully overcome some of the final technical behind-the-scenes hurdles and start to share more widely.

first print

Calderbrook 24 July 2018 18:10

Where to start? Which to post first?

All sorts of questions- and lots of ways to answer. The most obvious was one of the series I used to design the exhibition flyer. The title refers to where it was taken, with the date and time it was taken, and indicates the walk it was part of.

It is the first of the South Pennine Paths series that I will post here.

This very clearly suggests a very particular place, so is a good place to start as any.

the plates

Some of the etched plates used in printmaking and helpful extra weight in my drying press

The makeshift drying press was helped considerably by the copper plates, as I reviewed the first post, it seemed worth a mention as the plates are some of those I used in making the prints for this series.

The plates are tricky to photograph, well enough to get an idea of their form. These are taken at a sharp angle looking towards a bright north facing studio window.

The light is readily reflected off most of the surface, with darker areas indicating the etched, pitted parts. The copper glow adds something to the appeal.