I have begun to collate the prints and paintings ready to be hung in the gallery at West Buckland School. I have now begun a massive editing process in my head – I have over 30 images to choose from (all framed and shiny) ranging from 18′ to 5 feet in height (90% have been produced in 60 days). I need to extract about 20 images.

The only way I am going to to this is by looking back over my notes (below) and work out what exactly I want to achieve.

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Printmaking has always been the poor relation of the art world. The print is something we traditionally buy as a reproduction of a serious piece of work (painting). The tradition of printing has evolved and the print maker maybe an artist?

‘Peter’s exhibition was inspired by iconic images he used when he was at art school in the 70’s on the theme of Beauty and the Beast – inc Sid and Nancy and Guy the Gorilla! – and I think the results are really bold and impactful.’

Rediscovering the printing process after nearly 40 years has been an interesting process – disappointingly modern inks are not as rich in colour (earthy colours are very plastic like) and modern waterbased inks don’t become part of the surface, they sit on it, which is incredibly frustrating – the reason I took up printing in the first place was because of the absorbed flatness of the pigments.

I have always been a hoarder, newspaper clippings, postcards etc. It is only now that I have decided to recycle them.

The definition of what is art and what isn’t has become wooly. Painting is often defined as the application of a medium applied to a surface with a brush but in reality painting can involve other practices like printing. There are generally unspoken guidelines for what makes a good painting. These intuitive components determine the painting’s aesthetic value. These values and sensibilities constantly go through a shift, depending on cultural, political and social tolerances. There is no longer one definition for what makes a successful painting.

As an 11 year old I watched the first moon landing in 1969. I was mad about everything to do with space travel, I would read anything that was about rockets, cosmonauts and astronauts. Later in my life I shook the hand of a man who shook the hand of my all time hero Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, that was for me like touching history, if only secondhand (excuse the pun).

I have just been rummaging through old boxes of stuff and found the picture above – yellowed and faded – it still makes my heart flutter. I wish I’d been to the moon.

Woodcuts

The most inspirational woodcuts (for me) are by Émile Bernard. Émile Henri Bernard (April 28, 1868 – April 16, 1941) is known as a Post-Impressionist painter who had artistic friendships with Van Gogh, Gauguin, Eugene Boch and Cézanne. Most of his notable work was accomplished at a young age, in the years 1886 through 1897. He is also associated with Cloisonnism and Synthetism, two late 19th century art movements. Less known is Bernard’s literary work, comprising plays, poetry, and art criticism as well as art historical statements that contain first hand information on the crucial period of modern art to which Bernard had contributed. Bernard was in many ways, the young, educated and intellectual mentor, who was crucial in intellectualising and inspiring Paul Gauguin during the Pont Aven period of his career. Read more…