York Printmakers’ work on show at Blossom Street, York
YORK Printmakers are presenting A Showcase at Blossom Street Gallery, Blossom Street, York, until July 31.
On show is an array of printmaking skills, demonstrating techniques and printing processes that date back hundreds of years through to those that push the boundaries of contemporary practice, with laser-cut plates, digital elements and 3D techniques.
Taking part are: Harriette Rymer; Lyn Bailey; Bridget Hunt; Carrie Lyall; Patricia Ann Ruddle; Jane Dignum; Jo Rodwell; Lesley Shaw; Phill Jenkins; Sally Parkin; Emily Harvey; Gill Douglas; Becky Long-Smith; Vanessa Oo; Sandra Storey and Rachel Holborow.
York Printmakers formed in 2015 when a dozen or so printmakers from the York area joined together. The group now numbers around 50 members who meet monthly to share work, discuss ideas about processes in an informal way and learn from each other.
Their work spans a wide variety of methods, from etching, linocut, collagraph, monotype and screen print to solar plate, Japanese woodblock, lithography and stencilling.
Members have a wide range of printmaking backgrounds, from art students to professional artists who exhibit widely, and they work continually work on new opportunities for the group. For example, the logo was created as a group project with several members choosing letters and producing prints of them in their individual ways.
Regular opening hours at Blossom Street Gallery are: Thursdays, 11am to 3pm; Friday and Saturday, 10am to 4pm; Sundays, 10am to 3pm.
Jane Dignum at work on a linocut print in her studio conservatory
THE contrasting styles of York artists Jane Dignum and Mark Druery unite in Village Gallery’s winter exhibition in Colliergate, York.
York Printmakers’ member Jane studied Fine Art at Leeds College of Art and Design, where she was introduced to a variety of printmaking methods. She tends to favour linocut but still experiments with other methods.
“Jane loves to create images showing plants and wildlife and often includes scenes from her allotment or things she sees when out walking,” says gallery owner Simon Main. “She finds inspiration everywhere and always has her sketchbook and camera with her, so that she can make visual notes wherever she goes.”
Beehives And Sunflowers, by Jane Dignum
Jane prints her linocut images on her etching press, often on handmade paper and using specialist oil-based printing inks.
Mark, who trained at Canterbury School of Art & Design, describes himself as inseparably both an architect and artist.
“Drawing has always been an integral part of his studies and later his professional life as an architect,” says Simon. “He always carries a sketchbook and camera around, often stopping to study interesting buildings and features.
Shambles, York, by Mark Druery
“His favourite medium at work and in art is the drawing pen, loving the immediacy of the medium and the decisiveness of the pen stroke, when committing pen to paper. He then applies watercolour over the pen strokes.”
Bold, colourful, nature -inspired prints versus original detailed architectural studies of York form Jane Dignum and Mark Druery’s exhibition, running at Village Gallery until January 21 2023. Opening hours are: Tuesday to Saturday, 10am to 4pm.
To complement its regularly changing art exhibitions, Village Gallery stocks Lalique glass and crystal, along with jewellery, art, ceramics, glass and sculpture, much of the work made by York artists. “Perfect for Christmas gifting,” suggests Simon.
The Bluejays: Ready to Rave On at York Theatre Royal
GOLDEN hits, blue art, a grotesque puppet, raucous inventions, a brace of musicals and an on-trend comedian are Charles Hutchinson’s fancies for cultural gratification.
Nostalgia trip of the week: The Bluejays in Rave On, York Theatre Royal, Saturday (5/2/2022), 7.30pm
THE Bluejays, a group comprised of West End stars from The Buddy Holly Story, Million Dollar Quartet, One Man, Two Guvnorsand Dreamboats & Petticoats, head back to the fabulous Fifties and swinging Sixties in Rave On.
Charting the meteoric rise of rock’n’roll, this joyful journey through these revolutionary musical decades revels in the golden days of Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, Chuck Berry, The Beatles, Neil Sedaka, The Kinks, Connie Francis, Lulu and The Shadows. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Rebecca Taylor: Soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 at York Guildhall Orchestra’s concert
Beethoven at the double: York Guildhall Orchestra, York Barbican, tonight, 7.30pm
REBECCA Taylor will be the soloist for Beethoven’s Piano Concerto No 1 in the second concert of York Guildhall Orchestra’s 41st season.
Under conductor Simon Wright, the orchestra also perform one of Beethoven’s rarely played overtures, an 1811 commemorative work to King Stephen 1st, founder of Hungary in 1000AD.
The second half features a stalwart of the symphonic repertoire, Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No 5, a popular work that “demonstrates his darker side, perhaps ultimate victory through strife,” says Wright. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Jane Dignum’s poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue exhibition at Pyramid Gallery, York
Group exhibition of the week: Westside Artists’ Into The Blue at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 13, open Monday to Saturday, 10am to 5pm
EACH of the Westside Artists, a group from the west end of York, has created new work to portray a personal interpretation and concept of the exhibition title, Into The Blue, at Terry Brett’s Pyramid Gallery.
Taking part are Adele Karmazyn (digital photomontage); Carolyn Coles (painting); Donna Marie Taylor (mixed media); Ealish Wilson (mixed media and sculpture); Fran Brammer (textiles) and Jane Dignum (printmaking).
So to are Jill Tattersall (mixed-media collage); Kate Akrill (ceramics); Lucie Wake (painting); Mark Druery (printmaking); Richard Rhodes (ceramics); Sharon McDonagh (mixed media) and Simon Palmour (photography).
Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company cast members in rehearsal for Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical
Who will he choose? Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company in Kipps, The New Half A Sixpence Musical, Joseph Rowntree Theatre, York, February 9 to 12, 7.30pm and 2.30pm Saturday matinee
IN the coastal town of Folkestone, Arthur Kipps knows there is more to life than his demanding but unrewarding job as an apprentice draper.
When he suddenly inherits a fortune, Kipps is thrown into a world of upper-class soirées and strict rules of etiquette that he barely understands. Torn between the affections of the kind but proper Helen and childhood sweetheart Ann, Kipps must determine whether such a simple soul can find a place in high society.
Tickets for this Joseph Rowntree Theatre Company fundraising show for the JoRo are on sale on 01904 501935 or at josephrowntreetheatre.co.uk.
Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, on tour at the SJT, Scarborough, from Wednesday. Picture: Alex Harvey-Brown
Fright nights ahead: Blackeyed Theatre in Frankenstein, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Scarborough, February 9 to 12
SOUTH Yorkshire playwright Nick Lane has reinterpreted John Ginman’s original 2016 script for Bracknell touring company Blackeyed Theatre, built around Mary Shelley’s Gothic novel set in Geneva in 1816, where Victor Frankenstein obsesses in the pursuit of nature’s secret, the elixir of life itself.
This highly theatrical telling combines live music and ensemble storytelling with Bunraku-style puppetry to portray The Creature. Designed and built by Warhorse and His Dark Materials alumna Yvonne Stone, the 6ft 4inch puppet is operated by up to three actors at any one time. Box office: 01723 370541 or at sjt.uk.com.
Jonny Holbek in rehearsal for his role of Che in York Light Opera Company’s production of Evita
“Big sing” of the week ahead: York Light Opera Company in Evita, York Theatre Royal, February 9 to 19
DIRECTOR Martyn Knight has decided to use double casting for the five main roles in Evita, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical of people, politics and power, in response to Covid-19’s ongoing impact.
The principals have been rehearsing separately, with Alexa Chaplin and Emma-Louise Dickinson sharing the lead role of Eva Peron; Dale Vaughan and Jonny Holbek playing Che; John Hall and Neil Wood as Juan Peron, Dave Copley-Martin and Richard Weatherill as Agustin Maglidi, and Fiona Phillips and Hannah Witcomb as Peron’s Mistress.
Covid, long Covid and even physical injuries have necessitated Knight drawing up his 18th cast list at the latest count. Box office: 01904 623568 or at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.
Con Brio, by Mark Hearld, at Yorkshire Sculpture Park. Picture: Red Photography
Last chance to see: Mark Hearld’s Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, Upper Space and YSP Centre, Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, ends tomorrow (6/2/2022)
THIS weekend is the finale to Raucous Invention: The Joy Of Making, an ambitious, vibrant, and creative journey wherein York artist and designer Mark Hearld explores connections through collaboration and risk-taking to create bold and challenging works, including tapestries and ceramics.
Working from his Portland Street studio across a range of media and using the natural world as inspiration, Hearld has made collages, lino-cut prints, letter-press prints and a large-scale mural that fills the walls of the YSP kitchen in the visitor centre. You will need to book at ysp.org.uk.
Pandemic pontifications: Russell Kane’s new tour show, The Essex Variant!, is heading to York Barbican
Still the only subject in town by then? Russell Kane Live: The Essex Variant!, York Barbican, December 14
ENFIELD humorist Russell Kane offers his “gut-punch funny, searing take on the two years we’ve just gone through” in his new stand-up tour show, The Essex Variant!. More like, three years, by then.
Comic, writer, presenter and actor Kane presents two podcasts, Man Baggage and BBC Radio 4’s Evil Genius and is a regular on Channel 4, BBC and ITV. “I drink lots of coffee and I’m ‘like that in real life’,” he says. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.
Adele Karmazyn’s show poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue
INTO The Blue, an exhibition of paintings, sculptures and prints by York’s Westside Artists, is running at Pyramid Gallery, Stonegate, York, until March 13.
“This is an eclectic show of work by this collaboration of artists from the West of York,” says gallery owner Terry Brett. “In Pyramid’s 40th year in York, we’re keen to celebrate the wealth of talent here in our city, starting the year off with this beautiful show.”
Jane Dignum’s poster for Westside Artists’ Into The Blue exhibition
“Each artist has created new work to portray their personal interpretation and concept of the exhibition title, Into The Blue. With so many diverse disciplines, the exhibition really is a sight to behold.”
Taking part are Adele Karmazyn (digital photomontage); Carolyn Coles (painting); Donna Marie Taylor (mixed media); Ealish Wilson (mixed media and sculpture); Fran Brammer (textiles) and Jane Dignum (printmaking).
Photographer Simon Palmour’s poster
So to are Jill Tattersall (mixed-media collage); Kate Akrill (ceramics); Lucie Wake (painting); Mark Druery (printmaking); Richard Rhodes (ceramics); Sharon McDonagh (mixed media) and Simon Palmour (photography).
Pyramid Gallery is open from 10am to 5pm, Monday to Saturday, but closed on Sundays at present.
Wake-up call: Lucie Wake’s poster to attract visitors to Into The Blue
Carolyn Coles’s studio at South Bank Studios, Bishopthorpe Road, York
SOUTH Bank Studios, an artists’ group based at Southlands Methodist Church, York, open their doors and studios to the public for their annual Art & Craft Winter Fair on November 13.
From 10am to 5pm, 28 artists are exhibiting jewellery, ceramics, lino prints, textile art and fine art paintings and prints, all available to buy, just in time for Christmas. Entry is free.
“There has never been a better time than now to support local artists” says Donna Maria Taylor, one of the event organisers and artists from the studios in Bishopthorpe Road. “The South Bank Studios ethos is to build our community, so we decided that as well as showcasing our own work, we would invite other artists and makers to join us at the fair.
“We have a great range of artists showing, such as Carolyn Coles, Caroline Utterson, Jane Dignum, Lincoln Lightfoot, Richard Whitelegg, Mandi Grant and Fiona Lane, to name just a few. There really will be a fantastic selection on offer.”
South Bank Studios’ poster for the November 13 art and craft winter fair
When selecting artists and makers to take part, South Bank Studios made sure that collectively they would offer a varied price range, so no-one should miss out, says Donna.
“But it’s not just about shopping,” she continues. “The studios will be open, so visitors get a chance to look behind the scenes. We will also have performances from the York Music Centre ensembles, including the Senior Concert Band (10am), the Guitar Ensemble (11am), the Senior Folkestra (11.30am) and Big Band (12.30pm). There will be delicious homemade refreshments from the church team too.”
Since the group was formed in 2018, South Bank Studios have been involved in community projects and also hold workshops. For more information on the artists and what’s going on, visit their website, southbankstudios.co.uk.
Autonomous, mixed-media collage on box canvas, by Sharon McDonagh, long-listed for the 2021 Aesthetica Art Prize and now to be shown in the Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, York
YORK art group Westside Artists open their Momentum Summer Show at Blossom Street Gallery, by Micklegate Bar, York, on Friday (25/6/2021).
This coterie of artists from the Holgate and West area of York will be showing a varied range of disciplines, from painting and photomontage to textiles, ceramics and mixed-media art.
Among the participating artists, and a key organiser too, is Sharon McDonagh, from Holgate, who had her mixed-media work long-listed for this year’s Aesthetica Art Prize, whose accompanying exhibition is running at York Art Gallery. One of Sharon’s submitted pieces, Autonomous, is now featuring in the Momentum show.
Missy T, oil on canvas, by Lucie Wake
Joining her at Blossom Street Gallery are: Adele Karmazyn, digital photomontages; Carolyn Coles, seascapes; Donna Maria Taylor, mixed media; Ealish Wilson, textiles; Fran Brammer, textiles; Jane Dignum, prints; Jill Tattersall, mixed media; Kate Akrill, Skullduggery ceramics, and Lucy McElroy, portraits.
So too are: Lucie Wake, from Facet Painting, paintings and portraits; Marc Godfrey-Murphy, alias MarcoLooks, illustrations; Mark Druery, pen and watercolour sketches; Michelle Hughes, prints; Rich Rhodes, ceramics; Robin Grover-Jaques, painting and metalwork, and Simon Palmour, photographs.
The Momentum Summer Show will be gaining momentum until September 26. Gallery opening hours are: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday, 10am to 4pm; Covid-compliant measures are in place.
Untitled, ‘Dark and Light’ acrylic on canvas, by Robin Grover-Jacques
VILLAGE Gallery, in Colliergate, York, will reopen on Wednesday (2/12/2020), when Lockdown 2 ends, to present the first collective exhibition for York’s Westside Artists.
Running until January 23 2021, Immersed will showcase the work of Adele Karmazyn; Carolyn Coles; Donna Maria Taylor; Ealish Wilson; Fran Brammer; Jane Dignum; Jill Tattersall; Lucy McElroy; Marc Godfrey-Murphy; Richard Rhodes; Robin Grover-Jacques and Sharon McDonagh.
Cayton Bay, by Carolyn Coles
“2020 has been an extremely hard year everyone, not least of all for artists, with many exhibitions and events being cancelled,” says gallery owner and curator Simon Main.
“So, Village Gallery is delighted to announce that its next post-lockdown exhibition will feature a group of local artists in their first collective showing.
Beehives & Sunflowers, by Jane Dignum
“The ‘Westside Artists’ is a small group of artists based around Holgate in York, who work in varied disciplines, such as painting, photomontage, print making, collage textile art, pottery and mixed media, and in varied subjects, from landscapes and seascapes to portraiture and abstract.”
Village Gallery’s opening hours are 10am to 4pm, Tuesday to Saturday, with Covid-secure social distancing measures in place.
Moon jars, by Richard Rhodes
“This exhibition is opening in time for everyone to find a truly unique Christmas gift while supporting local artists,” says Simon.
“Aside from its regularly changing art exhibitions, Village Gallery is York’s official stockist of Lalique glass and crystal, and additionally sells art, jewellery, ceramics, glass and sculpture, much of it the work of local artists.”
YORK Open Studios 2020, the chance to meet 144 artists at 100 locations over two April weekends, should have started with a preview evening tomorrow, but the annual showcase has been cancelled in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.
However,
with doors sadly shut for the April 17 to 19 and April 25 to 26 event,
CharlesHutchPress wants to champion the creativity of York’s artists and
makers, who would have been showcasing their ceramics, collage, digital,
illustration, jewellery, mixed media, painting, print, photography, sculpture
and textiles skills.
Each day,
in brochure order, five artists who now miss out on the exposure of Open
Studios will be given a pen portrait on these pages, because so much art and
craft will have been created for the event and still needs a new home.
Addresses will not be included at this time.
Meanwhile,
York Open Studios artists are finding their own way to respond to the shutdown
by filling their windows with their work instead. Look for #openwindowsyork2020 to locate them.
“If you see one in your area while taking your daily exercise, take a picture
and let us know,” they say.
A work from Sharon McDonagh’s Fragments series: An exploration into the fragility of life
Sharon McDonagh, painting
SHARON is drawn to painting the “darker side” of York, in particular to
its derelict buildings, against the backdrop of her high-profile past career as
a police forensic artist.
That work required her to draw dead bodies, creating artist’s
impressions of unidentified fatalities from mortuary photographs and
crime-scene information, and you can make the psychologist’s leap between death
and decay if that is your Freudian wont.
“It might seem mad going from being a forensic artist depicting bodies
to doing paintings of decay, but I suppose it’s all an organic path of death
and destruction,” she says of her detailed, intriguing work, marked by unconventional
themes and, in particular, a love of architecture, York’s forgotten buildings
and items left behind.
Sharon McDonagh with her Fragments works at the Blossom Street Gallery’s Urban Decay exhibition earlier this year
Earlier this year, she exhibited her new Fragments series in the Urban Decay exhibition at Blossom Street Gallery, and works on that theme would have featured in her second York Open Studios show too.
“Fragments is an exploration into the fragility
of life,” Sharon says. “The vintage light switches and sockets symbolise the
person, while their last moments and memories are represented by the fragments
of wallpaper and tiles. The last glimpses of life, the last remaining fragments
before they die.
“I thought of light switches and sockets, because of the act of switching on and off lights and then life finally being switched off.” Discover more at sharonmcdonagh-artist.co.uk.
Autumn Hedgehog, linocut, by Jane Dignum
Jane Dignum, printmaking
JANE creates colourful
linocut prints and also makes collages out of pieces of her prints, her subject
matter spanning wildlife, the Yorkshire coast and the city of York.
“I like experimenting with different techniques of
printmaking and enjoy the sometimes surprising results that occur,” she says.
Jane Dignum in her studio
Jane studied fine art at Leeds College of Art, where she started to investigate printing. She always carries a sketchbook and camera and creates designs from photographs that she has taken. Take a look at janedignum.com.
Filey, by Carolyn Coles
Carolyn Coles, painting
PAINTING impressionistic
seascapes and landscapes, Carolyn’s use of palette gives her work identity and
life. She paints mostly on bespoke, stretched canvasses in oils and acrylics,
applied with palette knives and flat brushes.
“I like to capture atmosphere, usually with a leaning towards dark and moody and generally on a larger scale,” she says.
Carolyn’s formal artistic education began with studying art and design at York College, then specialising in illustration at Hereford College of Art and Design, earning distinctions in the early 1990s.
Carolyn Coles: Specialising in seascapes and landscapes
After a career taking in marketing art materials and
graphic design and illustration in journalism, Carolyn now devotes her time to
painting, exhibiting and selling work both on the home market in York, London,
Derby, Manchester and Leeds and internationally too.
Carolyn’s love of the seaside and nature in general
is reflected in her new collection. “The impressionistic style allows the
viewer to interpret their own story and pull their own memories back into play,”
she says.
“I’m interested in re-creating a feeling, an
essence. I love being by the sea or in the hills. It’s a tonic. The noise,
everything, just soaks into me. I like to be playful, bold and subtle in my
work.”
A regular participant in the annual Staithes Art
and Heritage Festival, she also exhibits at various galleries in York. More
details at carolyncoles.co.uk.
Adele Karmazyn: distinctive mix of techniques
Adele Karmazyn, digital prints
ADELE’S mostly
self-taught process involves scanning 19th century photographs, textures and
her own paintings to create digital photomontage artwork, often with a
hand-finished element using inks, oil paint and gold leaf.
Her love of antiques and oddities, old doors and weathered surfaces are the foundations of her work. Bringing people from the past back to full colour and intertwining them with creatures big and small, coupled with delicate foliage, she creates images both sophisticated and playful. Often she uses idioms, metaphors and musical lyrics for inspiration and to add narrative.
Forest Boy, by Adele Karmazyn
Adele studied for a textile art degree at Winchester School of Art, worked
briefly for an interior magazine in London and then set out to see the world.
Many years later, she settled in York and returned to her first calling, completing
a diploma in children’s book illustration in 2015, gaining a distinction.
It was then that she then turned to using her camera and photoshop, but still picking up her paintbrushes regularly and drawing on most days too. “Creating textures, drawing animals and getting the composition on paper is where each image begins,” says Adele.
More info can be found at adelekarmazyn.com.
A North Eastern scene by Nathan Combes
Nathan Combes, photography
NATHAN photographs urban landscapes, working primarily in black and white as he captures the sense of isolation and decaying beauty found in the places that he visits.
“I use a variety of modern digital and vintage film cameras to
photograph places, locations and objects that are often overlooked and deemed
unworthy of attention,” he says.
Recording life in black and white: Photographer Nathan Combes
Inspired by photographers such as Robert Frank, Chris Killip and
William Eggleston, his work is thought provoking, challenging and humorous.
His York Open Studios debut would have featured work from his
most recent project, focusing on the North East. He can be contacted via
nathancombesphoto@gmail.com.
Tomorrow: Lu Mason; Nick Kobyluch; Michelle Hughes; Lucy McElroy and Ian Cameron.
