Three Printmakers Archives - charleshutchpress

Freya Horlsey: Among the 163 artists and makers taking part in York Open Studios

SPRING has sprung, the cue for the arts world to have an extra spring in its step, much to Charles Hutchinson’s joy.

Art event of the weekend: York Open Studios Taster Exhibition, The Hospitium, York Museum Gardens, today and tomorrow, 10am to 4pm

YORK Open Studios will showcase 163 artists and makers at 116 locations on April 5, 6, 11 and 12 in its largest configuration yet in its 24 years. To whet the appetite, this weekend’s Taster Exhibition showcases works by participating artists to “help you choose which studios you would like to visit”. Full details of the April event can be found at yorkopenstudios.co.uk. Admission is free.

Stevie Hook: Spinning The Wheel Of Nouns

Queer cabaret night of the week: York Literature Festival presents Stevie Hook in The Wheel Of Nouns, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, tonight, 7.30pm

REJOICE…or beware! The Gender Fairy is loose and has found their way to York. What is gender anyway and why should you care? Discover why it may be easier than you think in Hook’s new cabaret comedy: an evening of spinning game show wheels, jokes, bribes, and voluntary audience participation.

Audience interaction and cabaret-style games create a light-hearted, accepting environment to explore key issues around queerness and gender identity in 70 minutes of thought-provoking, mischievous queer cabaret.

The Wheel Of Nouns is presented by York trans, non-binary, neurodivergent mythical creature, writer and cabaret artist Stevie Hook. They are an associate artist with Roots Theatre and uses the pronouns they/them and hehe/hym.

At the heart of everything they create is a passion for subverting expectations, using games and audience interaction mechanics to invite audiences into silly, unapologetically trans worlds. They believe empowering audiences to participate and play in these silly worlds with them can open doors for meaningful change. Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Printmaker Pamela Knight: Exhibiting at Bluebird Bakery in Acomb

Exhibition of the week: Three Printmakers, Bluebird Bakery, Acomb, York, until May 7

YORK Printmakers members Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition. York artist and former theatre set and costume designer Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.

Oo, from York, is displaying monotypes for the first time. “My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm,” she says. Harrogate artist Sandra Storey’s work evokes the “talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Admission is free.

Close up for Kim Wilde: Songs from Close and Closer at York Barbican

Pop gig of the week: Kim Wilde: Closer Tour, York Barbican, Sunday, 7.45pm

EIGHTIES’ pop star Kim Wilde performs songs from her sixth album, 1988’s Close, complemented by new numbers from Closer, her 15th studio set, released on January 25. Expect the familiar hits too: Kids In America, You Came, You Keep Me Hangin’ On, Never Trust A Stranger, Four Letter Word et al. Cutting Crew support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Fiery Angel head to the Grand Opera House from Tuesday with Lucy Bailey’s production of Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express

Thriller of the week: Fiery Angel in Agatha Christie’s Murder On The Orient Express, Grand Opera House, York, March 25 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Wednesday and Saturday matinees

FIERY Angel follow up November 2023’s visit of And Then There Were None with another Agatha Christie murder mystery directed by Lucy Bailey, this time with Michael Maloney on board for a “deliciously thrilling ride” as Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot.

In Winter 1934, an avalanche stops The Orient Express dead in its tracks. Cue a murder. A train full of suspects. An impossible case. Trapped in the snow with a killer still on-board, can the world’s most famous detective crack the case before the train reaches its final destination?

Meanwhile, Wise Children’s world premiere of Emma Rice’s theatrical take on Alfred Hitchcock’s North By North West continues at York Theatre Royal until April 5. Box office: GOH, atgtickets.com/york; YTR, 01904 623568 or yorktheatreroyal.co.uk.

Mark Simmonds in rehearsal for his role as Prospero in Black Sheep Theatre’s The Tempest at Theatre@41, Monkgate, York

Shakespeare debut of the week: Black Sheep Theatre in The Tempest, Theatre@41, Monkgate, York, March 26 to 29, 7.30pm plus 2.30pm Saturday matinee

AFTER making their mark with musical theatre productions, York company Black Sheep Productions branch out into Shakespeare territory under Matthew Peter Clare’s direction. “Prepare for The Tempest like you’ve never seen it before,” he says, promising magic, music and mayhem in a dark re-telling of the one with “a storm, a shipwreck and the torment of it all”, featuring Mark Simmonds as Prospero, Freya McIntosh as Miranda, Mikhail Lim as Gonzalo, Deathly Dark Tours guide, Kisskisskill singer Gemma-Louise Keane as Ariel, Meg Conway as Antonia and Josh Woodgate as Caliban.

“With a phenomenal cast, a live six-piece band, our production re-imagines Shakespeare’s tale of power, revenge, and redemption in a truly immersive and unforgettable way.” Box office: tickets.41monkgate.co.uk.

Public Service Broadcasting: York Barbican debut on March 27

Past meets future in the present: Public Service Broadcasting, York Barbican, March 27, doors 7pm

PUBLIC Service Broadcasting make their York Barbican debut with J. Willgoose, Esq on guitar, banjo, other stringed instruments, samples and electronic musical instruments; Wrigglesworth on drums, piano and electronic instruments; J F Abraham on flugelhorn, bass guitar, drums and vibraslap and Mr B on visuals and set design.

“Teaching the lessons of the past through the music of the future” for more than a decade, the corduroy-wearing Londoners will select material from their five themed albums, 2013’s Inform – Educate – Entertain, 2015’s The Race For Space, 2017’s Every Valley, 2021’s Bright Magic and 2024’s The Last Flight. She Drew The Gun support. Box office: yorkbarbican.co.uk.

Laura Veirs: Art meets science via geology in her songs at The Crescent, York, on March 27

Folk gig of the week: Please Please You and Brudenell Presents (CORRECT)present Laura Veirs, supported by Lucca Mae, The Crescent, York, March 27, doors 7pm

PORTLAND, Oregon, folk singer, songwriter, children’s author, artist, Midnight Lightning podcaster, Stanford University songwriting teacher and mother Laura Veirs draws on her 14 albums in her Crescent set. Growing up in Colorado Springs, Colorado, she spent summers camping with her family, inspiring her songwriting as much as her fascination with the intersection of art and science from days of studying geology (and Mandarin Chinese) at Carleton College in rural Minnesota.

Her 25-year career has taken in collaborations with Neko Case and kd lang in case/lang/veirs, Sufjan Stevens, Jim James of My Morning Jacket and The Decemberists. Now she is working on new paintings, an instrumental guitar album and a book about creativity. Box office: thecrescentyork.com.

Will Smith: Off to the seaside to perform at Scarborough Open Air Theatre in August

Gig announcement of the week: Will Smith, Based On A True Story Tour, TK Maxx Presents Scarborough Open Air Theatre, August 24

WILL Smith, the Grammy Award-winning American screen actor, entertainer and recording artist, will promote his first full-length album in 20 years, Based On A True Story, on his debut UK headline travels that will open on the Yorkshire coast.

Songs from his March 28 release will be complemented by such hits as Jiggy Wit It, Miami, and Summertime. “Yo UK, my first ever tour. You got to go get it. I’m on my way,” says Smith, 56. “That’s my airplane. Scarborough, Cardiff, Manchester, London, it’s going to be hot! I’m about to go to the airport. I’m leaving now!” Box office: scarboroughopenairtheatre.com.

Pamela Knight: “Drawing, painting, ‘making things’ have always been part of my life,” she says

PAMELA Knight, Vanessa Oo and Sandra Storey are taking part in the Three Printmakers: Energy, Atmosphere & Light exhibition at Bluebird Bakery, Acomb Road, Acomb, York, until May 7.

York Printmakers member Pamela Knight specialises in collagraphy, enjoying the textures and effects she creates using this process, often enriched with monoprint and chine colle.

“Drawing, painting, ‘making things’ have always been part of my life,” she says. “I worked as a designer of sets and costumes in professional theatre for many years, following further education in Manchester and Bristol studying fashion and textiles, then stage design.

“I came to York in the late 1980s to join the new heritage industry as a costume researcher and designer. I’ve lived and worked here for over 30 years and I now work from my studio making paintings and prints. I love the city and I love Yorkshire and I now regard it as my home.”

Walking in the natural landscapes of Britain and abroad gives her great joy, “moving through, looking at, soaking up these landscapes – the colours and patterns, the light and the shadows”.

“The memory of the experience becomes the subject of my paintings, sketches and prints. I try to evoke the feeling, the essence, of the special place, expressively with semi-abstract imagery,” says Pamela, who also paints and sometimes incorporates mixed media into her small-edition prints.

Vanessa Oo’s profile picture from the York Printmakers website

Fellow York Printmakers member Vanessa Oo predominantly creates small families of hand-pulled screenprints by placing together abstract drawn elements in different combinations, but she is displaying monotypes for the first time at Bluebird Bakery.

Each work is unique, while always evoking a sense of movement. “The energetic compositions are instinctive and spontaneous: I’m interested in the tensions and relationships which emerge,” says Vanessa, who was a SCAF Emerging Artist Award 2024 finalist.

“My work is about capturing the magic of the moment; an unseen energy and rhythm. Although the marks are abstract, they have an organic feel and are based on shapes found in nature or the human figure.”

Her original designs are all hand drawn in ink, chinagraph or paint. “So it’s a very ‘undigital’ process,” says Vanessa, who likes exploring the reactions to her abstract pieces and raising the question about what that says about the artist and the viewer. “I enjoy the combination of control and spontaneity of the marks it allows.”

Harrogate artist and printmaker Sandra Storey’s work evokes “the talisman-like quality” of plants, birds and natural objects found within the North York Moors landscape. Often reusing old printmaking plates and making her own plates from recycled cartons, she explores traces of the past revealed in both the objects that fascinate her and the landscape itself.

Born in 1961, Sandra grew up in a small village outside Whitby. After studying for a degree in Fine Art, she trained as an art psychotherapist and worked in the NHS for more than 30 years, followed by independent practice for five more.

Sandra Storey in her studio

Sandra completed an MA in Creative Practice in 2016, graduating with a Distinction and the Dean’s Prize (Art and Design) from Harrogate College. She is a member of York Printmakers, Yorkshire Art Collective and Scaffold, exhibits regularly in both group and solo exhibitions and was shortlisted for the Scott Creative Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award.

“My work explores trace, imprint and the ethereal quality of moorland or coastal landscapes,” she says. “Printmaking, drawing and painting are combined to evoke the mythological nature of childhood landscapes and the talisman-like feel of natural objects.”

Often drawn back to the moors and coast near Whitby, Sandra uses material found on walks there to create her printmaking plates, from which she makes her prints.

“Discovering unexpected images through the printmaking process can feel akin to an archaeological find or discovering buried treasure,” she says. “A print is a trace, an imprint from a printmaking plate. It parallels my interest in traces from the past, those that can be found in landscape or images seared or imprinted in our memories. Printmaking can sometimes unearth these.”

Working largely with collagraphs, her prints are often made from multiple plates. Some plates have a built-up, complex surface that embosses the paper, giving texture and dept, and Sandra also works with monoprint, drypoint and aquatint to create layered and painterly prints. The final piece is often a one off or part of a small edition.

In addition to the Three Printmakers show, she will be exhibiting with the Yorkshire At Collective at Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, from April 5 to 19.

Further exhibitions coming up at Bluebird Bakery in 2025, curated by Rogues Atelier artist, upholsterer and interior designer Jo Walton will be: Jill Tattersall, from May 8; Clare M Wood, from July 3; Mandi Grant, from August 28; Di Gomery, from October 23 and Donna Maria Taylor, from December 18.

Tag: Three Printmakers

More Things To Do in York & beyond when not only Poirot exercises the little grey cells. Hutch’s List No. 12, from The York Press

Printmakers Pamela Knight, Vanessa Oo & Sandra Storey capture energy, atmosphere and light in Bluebird Bakery exhibition