Hannah Waldron

2011-10-24T16:41:00.003+02:00

I was commissioned by the V&A shop to design a print for their successful range of exclusive special editions. After some time of researching the history of the building and institution, and visits wandering the vast and labyrinthine corridors of the wonderful architecture my outcome is 'Phantasmagoria' . The print in essence explores the nature of observing a place in the context of its history alongside experiencing it as an individual, resulting in a personal map of the museum.

'We have almost lost the idea of a museum being a work of art in its own right. Instead it has become a complex machine for the presentation and display of objects. For the interior decoration of a museum to be anything but subservient to the artefacts it displays has come to be regarded as almost a crime'.

I was interested to learn of the many lives of what we now call the V&A museum. The RCA's initial residency, The Museum of Ornamental Art, The Museum of Construction. For years the purpose of the site was unclear- instead the excitement lay in the architecture and interiors of the building rather than its contents. The officials were all keen on experimenting with, and reviving the use of mosaic in glass and ceramic, tile, terracotta and mural paintings, the dedication to this intent was so much so that family, friends, RCA students and convicts, were brought in to complete the decorative floor work. Structurally forward thinking too, the emphasis was on using 'new samples of building stones and marbles, specimens of all the best cements and asphalts'…even down to the guttering and pipe work new innovations were used.

Growing up in London,and visiting the museum at many different stages of my life the building holds for me personally layers of experience. In the same way memories and dreams can interweave one another, the hallways, staircases, and the surprisingly vast rooms that I have walked at one time, or another, always retain the traces of something other than the present, shifting and rearranging itself in my absence, and presenting a new self to me on every occasion.

Available in the V&A shop or online here.

Printing by Manymono.

Quotes from 'The Victoria & Albert museum- A history of its building' by John Physick.

2011-10-24T16:34:00.006+02:00

In our indian summer a few weeks past I went up to the barns in wales. Autumn is a beautiful time to be in the Brecon Beacons, the intense greens now spotted with fiery flecks. I took my loom with me, and tried some outdoor weaving, trying to take in the surroundings of the barns.

Photoshop experiment

2011-10-24T16:28:00.004+02:00

I was asked by Computer Arts Projects to create an opening illustration for a feature they were running on how designers can go about creating and selling their own prints. The brief was to show this process in situ. A really enjoyable quick job, the issue is out now.

Final image for the feature

Layers on the rack

2011-10-24T16:17:00.003+02:00

Back in the summer I made this weaving in response to my friend JR Seaton of Call Super's EP Staircase. There was something in these tracks that got me interested in thinking about the correlation between weaving and music within their processes.

Before I have talked about planning vs experimentation in the weaving process. There is definitely a joy in improvising where you will begin to be led by the rhythm of the process, and it will build up a pattern as you go- perhaps more specific and true to the present.

A few months ago I went on a day trip to Chichester and had a look in the cathedral, noticing a medieval songbook in one corner. I was wondering about how the notation and visualisation of music came about and how that might change in the electronic/digital age where perhaps there aren't so much specific notes but sounds and beats.

reverse

2011-09-29T21:29:00.003+02:00

NYC section weaving, further colour studies.

Planning

red cotton, white silk, blue cotton, yellow linen.

2011-09-29T19:08:00.007+02:00

On my last day in New York back in May, my friend Sally and I went to the roof of the Metropolitan Museum of Art so I could take one last look over Manhattan. In looking out across the park and city I realised how over the course of my time there I had built up an internal map of the city , which from the clarity of the elevated vantage point, and the discussion of bearings with another mind I had realised was quite inaccurate.

Mapping is something we all do. Our minds are full of visual projections of our treaded past, every map evolving alongside our experiences. I was interested in freezing that moment of perception, to create a sort of map that reflected my view of the city at that point of experience. Before that trip, New York has existed to me only through songs, books and films, but never had that information gathered as a whole but remained only as disconnected fragments.

The idea of 'the whole', or 'the bigger picture' or say 'the past'- all collections I suppose, as opposed to many individual and separate parts I always find interesting.

This was addressed in a visual way at the Sonia Delauney exhibition I visited at The Cooper Hewitt Museum, in the theory of Simultaneity.

Talking of a collaboration between poet Cendrars and Sonia Delauney, the poet Apollinaire comments;

'Cendrars and Madame Delauney-Terk realised a unique experiment in Simultaneity, written in contrasts of colors in order to train the eye to read with one glance the whole of a poem, as an orchestra conductor reads with one glance the notes placed up and down the bar, as one sees with a single glance the plastic elements printed on a poster'.

(Color moves- Sonia Delauney)

These thoughts above swirled as the open call for submissions was announced for Poundshop 4.

On the roof, Sally, who has been living in Japan this past year (look at her beautiful work here too) showed me some examples of the Japanese method of wrapping called Furoshiki.

In previous poundshop pop up shops having made wrapping papers it occurred to me, a textile version would perhaps make a nice development.

It evokes to me the ancient traveller's bindle and brought me again to that gathering of collected experience that we take with us.

Initial sketch of idea on silk .

Gouache paintings

Gouache painting

From left; Initial sketches, gouache paintings, weaving draft, weaving, screenprinting positives, postcards from new york (Guggenheim ceiling, Robert Delauney and Kandinsky), ink and paint blots, gouache design, first sketch on silk and final outcome.

There are still a few days left at the Poundshop if you would like to buy one.CLICK HERE. They are only £5, screenprinted onto natural linen in yellow and blue. 45 x 45 cm. Can be used as reusable gift wrapping/ furoshiki, to transport, to protect items within your bag, or whatever you think of. I am using it to wrap books that usually get damaged in my bag.

2011-08-31T14:34:00.002+02:00

Earlier in the summer I visited the barns in Wales for which I am to create some weavings for. On this trip primarily gathering imagery to what I am instinctively drawn to; realising it takes a great deal of seeing and observing and experiencing a place in order to try to create something that can exist amongst it. More soon.

2011-08-31T13:58:00.008+02:00

I was pleased to be commissioned by Unico, a popular chain of interiors stores in Japan, to produce two screen print editions for their autumn/winter collection.

See here for more, and below are some photos of the prints on the shop floor. It's been great to work with Unico and many thanks to my japanese agent Arlequin for their great organisation in this quick turnaround project.

Some of my prints have also been exhibited over the last year in some exhibitions in some really interesting locations in Japan. Many thanks again to Arlequin.

Photos courtesy of Arlequin.

2011-06-18T19:42:00.007+02:00

A couple of weeks on from returning from my trip to New York, and then a trip to Bristol and Cornwall straight after, I am now back in one spot, and all that has occurred in the past month is beginning to be absorbed.

I was lucky in that a great deal of the exhibitions there seemed to cross over in a serendipitous way, in an area I find exciting in Art history; German Expressionism at MoMA, The Great Uprising at The Guggenheim, Sonia Delauney at Cooper Hewitt Design museum, the general collection at the Neue Galerie. The overriding sensation I was left with, especially with the incredible Sonia Delauney show, was the bold grasp with colour the early 20th century artists had. I also saw some beautiful and colourful Peruvian weavings in the flesh at the Met, which added to this feeling that I will probably now attribute to New York as a whole.

So on my return I have been keen to try and do something in colour, I wanted to make something quickly as a sort of knee jerk reaction to everything.

Working often in indian ink, I have sometimes had misfortunes with spillages, and indian ink is a terrible thing to spill. I had such an incident on opening my suitcase in new york. A new dress beared the brunt, so when I returned to London I set about trying to repair the damage, after a few experiments I used the indian ink mixed with water to dye the fabric, from a nude colour to a silver tone. Continuing on from the bands I have been weaving before I designed a segmented design, with the intention to wear it as a belt to go with the dress, which now being quite dull and uneven in tone, would benefit from flat bold colour. For the colour choice I took a cue from the colours I normally wear as accessories, bright primary colours, and also from the first sample I ever made weaving.

I am eager to explore designing and making more bands, tapes and belts and also to investigate dyeing techniques with fabric. There is another weaving project I have my mind on, which will be a longterm project, to create weavings and furnishings for the barn my parents are renovating in the Brecon Beacons in Wales. My father is a brilliant architect and this is a project he has long dreamed of doing and has been working on for the last couple of years. It is wonderful to see it being realised. I will talk more about it soon because there are so many exciting features and elements to his design. The barn has been untouched for many years and the landscape has grown up amongst it, which is being incorperated into the design rather than overcome, this balance of the man-made/ creativity and nature is perhaps something I want to look at in the weavings. He has recently set up his own architectural practice which you can visit here where you can see more about this project. In July I will visit the barn and begin the process of setting about it all.

2011-05-11T16:28:00.002+02:00

I am on holiday from tomorrow May 12th until May 24th in New York. Any orders placed in my shop will not be posted until the 25th. If anyone has any recommendations for anything in New York, particularly related to weaving, let me know! Thank you

2011-05-11T13:39:00.005+02:00

I was asked to take part in an exhibition happening on the LSE campus, to make a response to the building of St Philips, a place rich in social history due to be demolished to make way for a more modern design for the University.

The show entitled 'Students, patients and paupers' due to the use of the building throughout its history as a workhouse, then hospital, then academic building aims to celebrate the many lives of the building. When exploring the building I was told about how the building's turn of the century design echoed changing ideas of how workhouses were being built to stop the spread of disease by being highly ventilated, light and spacious places whereas previous ideas had been to make the buildings undesirable places to discourage people from wanting to be there.

With this in mind I paid attention to the details of design within the building that related to improving the lives of the inhabitants, and the fragments of activity within the vast white walls.

I chose to make a long vertical weaving, the composition echoing my initial walk of the building.

Colour theory technique experiment

Woven back to back with my san gimignano weaving project and with only 5 days from seeing the building to opening night, this was an intense project but enjoyable; I chose to use whatever resources I had already which forced me to find solutions to problems I had. One for instance was I did not have the right colours to reflect the colours in the building so I tried to use a colour theory technique I had read about recently in the Interactions of Color by Josef Albers which places colours of different values in a relationship so that the eye sees a colour of a middle value between the two. I want to continue exploring colour in the way, which makes sense in the way I already explore tones in the use of stripes in the monochrome work.

It is an excellent and superbly organised exhibition; on for a few more days if you get a chance go along and have a look.

2011-05-11T12:55:00.006+02:00

Lately I have been using my San Gimignano wallpaper design to investigate the pictorial possibilities available within weaving, in this case, using the tapestry technique which is a weft-faced technique, ie the warp is completely covered and acts as a frame for the horizontal wefts.

I decided to weave the designs in a strap/band formation as a lot of current inspiration is drawn from weaving in this method, firstly in the form of ancient peruvian bands and tapes and also secondly in some woven furniture I have been looking at.

Scans from 'Textiles of Ancient Peru' by Raoul D'harcourt

In february I went to Gothenburg, and one afternoon we took a walk around the Design museum and spent a nice long time in the most comfortable and beautiful Bruno Mathsson chairs. Gunta Stozl wove a similar style of chair in collaboration with Marcel Breuer in 1921, and there are some wonderful woven Mary Heilmann chairs in the reading room of the Whitechapel you CAN SIT on.

Mathsson

Uglycute

Stolzl/ Breuer

Heilmann

I wanted to create the bands as if there were vertical compositions in their own right, but also to correspond on the horizontal axis too, and also as a whole picture. Unfortunately the process of weaving in this way is a long, slow and fiddely process, and I wish I could have also created within this time, straps separated from one another to try interweaving in the way in the furniture as well as this attached hanging piece.There is a long way to go in investigating this process (as always), but I find it exciting to think of applying the weaving in this way- how you could create interaction between the layers of weaving interlacing each other, and how colour and contrast of pattern and plainness could be used within the structure.

Another aspect I was looking at was the surface texture, the variety between the silk and linen and the heavy silk- resulting in varying surface textures - although similar in colour, the effect of touch and reflection of light is quite contrasting and is something I want to continue looking into.

The various patterns and textures are created using float patterns, which involves using a pick up stick to drop and pick up certain warp ends, as well as the soumak technique I used in previous weaving.

2011-05-11T12:42:00.002+02:00

The San Gimignano wallpaper design is now up at new Pizza Express branch at Brent Cross, a site specific design was made for this location, as well as a panel for a glass partition.

2011-05-11T12:33:00.002+02:00

Some screen printed stationary I made a few months back- notes and stickers, perforated business cards that I screen printed on the reverse of, stickers on a print to be posted.

2011-04-09T20:00:00.006+02:00

Around christmas time I was approached by independent publisher Little Otsu based in Portland, Oregon, to produce a book for their living things series they launched this winter. Initially the words 'Living Things' circulated in my mind without finding meaning, the stumbling block being a mental block of the two words seemingly opposing each other; in my mind 'things' exclusively equalling inanimate objects, without life or 'living'.

On an icy walk with one of my family we were discussing this, and ideas in general, and I spoke of one idea that had appeared in my mind of a man walking around the city isolated from everything apart from his task at hand; head down he wanders the city observing the ground, the pavement, taking in that which is normally ignored, he collects objects from these walks and gathers them at his home; enclosed in some way- pinned to boards, arranged in collections and categories.

I have been planning a trip to New York as I've never been and its long been a place I have thought of, and so have been talking to people about the city. Someone suggested I read The New York Trilogy by Paul Auster. It was surprising to read halfway through City of Glass of one of the characters Stillman traversing manhatten, secretly followed by the protagonist, Stillman looking only at the pavement and collecting objects; detritus and debris of citylife from his walks. How strange to read of something so parallel to my own consciousness. This correlation, my interest in this is only at the beginning it feels, but with time constraints, I produced a series of drawings exploring this minutiae of citylife, but there are many fragments of ideas, continuing from other constant fascinations seeping in. My dissertation at university on why we collect, and a V&A workshop I presented in 2009 about the objects we choose to surround ourselves with and how they reflect ourself and meanings and become another language in our lives. These drawings feel more like workings out, and processing of thoughts, rather than exercises in drawing, but was interesting and useful to work so quickly for a change.

In City of Glass, Stillman collects objects and names their forms. It makes me consider the origins of language and also visually of written language, how the object forms the words/marks that were chosen. Especially on recent wanderings round the British museum, seeing similar marks repeated across time and culture enforces a belief in the universality of human existence, something I also thought about when watching 'The cave of forgotten dreams' lately.

The original drawings from some of the spreads above, translated to colour for the publication.

Workbook, sketching out:

Still life of collected objects:

Some photos I took in Berlin last year of forms in isolation, perhaps when the idea began:

The book is now available to order through Little Otsu here. Thank you to Little Otsu for being so great to work with.

2011-03-31T22:26:00.004+02:00

Recently I have been working with brilliant design studio Graphic Thought Facility on a wallpaper for Pizza Express, as part of a project looking at a new approach in the interiors and graphic design of Pizza Express, which was being led by interior architect Ab Rogers.

The basic black and white stripe synonymous with pizza express was the basic starting point for the wallpaper design, as well as an abstract landscape pattern I had previously designed. A reference point in terms of overall atmosphere, was the hotel of Gio Ponti's Parco die Principi in Sorrento, a feat in modernism; the attention to detail, and the functionality of his design is brilliant.

I was asked to explore creating a pattern that would develop a sense of an italian landscape, but the main emphasis was to be on forms and composition rather than figuration.

During the initial research stages, I looked a lot at the tuscan town of San Gimignano, which aside from being the birthplace of my grandma Luigia, is a incredible hilltop town with numerous towers punching the skies, a steep hill climbs to reach a square in its centre, and in every direction a pleasing jumble of architectural beauty. The challenge was breaking down the architecture I was seeing into the simplest forms I could, and trying to retain a balance of everything that was in mind. Trying to see the negative space as being of equal importance to the forms.

A site specific variation design can now be found at Pizza Express Fulham (see photos above), and then shortly the complete wallpaper design at new branch Brent Cross (I will post up soon), with possible other locations to follow.

It has been a wonderful project to work on, many thanks to Mike and Andy at GTF.

workbook with reference of San Gimignano:

One of the initial original drawings i made for the design:

The final composition of one of the panels of wallpaper:

Details from the design:

2011-03-05T13:54:00.005+01:00

This week I cut my weaving off the 4 shaft table loom that I have been working on since the start if my weaving course which I began in September. The first month or so was getting to grips with knowledge of how to put the warp onto the loom which is quite an undertaking, but I imagine would get easier the more you do it. The close up photos above represent about 4 or 5 hours work in each section, to give you an idea of the time involved, if you are not familiar with the process of weaving. After listening to what I hoped to explore within the process of weaving, the course tutor directed me to try out various open work techniques such as leno, brooks bouquet, danish medallions, spanish lace within sections of plain weave, as well as twills (the diagonals), and I also tried double weave which allows you to create 2 layers of weaving simultaneously which provides strength in the fabric as well as possibilities of different faces on either side of the fabric. I tried to approach the weaving as I would normally approach making work, to find a spontaneity within a rigid structure.

I have been reading a lot about weaving, about weavers of the past, and weaving in different cultures, looking mainly at pre-columbian south american techniques and what often overwhelms me in learning about weaving is the amount of pre-planning needed to make a weaving, which is something I don't feel I have a great capacity for. When making work I like to take a starting point and then explore it as I go. I don't find much joy in the idea of mapping everything out and then fleshing it out. I get very bored easily and hope to always be discovering and experimenting. So I am happy to learn that there is a way of weaving where you can just see where it takes you.

Hanging in the window, the light shining through the fabric, to reveal the open work.

Yesterday I visited The Handweavers Studio in Finsbury Park, which is a treasure trove for weaving with yarns and unspun fibres of every kind and beautiful hand crafted tools as well as looms, and books and basically everything you could ever think of for weaving. I spent a good few hours there, and chose some new yarns for my next sample. What I want to explore next is the surface texture of the fabric, as well as the balance between strength and fragility, bold and intricate, open and compact within the construction. I chose linen for its strength, and numerous samples of yarns containing plastics and metals, which is something I will think about using in the future.

Other than weaving, I am currently undertaking a wall commission for pizza express with Graphic Thought Facility, and working on a short artists book for Little Otsu. More about those projects soon.

2011-02-04T11:26:00.003+01:00

The second edition of my book 'Rain Day' is now printed and available to buy direct from the Duke Press website. The new edition is printed in one colour at a slightly smaller format with a 2 colour wrap around cover in an edition of 1000. We are also giving away a limited edition A5 risograph print inspired by a spread from the book with each of the first 50 copies bought online.

To find out more about the book, visit Duke Press.

Its been a really enjoyable process working with Ryan and Jess at Duke to translate the limited edition of 50 books in the first press, to this much larger run. Many thanks to them for everything.

In my online shop you can also see that there are limited edition risograph prints for sale as well as the miniature versions we are giving away with the first 50 copies. They are A3 in size and available for £15. A big thank you to Hugh from Landfill Editions for printing them.

2011-01-08T16:43:00.004+01:00

The Poundshop created their third event, for the christmas season, on the weekend of the December 10-12th within the Super Christmas Market at Somerset House. Having created wrapping papers for their previous two pop up shops, I decided to make it a third and look at making a pattern that was relevant to a christmas theme as a challenge to myself. I took reference from a set of candles that has always been a part of my christmas, particularly to its sounds, kinetics and the flickering shapes amidst silence.

I also wanted to make particular use of the process of screen printing for this paper, and translate the qualities of the object to the paper. The benefits of screen printing for this project are that I can create at low cost special textures, colours and surface quality. This passage of writing by Anni Albers, taken from her book 'On Weaving' was particularly in my mind when working out the design. I hoped to create a hand printed paper that was tactile, where attention would be drawn to the surface texture as well as surface 'matiere'. I always think one of the benefits of screen printing is the way it feels when you run your fingers along its edges, and recent print making work where I have been using relief/embossing, different textured ink (glow in the dark inks) and linework is paying more attention to this quality of the process.

I have a new poster in the editions section of my site, which brings together all the shapes I have been drawing thoughout the last year, where I have been experimenting with new mark making within the confines of a simple task. It is screenprinted in an open edition (artists stamp on reverse) on 100 gsm cartridge paper at A1 size and available for just £20.

I have also recently finished another weaving experiment on my rigid heddle loom, this time exploring a technique called the soumak technique which allows one to integrate line work into the structure. I am looking forward to returning to my weaving course next week where I will continue to learn the many different techniques involved, next I will explore twills, leno and creating structured patterns.

Lastly, I received lately the Fenchurch t-shirt using my graphic I posted about recently and a tote bag I designed for Psychology Press which you can also see on my website now.

Happy 2011

2010-11-11T13:12:00.003+01:00

New website up, with more to come soon.

2010-11-11T13:08:00.002+01:00

Available to buy now, in 3 different colourways, in store at R.Newbold in Japan, or online here.

2010-09-30T20:04:00.006+02:00

I am now back in one place and have been looking over some things that happened in this summer.

Above, some screen print accidents which occurred whilst I was printing. The first I find interesting because of the way the crosswords/grids of the puzzles page interacts with my print to encourage the architectural elements. I like that the frustrating rushed moments in the print room can later become the opposite. It reminds me that processes out of one's control are vital.

Similarly in the second I can see how colour could be introduced into these prints in a way I hadn't considered, and this is something I may develop as I work on a riso print edition for Landfill Editions.

In Berlin earlier this summer I went to Boxhagener Platz Fleamarket and after innocently poking my nose into a box, found myself being sold the following by an elderly german woman who wouldn't take nein danke for an answer. However I found these old woven coasters very beautiful and wondered what I could do with it all, so I had a go at weaving in a different way, the experiments are a little crude in their execution but it led me to some observations that I think I wouldn't have got at for a long time if I hadn't done it.

And today I began my weaving course at Greenwich Community College which also teaches spinning and tapestry, it also looks like there could be the opportunity to do rug weaving too, so I am excited about everything I will learn.

Almost 2 years ago I sold this design to Fenchurch to use as a tshirt graphic, now it is released.Available here.

Also here is the jacket for which my all over print geometric rooftop pattern was used as a jacket lining. But this is the first and last you'll see of it, as the big bosses in Japan decided the cut of the jacket was not right. But it was great to see the application of my work.

Over the summer I read some really good books, but I'd especially like to recommend The Thinking Hand by Juhani Pallasmaa. It looks at things from an architectural point of view but I think it has so many interesting ideas that relates to any artist, craftsperson, designer etc. I wish it had been on my reading list at university so I would especially recommend it to students or those involved in education.

'Knowledge becomes useful for a creative endeavour when it is forgotten after it has turned into an ingredient of one's body and personality. The moment of looking at the world or at a specific task as if neither had been encountered before, that is the creative instant and frame of mind'.

2010-08-30T00:04:00.003+02:00

Above is my first complete weaving which measures roughly 35 x 37 cm and uses a mixture of alpaca wool, silk, mohair, and cotton and wool blends. At this early stage I have not been consciously considering design and composition but am focusing on the technical aspects of the process; improving the selvedges, tension and the tapestry technique as well as float patterns. The design is heavily Bauhaus inspired as I have been immersing myself lately in the work of the Bauhaus weavers, whose work I find beautiful as well as their intentions. Perhaps in small sections I am beginning to relate the process to my drawing, but at the moment I am really just interested in understanding the process and developing a sensitivity to the materials.

In other news I am on holiday from 30th August - 20th September so apologies if I do not respond to any emails in this time but there will be no internet where I am going. On the 18th September The Poundshop will be opening its doors again with another round of fine products, it is a great opportunity to buy some beautiful, considered and value-for-money pieces.

2010-07-28T14:50:00.003+02:00

I have designed and printed a new poster that is a pair with my previous berlin rooftops inspired repeat design using the same template. These posters are markers for me of 6 months in Berlin and now 6 months in London. Screen printed in black and red as multiples.

I would also like to tell you about a screen print edition that early griffin have produced in their 5th series of one of my drawings from my book Rain day. Although in the book this spread was in black and white, it is fitting for the narrative that it has elements of colour, so I think this screen print is a nice addition to the book. Thank you to Early griffin, who have been really good to work with. Go here if you would like to find out more

2010-07-21T17:31:00.002+02:00

I've been working on a print edition for the exhibition 'Turn up the colour' taking place at the end of this month at Analogue Books in Edinburgh. Over the past few months I have been making patterned surfaces on cut up paper and investigating the different textures that can be created through the limitations of mono colour and lines intersecting. This is the first composition I have made from these shapes, but I hope to create a whole series.

The final outcome for the exhibition is a 5 colour edition of 9 screenprints which I have also embossed into. Above you can see me turning up the colour, ho ho.. and below are some details of the print and the processes involved.

TURN UP THE COLOUR

ANALOGUE BOOKS

102 WEST BOW, EDINBURGH

SAT 31st JULY - 30th AUGUST

PV 30th JULY 7-9

2010-07-14T00:21:00.002+02:00

A new paper created for The Poundshop, which returns this saturday the 17th July at the Shoreditch festival.

2010-06-14T13:05:00.003+02:00

Above is a screen print test for some cd artwork I am working on for a london based musician. The artwork is a development of a narrative that has been circulating my mind for a long time now, that I began to explore in a zine I made a while ago called first waves then clouds and this music drew me back to some of the ideas within that series of drawings.

The image is supposed to be misregistered, to suggest a mirage, so this is actually a mistake. However it makes no sense. The lions are inspired by a passage from the old man and the sea by hemingway that sticks with me. I am trying to add a freer line to my drawing, because normally everything is quite controlled, but I really like the idea of contrasting areas of dense pattern and structure with more spontaneous loose observational drawing.

The first 3 layers on the rack

I have also received a strike off of my design that R Newbold/Paul Smith are using in their autumn/winter collection as a jacket lining. I have seen a sneak preview of the jacket, and I'm really impressed with the designer's application of my work, its been great working with them.

A really good friend of mine recently suggested that my recent pattern work would lend itself well to the process of weaving, and so I have been spending a great deal time researching and exploring this process. I made the leap to buy a loom and have since been getting to grips with weaving. Below are my first samplers, just exploring plain weave, float patterns and using multiple heddles (layers). It took me 5 hours straight to thread the warp the first time I used 2 heddles, so although its frustrating being a complete beginner at such a new process, I'm really enjoying learning, and experimenting.

Thank you sally for all your help

Most of my time is currently being spent on personal work that I'm not showing on this blog, but if you would like to visit my studio and see what I'm working on, please get in touch. My studio is reached by a beautifully long quiet riverside cycle route where you almost won't feel the white noise of London.

2010-04-30T16:29:00.001+02:00

Some screenprint experiments I have been working on from a very unlikely inspiration.

2010-03-28T14:43:00.003+02:00

A while ago I posted on this blog a pattern I had created of geometric rooftops inspired by my time in Berlin. I had wanted to cut them up and rearrange the shapes, so I have used the opportunity of the Poundshop project to create a pattern doing so. The possibilities of compositions that could be created using these elements was in my mind as I was making it and it was quite overwhelming to make decisions, but afterall..I thought just make something and have fun, so here we are. I am about to deliver it to the poundshop now, I have made 50 papers and a fair few lions. I realised today it was a whole year since I saw the wild lion that I have made the print about, he sent shivers down my spine, I will never forget the feeling of driving for hours looking for lions and then spotting one so close and so suddenly. Although my drawing will never ever capture truly the magnificence of the animal, I hope it at least signifies some of

that moment to you. Or as garth would say I just hope you don't think it sucks.

I'm beginning to get rooftop eyes, next I'm thinking of swimming pools, fires and chases.

2010-03-24T23:06:00.005+01:00

I am taking part in a pop up shop happening next week on Hoxton St called The Poundshop which is a project by Household and Sara Melin. I am making 2 products, one of which is some screenprinted lion postcards which I printed yesterday...here they are above before being cut. I will reveal the other product this weekend if all goes to plan in the printroom this friday!

I had a good time in the studio over the weekend, finally setting up my animation stand to do some experiments whilst my brother tried out his letterpress letters and made some brilliant posters (and one for me too- thanks si!)

2010-03-17T23:58:00.001+01:00

2010-03-17T21:31:00.002+01:00

I reprinted 40 posters/paper today in my new studio and at the end to get rid of the ink printed some odd bits of newsprint achieving the above results. Its great when mistakes make you see something with fresh eyes and get you thinking of new images. The last one here suddenly got me thinking of italian piazzas from above and also all the shapes that could be created looking down on a city/town.

Anyhow the posters in this superhero palette will be on sale at a show opening tomorrow night at Superette on sclater st (off brick lane) called 'All my friends are designers, illustrators, printmakers etc'..6- 9pm for just £5 along with many other nice things, i'm sure spirits will be high after such a sunny week, so come along.

2010-03-15T23:28:00.002+01:00

'The good designer is the anonymous designer, the one who does not stand in the way of the material; who sends their products on their way to a useful life without an ambitious appearance"- Anni Albers

2010-02-23T20:21:00.002+01:00

Below: Drawing in progress from initial sketch I posted a few weeks ago. The final image has some colour to it, but I'll leave it to the magazine to show you that.

Above: Some recent cuttings of patterns that I am making.

I am working on a number of things at the moment, all with very short time frames...should be interesting...? I am doing an animation which I haven't done in over 2 years and I have no animation equipment at the moment so it will be an experiment.

Next time I write it will be from my new studio.

2010-02-06T23:51:00.002+01:00

i've been asked to create an image on the brief 'happiness is...' this week. Here are two ideas I have been thinking about and had a go at trying to express. The first is to do with the feeling of happiness of waking up in the morning excited about the day ahead, everything stretching out before you as if you can experience the goodness of what is to come before it is there. Also the sensory that you first come into contact with when you open your eyes, the sunlight pouring in, the breeze blowing and the sight of nature and how that can take you far away from your own four walls and all its preoccupations, momentarily. Also waking up with new ideas,imagination taking over, happy to spend the day drawing.

the other is do with something that happened recently. unpacking after a very long journey from berlin i was trying to make sense of the final bag full with wires, papers and all the nonsense of my life I had crammed in last minute when leaving my flat, I found a letter from someone in Berlin who had secretly placed it there for me to read, I was taken aback and overwhelmed with human kindness and happiness in the people I have around me.

development of these to come.

rain day is now sold out, thank you to everyone that bought a copy.

2010-01-24T17:16:00.002+01:00

I am now based in London after 5 months in Berlin, I managed to get back in time for the launch of Duke Press at Cafe Oto last monday. My book Rain Day and 7 other brilliant books released by Duke Press are now available to buy online here I believe there could also be some copies left in Magma too. Thanks to everyone that came along!

Before I left Berlin I tried to send some christmas thankyou letters, however the postwoman wouldn't send them as they were too small. I have learnt that in Germany they are not happy about sending things smaller than a6, things in tubes (because it rolls) or patterned envelopes. So here is a little salute to england and its anything goes postal system.