Over half term we went to the Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair, the family had no choice as I had a print in it! (Obligatory picture!)
Unfortunately I didn't get quite as good a look around this year as we didn't have a chance to go without the children so had to supervise them doing all the demo's they could and then after their initial enthusiasm everything was peered at quickly to the accompanying symphony of 'can we go yet', 'when can we go' and 'can we go now please'. I'm fairly certain I missed an awful lot, note to self for next year - go to one of then evening events without them!
Anyway, despite my quick whip round it I certainly saw a lot of things I really admired:
I love Rachel Gracey's lithographs (top left), this one was quite big. She reminds me how much white you can leave on the paper and still have a beautiful image.
Top right is Niamh Fahy Curves and Edges (lithograph) I thought this was fascinating as it looks like black and white aerial photographs. It made me think how I could use the google earth images of the forest in my work.
The middle left is Bina Shah Scláta 21 (monotype) (the name might mean slate or refer to a mythical sunken city? I think it looks more like slate) I was interested in the folds of the paper.
Middle right is by Adam Forman Trees in the Mist (lithograph) I thought the ethereal quality of this was really interesting, at first it looked more like a very interesting splatter, but on closer inspection (with the help of the title) yes, I see the trees!
Bottom left is Moss Carroll Humidity (chine collé, monotype) it was on the verge of being collage rather than print (let's face it chine-collé is just a form of collage) but it was so well done and interesting that I really enjoyed it.
Bottom right is Michelle Avison Tide no.29 (monotype) which I thought looked like a lot of fun to make, and as a sailor who's spent a lot of time watching tide lines and swirls it intruigued me.
I was incredibly excited to see Neil Bousfield's new prints:
The picture does them no justice at all! Having spoken to him and read about them it was really exciting to see them 'in the flesh'.
The other thing that really caught my eye was an installation:
This was Near Distance by Caroline MacDonald. I won't lie, there was a bit of me that was furious that someone else had turned a print into a 3D tree trunk before I got my chance next summer! It's described as 'Digital, lithograph. Paper marbling' exactly what that means I'm not entirely sure but the pink marbling is very reminiscent of silver birch bark. It gave me food for thought about what I want my trees to look like, as well as possible structural ideas.
Overall it was another fabulous fair with lots of exciting things to see as well as the typical provoking anomaly that sells loads for far too much money and barely classes as a print!