It’s May already – where does the time go? If only we could have more hours in the day! No matter how busy we are though we try to make time for a little creative activity every day. Mostly it’s a happy hour spent with a sketchbook or a sewing machine but sometimes it’s time at a local gallery. Last week, alongside the Pre-Raphaelites and their Contemporaries, I saw Painted Ladies: An Exchange of Ideas. This is a collaboration between the Gallery and the University of Birmingham and it invites the viewer to consider the way portraiture has changed since Victorian times. Many of the paintings displayed haven’t been shown for many years so it’s a great opportunity to compare how women have been depicted in art by both male and female artists over a hundred years or so.

Lady in Red Velvet by Alfred Egerton Cooper c.1900 – 1937 above and Life Trap by Tony Phillips below.

Plant Printing

Some of you will have seen last week’s DMTV video about printing onto paper with plants. Seems lots of you are as inspired by nature as we are and we’ve been thrilled to see the images of viewers’ prints appearing in the gallery. As you can see below, they are all quite gorgeous!  I hope you’ll take a look at my Instagram feedto see my latest results. Boiling pages is becoming a bit of an obsession!

by Charlotte

by Jeannie

By Folky52

In this workshop Laura will show you how to construct a book with a concertina binding. While simple in construction, this binding has endless creative opportunities! It’s perfect for that stack of papers that you’ve printed with plants, or any other work on loose sheets, monoprints, stencilling, drawings, they can all find a home with this technique. 

New to the Archives

Painted Monoprint – We love monoprinting. It’s such a versatile print method that can create wonderful painterly effects. In this video workshop Linda demonstrates a simple two-step method for creating a painted monoprint. Use simple mark making tools and your veggie-jelli plate, (or other plate), and print on paper or fabric.