Original Prints from an Original Printmaker
Cubist Work
Screen print on waterleaf paper. Artist’s Proof, Paper Size: 300 x 370, Image Size: 265 x 325
Screen print , Edition of 12, Paper Size: 230 x 230, Image Size: 130 x 150
Screen-print, 3 colours on Somerset Tub sized 310gsm mould-made paper, Edition of 20.
Screen print on waterleaf paper. Artist’s Proof, Paper Size: 300 x 370, Image Size: 265 x 325
Much of my work on the projects shown on this website has been completed in one continuous time frame. These cubist inspired works are just the opposite; they have been made over the last 20 years. The starting point for the series was a teaching project to introduce our youngest secondary pupils to the work of Pablo Picasso, with a specific focus on his still life work. I had been fortunate to visit an exhibition of his still life work in Paris in 1992 and the catalogue was the source of much pleasure and information.
I started with a drawn analysis of some of Picasso’s still lives from his very early cubist period 1908 – 1909, where he uses the subtle tippings of tabletops and a variety of viewpoints. The subject matter often seemed to be items gathered from around his studio – which is what I decided to do, when I began my own drawings. Many of my objects were wooden, the pear and grapes, and the plant was made out of plastic and fabric.
A small series of drawings were made on February 16th 1993, (dated just like Picasso used to do). These provided the basis for at least the nine prints shown here.
The pupils developed their drawings into a card relief print, similar to the one shown here. Subsequently, I used the larger tonal drawing to experiment with versions using screen printing (Polite Cubist, Green Pears), intaglio (Pear & Pot) and more recently, upon the receipt of a gift of lino cutters - Lino (Pear & Things).
The accompanying video shows the recent editioning of ‘Pear and Things’ and the reprinting of some of the earlier intaglio work on Mr. Kinley’s Press. Thank you Sorrell.
Cubist Crimes 2018
Screen-print in 3 colours on Somerset Tub sized 310gsm mould-made paper Edition of 20.
I was sorting through my Xmas card design material when the key positive for this print fell out of an envelope. I wondered why I hadn’t printed it over 25 years ago when I was first working on this image. I then began to muse on the appropriation of images, as I ‘stole’ the pot in the print from Picasso. But then Picasso stole the sculpture that gave him the facial image in part of Les Demoiselles d’Avignon!
​