Exhibitions and Excitment!

The 10th Art For Caring Art Exhibition and Sale 2012, Belfast

Since my last post I have successfully exhibited 2 of my prints in Belfast at the 10th Art of Caring Exhibition and Sale 2012 in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care. I found it a really exciting opportunity to exhibit over there in further attempt to widen my audience and build on my experience.

Present Online Voting Competition

At present, Growth and Process (New View) is currently featuring in Networks' online competition, Reflect:on Learning Experiences in Art, Design & Media, the Student Award 2012.

Students were asked to focus on their experiences of learning in art, design and media and submit an image or piece of multimedia (visual / audio / film / etc) accompanied by a short statement that reflects the epiphanies, inspirations, enablers and opportunities that are part of the experience of higher education. (Networks team, University of Brighton, 23 April 2012).

This is the piece I entered along with the statement that follows:


I am highly interested in producing contemporary outcomes by using combinations of different, often traditional, printmaking and mixed media techniques.

The collection I am currently working on is called Growth and Process The work symbolizes this to me. The forms grow and, through the use of many layers, the image illustrates the print process, which fascinates me. The shapes and patterns I use seem to take on a life of their own so I’m constantly experimenting with new ideas and combining techniques. 

The images also represent my own growth as an individual as I become more independent through a mixture of different decisions as well as grow as an artist. Moving to Cambridge from Perth in Scotland was a huge leap for me to take to try to further my education and career in art. Drawing the pattern helps me to think through these decisions and relax. I listen to a lot of music when creating different plates so the drawings and prints often reflect the rhythms. 

I enjoy hearing other’s thoughts and interpretation of my work as the images can mean something totally different to each and every individual.


If you would like to have a look at the other entries in to this competition or like my work I would be very grateful of your support! You can vote online at the Networks Team website. The voting is very simple and you don't need to leave any details or fill anything out, just cast your vote! 


Future Exhibition

I have also been fortunate enough to have 2 pieces selected for the 151st Society of Women Artists Exhibition at the prestigious Mall Galleries in London! This came as a great surprise and I'm really looking forward to the exhibition which is open from 28th June to 7th July 2012, 10am to 5pm (closes at 3pm last day).

 

PRESS RELEASE

The Society of Women Artists

151^st Celebratory Exhibition, The Mall Galleries, London, SW1

28^th June to 7^th July 2012

Please come and visit us at the recently refurbished Mall Galleries for out 151^st Exhibition.

The SWA – A Thoroughly Modern Outlook

The future as well as the past has always played an important part in our lives and after celebrating 150 years of Exhibitions the SWA looks forward to embracing with renewed vigor the 21^st Century and all that it may offer. Our painters, sculptors, painters and ceramicists all have something to say about modern life; the environment as well as the human spirit feature heavily in the beautiful work on show. The Mall Galleries, home of the Federation of British Artists, has been refurbished to provide a ‘state of the art’ platform for the visual arts which rivals any gallery and we are delighted to showcase our work there.

We have an eclectic mix of artists unafraid of experimentation whilst producing work that is both substantial and exciting. There will be a series of lively demonstrations featuring ‘Art in the Environment’ and Silk Screen Printing together with a special Charity Evening which enables the Society to support the underprivileged and vulnerable members of society through the charity Create. More details of this Gala Evening can be found on our website www.society-women-artists.org.uk

Winsor & Newton have always supported the SWA and this year, in addition to their Fine Art Prize, each member will receive a small Gift Box containing some of their latest products. Tiranti and Premium Art Brands are generously contributing to new Young Artist Awards and Great Art will be providing a new Special Award this year.

SWA President Sue Jelley says: “When I look at the history of the Society I am proud that we have been able to carry on with the integrity and ethos that was established so long ago by our illustrious predecessors, whilst embracing the need to constantly push out the boundaries and create debate through the visual arts.”

HRH Princess Michael of Kent is our patron and will open this 151^st Exhibition and will present the Awards at the Private View on Wednesday, 27^th June at 11am.

Society of Women Artists 151^st Annual London Exhibition

The Mall Galleries, (near Admiralty Arch) London SW1

Private View: Wednesday, 27^th June 2012, 10am to 8pm with the official opening and presentation of Awards by HRH Princess Michael of Kent at 11am.

Open 28^th June to 7^th July 2012, 10am to 5pm (closes 3pm last day), entry charge.

www.society-women-artists.org.uk

Hand Colouring, Stitching, Deconstruction, New Plates

In my last post I had written about a recent piece I had been working on using 3 different plates. I have now added various colours using water colour paints and Posca markers. This piece is so far untitled.

Dimensions: 150 cm (h) x 63 cm (w)


Here's a short statement about the work

The whole print comprises of an array of different colours, the top area consists strongly of greens, reds, blues and lavenders, much like the colours you would see in the Scottish countryside. The shapes migrate South, flowing through the rough rocks and cracks. As they reach the bottom the colours become richer and more varied, yet still containing the original greens as seen in the North.

Over the Christmas vacation I worked on a stitched print. The print also uses etching and chine-colle. At the moment I am trying to figure out what to do with the unfinished ends as they show that all three pieces belong together. Each print is named and signed separately.

Some of my work has managed to wing its way across to Belfast, Northern Ireland! Many thanks to Anne Brant who kindly volunteered to get the pieces framed for me and put in to a charity exhibition for Marie Curie. More details on this exhibition will follow shortly but for now, here are some snaps of the two I sent; Growth and Process (Colour Rich Slice) and Growth and Process (Tangled Up).

And finally! I have just finished etching 8 new plates. The plates took me much longer than expected to complete so getting them etched was a big relief! I can't wait to print them! The plates are a manageable, medium size at 23cm x 23cm presenting me with more scope to try smaller experiments with a suite of plates to choose from. The pieces can be tiled to create one big piece, printed in certain groups, on top of each other and rotated. These are just some initial ideas I've had so I'm dying to get stuck in to the inks and my new paper; Somerset Velvet White, 300gsm.

Thanks for having a look! If you have any comments, thoughts or opinions I would be glad to hear them so drop me a line or comment on the blog. I am currently in the process of setting up a Facebook page for Katy McDonald Original Prints so 'Like' my page for all the latest updates on how the work is going!

The New Retro, Greens and Golds and Re-Soaks

Getting back in to the studio after Christmas has been refreshing! By looking back at my photos taken for the blog I noticed I hadn't written about my new piece from before Christmas, Growth and Process (Retro Trip 2). The piece uses etching, linoprint, chine-colle and hand-colouring.

 

Another piece I created before Christmas was a large piece featuring 3 of my new plates. The piece was so large it went across 2 drying boards and unfortunately, due to this, and working in the shared environment that is the print studio (even though I love it!) the print got damaged. Yesterday I re-soaked, blotted and put the print back in the drying boards in hope to straighten the paper out. With any luck this attempt will work as I wish to introduce some hand colouring to this piece so stay tuned to see if my mission is successful!

The print re-soaked waiting to be blotted

The print on the drying boards

Detail

During the vacation I have been stitching in to one of my triptych prints and have used colours inspired by the countryside and highlands of my home country, Scotland. I think this has influenced the colours I have used in my new print, Growth and Process (Greens and Golds). When creating this print I experimented with using a touch of colour in the black ink just to lift it a little and give it a sense of life. A fellow student recommended this for me to try but I have never managed to get the ratio of the inks correct; I have always either put in too little colour, resulting in the colour being over powered by the black, or too much colour, resulting in... well, not the result I intended! Here are some photos of the inked up plates ready to be placed on the bed for the chine-colle pieces to be added.

Detail of inked up plate with areas cleaned out to create monoprint

Here is the final print, hot off the press and ready to go in the drying boards.

 

Flipping Plates and Relief Etching!

Since the recent success of the '12 PrintMAkers' exhibition at the RK Burt Gallery in London I have been trying out a new approach to my printing. When preparing my small plate for final prints I like to try to make about 4 proofs previously. I wanted to make use of these proofs so started experimenting with over printing. By flipping the plate and printing it upside down on top of the original print, the image that is produced is quite different from the original and opens new possibilities.

 

 

I had been printing a lino block in the studio and had some left over ink. Instead of cleaning the ink up straight away I decided to try printing my etching plates in relief, instead of the intaglio method I usually use. I also cut smaller pieces of paper than the size of the plate I was printing then laid them on to the thinly inked surface of the etching, selecting areas, to work in a new scale. I was really surprised with the results as I didn't expect the relief method to pick up so much detail. It gives much more of a patterned effect to the design, with fellow students comparing it to the Paisley Pattern.

I have also been producing new prints of 'Growth and Process (Slice)', again, flipping the plates and using new colours. From just laying the 3 prints down together it has started sparking ideas off in my head for what will come next.