Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries, exhibition at the Qube Oswestry

 

This exhibition and project was one of the highlights of 2021 for our Printmakers Pushing the Boundaries group of Printmakers.  We are a group of six Printmakers and one Printmaker/Enameller who have been working together, meeting and walking in the Marches - the boundary between Wales and England.  Our aim is to explore a defined landscape to make individual expressions in print and other media, focusing on developing and extending our practices within this shared environment.  

We have been exploring several areas along the borders and one of the places I focused on was Chirk Viaduct and Aqueduct that carries what is now the Llangollen Canal across the Ceiriog Valley near Chirk, on the England-Wales border, spanning the two countries. 

I am drawn to the structure of the Viaduct and Aqueduct and its place in the valley alongside the nature that surrounds it.  We visited in late spring when the trees were in abundance, and this led me to making this three colour layer screen print.

As a contrast we visited Whittington Castle, near Oswestry in Winter just before Christmas 2020, when the trees were stripped bare of leaves and growth.  The structure of the trees fascinates me as they take on different shapes , with feather like branches reaching up to the sky.  I always try to discover different views of a place as I explore and the newer addition of the bridge is a perfect contrast to the much older stonework of the castle.  Here is my screen print with three layers of colour of Whittington Castle that I created for the exhibition.

Ferns on Folksy Friday

 

It's been a while since I posted on here as other Social Media platforms seem to have taken over.  However, I'm hoping to be posting again on here with some new art projects that I am involved with. For the moment here are some calming ferns for you to look at as I have been featured on their Folksy Friday along with these other lovely fern creations:

 Silver & copper fern hoop earrings by Caroline Frodsham Jewellery
 'Summer Spray' A2 screenprint in teal by EditionFortyNine
 Eco silver fern hoop earrings by Sarah and The Wolf Jewellery
 Fossil fern leaf incense dish by Sally Mareike Ceramics
 Ferns concertina sketchbook by Jacqui Dodds
 Fern lino print in green by Briar and Hawthorn
 Rusty fern leaf metal wall decoration by Fusion Weld
 Recycled silver fern leaf pendant necklace by The Little Red Hen Handmade Jewellery

Here are closer photos of my Ferns Concertina sketchbook, with my linocut design handprinted onto Ivory kozo paper, which can be found in my online shop:

https://folksy.com/items/7618753-Ferns-concertina-sketchbook-note-book-covered-with-hand-printed-linocut-ivory

Lino Printing Cards & Gift Tags at National Trust Wightwick Manor

Join me at one of the most inspiring National Trust places Wightwick Manor and Gardens on Wednesday 3rd April for a day of Lino Printing. We will be making cards and gift tags for you to take home.

This is the first of a series of Lino Print workshops that I will be holding at Wightwick Manor.

In this One day printmaking workshop  enjoy the process of this simple form of printmaking and produce cards and gift tags.  Learn how to cut lino, ink up your lino plate and print cards and gift tags using a small etching press.    Suitable for beginners or those wishing to brush up on skills.

To book please call National Trust Events on 0344 249 1895 or follow link:  https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/events/b1cd3a47-2cb0-49e5-ab5f-50e8dec1fef4/pages/details

The Joy and Remembrance of Buttercups

Having visited St Chad's with our artists' group and curator, I turned my thoughts to making new artwork. I had been asked to reference the poet Wilfred Owen and possibly make an artist's book.  Wilfred Owen is an iconic poet and although I have used poetry in my artwork before knew I had to make work that would do him justice.

I started reading 'Wilfred Owen, A New Biography' by Dominic Hibberd and immersed myself in the first few chapters about Wilfred's childhood.  He was born in Oswestry, not far from me and moved to Shrewsbury, via Birkenhead when his father Tom became assistant or Chief Clerk to the Superintendent of the Joint Railway Supervisor at Shrewsbury Station.   

Wilfred delighted in the Shropshire countryside around Shrewsbury, cycling up to Wroxeter Roman City where he spent time digging there and 'brooding' over the archaeological finds in the museum.  He also adventured out to nearby Haughmond Hill taking the ferry, that existed then, from Underdale Road in Shrewsbury to Uffington near Haughmond Hill.

Around this time (1909) Wilfred was looking at plants, rocks and fossils in the spirit of John Ruskin the art critic, art patron, draughtsman, watercolourist, as well as a  prominent social thinker and philanthropist. He was 'seeking to understand his environment as evidence of a benevolent, divinely ordered universe'. 

In 1918 Wilfred wrote 'Spring Offensive' which contains the lines:

'Hour after hour they ponder the warm field—

And the far valley behind, where the buttercups

Had blessed with gold their slow boots coming up,'

Wilfred's brother Harold remembers the family walking home through the meadows near

Uffington and Haughmond Hill and their 'shoes and stockings flushed with gold'.

Wilfred may have referenced these times in his poem.  As a teenager in 1909 he did think

of Haughmond and the museum at Wroxeter (dreaming of more exciting times in the

fourth century Roman city)  as 'my only consolation' from a peaceful, conventional life in

Shrewsbury.

Thus began my exploration of buttercups, these small beauties bring joy and hope as as the weather starts turning warmer and summer returns.

'An Undertaking' Collaborative Art Project & Exhibition - first steps

Way back in February when the weather was colder our group of artists know as re:collect gathered in St Chad's Church, Shrewsbury for our first meeting together with curator Alex Boyd Jones from Oriel Davies Gallery, who is our mentor for this project.

We were invited by re:collect artist Julie Edwards to create new art works to reflect on the sacrifices of the First World War and also to act as remembrance to poet and soldier Wilfred Owen who was born in Oswestry, Shropshire.

The exhibition takes place in the unique building of St Chad's and is a collaboration between the artists Julie Edwards, Jacqui Dodds, Jill Impey and Keith Ashford. 

The title 'An Undertaking' refers to the challenge of making work on the theme of war.

This first meeting allowed us to explore the space in order to make our work in response to the Church and locate potential places to exhibit:

By the end of our first session I was beginning to absorb some of the architectural detail of this distinctly round shaped church,

and kept being drawn back to the beautiful light and architecture of the Inner Vestibule:

Jacqui Dodds, exhibition Birmingham Midland Institute

My solo exhibition is up at the Birmingham Midland Institute, Margaret Street in Birmingham from today 21st May to 6th July.  

Some Past and Some Present, Gallery3, Gateway Arts Centre, Shrewsbury

Opening today is this exhibition at Gallery3 in Shrewsbury consisting of artists' work that have been or who are part of the Art Panel for the gallery.
I have been invited to take part as I served on the Art Panel a few years ago and I have some of my prints on show:

Library of Birmingham, screenprint

Brain Coral Detail, blind embossing

Tree Fossil, blind embossing

The exhibition runs     24th April - 1 June 2018

Gateway Gallery 3
Gateway Arts & Education Centre
Chester Street
Shrewsbury
SY1 1NA