A couple of weeks ago, I was asked if I wanted to submit some work to a pop-up print shop in Newport, South Wales. Initially, I didn't want to because I had nothing to submit, but I sat down one night after work and had a go at sketching, something I haven't done since I started work in August!
I wanted something that was going to appeal to quite a wide audience but also to express the interest I have in the Welsh language,I start working with a few quotes my close friend James (a first language Welsh speaker) gave to me about family and pride, but ultimately came to one that really stayed with me: "Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon" which translates into "A nation without a language, is a nation without a heart".
I should have written about the build up and printing process over the weekend, but I've been so busy trying to get everything together I haven't got round to it. Anyway, today I went down to the Riverfront Theatre where the shop/gallery was taking place and handed over my prints.
A selection of the finished prints, there are six colour ways in total.
I wasn't planning on making many, I was intending to give the gallery four prints to sell, while a fifth would be made specially for James as a birthday present and thank you for his help. In the end I printed twenty five, all with gold lettering but on different coloured stock; five on black, five on navy blue, five on royal blue (the brighter of the blues above), five on olive green, four on a warm grey and one test on pale blue.
You could say I got carried away, but it was great to test the gold out on different colours. I think the gold on navy blue has to be my favourite, it just looks so beautiful. The gold on black is a very close second.
The olive green and pale blue were a pleasant surprise as I didn't think they'd work. The green feels quite Christmasy, while the pale blue is wonderfully subtle but difficult to photograph!
The Christmas Creatives pop-up shop has its press opening tonight at The Riverfront Theatre and Arts Centre is on until the 9th January and also features work from some good friends of mine and fellow members of the PrintHaus Alyn Smith and Catherine Weatherhead.
For some, this whole thing might not seem like a big deal but for me this goes back a couple of years to the career goal setting I did on my MA at BCU. I'll be honest this wasn't something I had even considered back then, but this could well be the first step for me reaching my goal of having my work featured in a book.
Hwyl fawr am nawr!