Printfest2007

Yesterday I made my way to the grey and slightly eerie little town of Ulverston (see pic above) to visit 'printfest2007'. Well it was ok but more festering than fest. I didn't quite know what to expect after reading about it in a magazine, except that it was a national exhibition of printmaking which got me all excited, and that everything was for sale and supposedly 'affordable'. Like I said, the town is a bit odd and being Sunday was more deserted than usual and being May and England, was grey and rainy. I found the Coronation Hall no problem but was a little disappointed with the size of the venue, maybe I was thinking more Albert Hall than the Conference Hall. Anyway, I paid my money and went in. It was ok. Each artist had a corner for their own little exhibition and hovered around it, waiting for anyone looking interested. I found that part hard, I wanted to look on my own and ask for info if I wanted it. Anyway, they were all very pleasant and I managed to sneak round in between other customers, so I didn't feel any pressure to buy. I suppose they were affordable, compared to paintings, but the stuff I could afford was very small and a bit unimpressive. Anyway, here's a selection of the ones I liked best.

Simon Ripley

Janet Rigby

Ruth Green

Ian Williams

For some reason, I didn't find it as inspiring as I'd hoped. The work was fairly typical, although all of a good standard. I don't know what I was expecting, or what I wanted, or what would have impressed me. I was drawn to the abstract stuff, although at the time dismissed it (the way I do) as lacking content. Having looked a couple of these people up on the web today, I feel more sympathetic toward them, and more attracted to the beauty of their images, esp. Simon Ripley's work. The reason I mention this is cos I'm still battling with my own style, and trying to decide how I want my images to look, and why. When I was at the interview in Edinburgh, Paul said that something which is very important is finding out how you yourself paint (draw, make art) not how you think you're supposed to, or how someone else does that you admire, but finding your own way and I'm still not sure I know what that is yet. I thought that finding out what I like might be a sign of that. Which leaves me wondering why I dismiss it if it doesn't have a figure, at the same time, feeling that abstract stuff communicates on a more sophisticated level.

Anyway, I haven't been feeling very arty of late on any level, so I dunno why I'm going on about this. After my leaky ceiling incident in my 'studio' (using the term loosely), I've moved everything into my spare room at the flat. Just wondering how I'm going to avoid getting paint everywhere, esp. on the the carpet. I hate having to be careful with my drips. Anyway, I feel like this is all a bit jumbled. I still don't feel much like sharing my madness with cyberworld, but think its maybe good for me, some kind of therapy perhaps. I just wanted to get something on here and break my writer's blog, ahem, block.