Birmingham DIY Print Club have an open day on 19 November.

Simon Goode will be holding this one-day, non-adhesive binding workshop on 11 December at Birmingham Printmakers.

He’ll be giving an introduction to Japanese stab binding, and Coptic binding techniques, along with how they can be adapted for individual uses, such as holding prints and developing into artists’ books.

The day costs £45 / £40 for members of Birmingham Printmakers and students. To book a place, email Simon Goode, or call him on 07734652438

On 27 November, Birmingham Printmakers are opening their studio doors from 10am – 4pm. They’ll be selling original prints, cards, books and gift wrapping.

Kate Chapman & Charlotte Goodwin - Amplifying the Map

I have to admit to be SUPER excited about the impending re-opening of the mac.  So ANY news, or any work linked to the opening, in turn excites me too.  In addition, my personal interests are deeply rooted in events which involve an element of participation – and with that in mind, I’m particularly excited to touch upon ‘Site and Sounds’.

“Site and Sounds offers a taste of the activities planned for mac’s re-opening in 2010 including workshops, walks and the premiere of a specially composed anthem for mac. mac’s Associate Artists Stan’s Cafe and Motionhouse Dance Theatre will also be presenting work as part of the summer programme including an adventure in the dark and some in-your-face dancing.”

There’s a substantial programme of events leading up to the re-opening – details of which can be found on the macartists website, as well as information on how to book for workshop places.  I was excited to see a screen-printing workshop advertised, then realised I am sadly 16 years too old to take part. Sniffle.  If you DO fit into that age category however, I think it’ll be a lot of fun!

I’m also curious about the recent theme of ‘mapping’ which keeps cropping up in projects and artist’s works of late.  This time, artists Kate Chapman and Charlotte Goodwin are exploring the mapping theme by inviting people who live, work or play close to mac to re-discover familiar places and explore places they have never visited before, sharing their thoughts and observations to create an audio map of the changing landscape.  All of these recordings will feed into an audio map – a web of downloadable audio tracks focusing on different locations in a mile radius of Cannon Hill Park.  I’m wondering if any CiB readers have experienced any other map-themed artworks/projects of late – if so, send me an email or leave a comment.

I will also be interested to see ‘Underground’,  performed by four dancers from Motionhouse Dance Theatre.

“Set within a rocking tubular structure, using physical dance, poignant imagery and surprising aerial encounters, ‘Underground’, explores the reality of train travel.”

Considering the title of the performance, I imagine it would originally by inspired by the experience of underground travel as opposed to regular trains.  How this will translate both to regular train travel as well as the open space of Cannon Hill Park will remain a mystery until the performance itself, which is happening Saturday 18th July at Cannon Hill Park at 11.30am, 1pm and 3pm.

Motionhouse Dance Theatre - Underground

HamFisted! has an opportunity for visual artists to work in primary schools and children’s centres. The day-long workshops will take place in schools in the Aston, Lozells and Newtown area of Birmingham between Tuesday24th February and Monday 9th March.

During the workshops the techniques used will be screen printing and collage. They will be creating a large aspirational image based on the children’s ideas. The fee for this work will be £1,000.

Interested? Email Johnny O’Hanlon: headquarters@hamfisted.org.uk using Aston Project in the subject line.

Over the last few months Birmingham Printmakers have been relocating from the old Birmingham Artists building on Lee Bank to their new home at 90 Floodgate Street, Digbeth. The move has been documented by BPM member and technician Phil Wilkinson over January and February who also informs us the grand opening will take place on April 4th at 6pm.

Over on the Ikon site there’s a 1hr45m recording of a symposium on printmaking that took place on Feb 20th.

Ikon and Birmingham City University School of Art co-hosted a lively roundtable discussion about the nature of contemporary printmaking. The implications of digital technology were considered not just in terms of production, but also its possible impact on the meaning of printed artwork.

Ikon’s Director, Jonathan Watkins was joined on the panel by artists Tim Maguire and Christiane Baumgartner, Tessa Sidey (Curator, Prints and Drawings Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery), Frank Bordas (studio Frank Bordas) and Jeremy Lewison (Independent Curator).

Can’t find a download link so you’ll have to listen to it from your computer but this is a fantastic development for Ikon.

Pic taken from Ikon, labeled “Tim Maguire Studio. Work in progress”

Phil Wilkinson is a Birmingham based printmaker and painter.

I work in a variety of media from woodcut prints and drypoint etchings, through collographs, monoprints and photoetchings, to pen and wash and acrylic. In the near future I hope to add wood engraving to this range. With a contemporary eye, I tackle landscape and local cityscape themes, exploring the rich variety of vernacular building, and the interesting clash between 19th and 21st Century architecture.

My subjects are largely landscapes and cityscapes, but I have also recently worked on a series of etchings entitled From the Air, which explores an aerial viewpoint of richly textured landscapes or seascapes, and also includes vintage aircraft, which are a personal interest of mine.

He produces his prints at the Birmingham Print Workshop, a “co-operative printing workshop for local artists”, which I hadn’t heard of before but is aparently part of Birmingham Artists on Holloway Head. Sounds intriguing.

Hat tip to UpYerBrum.