Tiles & Tribulations #1

Tiles and Tribulations #1

They say that the Course of True Love never did run smooth. That's as may be, but let me assure you, its as nothing compared to the Course of Glazed Ceramics!

However, I'm pretty happy with the progress I'm making, despite the setbacks. Here the particular glitch has been a pooling and distortion around the applied Cobalt Carbonate glaze - there are various possible reasons why this might have happened (I have been well informed by those in the know) and shall address them all, one by one.

Here, a Triton delft tile, before firing. The smudgy black dots are charcoal, used to 'pounce' the design onto the tile from a pricked stencil, or spons.

Here, the same Triton delft tile, after firing. The glitch is most evident on this particular tile. I am investigating ways to avoid it as we speak!

Art Angels

Ah! Look what came in the post t'other day! 

My first collaboration with Art Angels - my Tourettes de France design now available as a greetings card, and my Cockney Alphabet in green as gift wrap! I am delighted!

http://www.art-angels.co.uk/prod/tourettes-de-france
http://www.art-angels.co.uk/prod/cockney-alphabet

A Look Ahead...

A Look Ahead to what, potentially, this Year has in store. 
I have already signed up for two Solo Shows in the Spring: the first, 'O England My Lion-Heart' at the Lion Street Store in Rye the first week-end of May, followed closely by 'A Troynovant Peculiar' at the Town House in Spitalfields. This is in addition to being part of the Norwich Print Fair Elements IV group exhibition in April, and then, if selected, part of the 20th Norwich Print Fair in September as well. Finally, I shall round the Year off with a Print Sale in Norwich at the end of November, provisionally entitled 'A Winter's Tale'. I hope also to be involved with other group shows that may pop up along the way (hint hint!)..
As well as continuing to produce limited screen prints (I'm aiming, perhaps a little over-optimistically, for around 25 new designs this year!) I plan to pick up my paint-brushes again after many years away from them. In addition I have a number of letterpress print projects in the pipeline, working together with print maestro Martin Clark at Tilley Letterpress in Ledbury. I also have a challenging, and somewhat daunting, ceramic delft tile commission for a monument, and after that shall be focusing on creating traditional delft tiles for my own home, and then possibly further select commissions after that.
There are also further collaborations afoot with Fortnum & Mason, and artist and curator Marc Rees, as well as a proposed and ongoing project with Dan Bugg of the Penfold Press. Fingers-crossed, I may also get the chance to work on a poster design in conjunction with the Lexicographer of Slang, Dr Jonathon Green, a print for the Museum of British Folklore and possibly the Friends of Arnold Circus, and on a personal project commemorating the Life and Work of Oscar Wilde! Phew!
Around all this I want to make time and space in my life for walks, cycling, pottering in the garden, river- and sea-swims, cooking, eating and enjoying the company of friends.
Any road, enough with the Trumpet-blowing! Now to get on with creating!

Cock-a-doodle-do!

Hallo there!

I have returned after a Year's hiatus. It's good sometimes to take time out, to be away, but its great to be back!

And so to kick things off, a little image freshly penned to wish you all a very Happy, Prosperous & Creative New Year. Here the symbols of Janus (after whom we have January named), Roman god of doorways, crossroads and the passing of the Year - a Key to lock the Old Year behind you and a Cock to crow in the New!

Phrenology Head

Phrenology Head

This screen print is my take on a traditional Phrenology Chart. Phrenology, from the Greek for 'Knowledge of the Mind', a pseudoscience primarily focused on measurements of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules.

This limited edition screen print is printed in 2-colours on 300 gsm china white Colorplan paper, 50 cm wide by 70 cm high (B2 - a standard frame size), Limited Edition of 45, signed and numbered by the Artist, yours (or a loved one's) for £145 + P&P.

http://paulbommer.bigcartel.com/product/phrenology-head

Delivered bagged and rolled in a stiff cardboard tube.

Old Neptune Landing the Oysters at Whitstable

Old Neptune Landing the Oysters at Whitstable

This limited edition screen print, inspired by an image Edward Bawden created for Fortnum & Mason's in the 1930s, is a celebration of the beautiful Kentish town of Whitstable, noted for its oysters. Here Old Neptune (the god) lands the delicious bivalve mollusc near the famous pub upon the beach that bears his name.

This print measures 42 cm across by 30 cm high ( A3 - a standard frame-size) and is a strictly limited edition of 45, signed by the Artist. Printed on 300 gsm paper this 2-colour print can be yours (or a loved one's!) for £75 + P&P.

http://paulbommer.bigcartel.com/product/old-neptune

Posted flat in a reinforced envelope, Special delivery (UK) or International Signed-For (Elsewhere)

(For I Will Consider) My Cat Jeoffry

(For I Will Consider) My Cat Jeoffry

This recent screen print is inspired by Christopher Smart's celebrated eulogy to his cat Jeoffry, written whilst Smart was an inmate at St. Luke's Hospital for Lunaticks on Old Street in London during the 1750s/60s.

This limited edition screen print, a revised re-working of a previous (now sold-out) print on the subject, is printed in 2-colours on 300 gsm off-white paper, 50 cm wide by 70 cm high (B2, a standard frame size), strictly limited edition of 55, signed and numbered by the Artist.

The print is available to buy form my BigCartel online shop at £145 plus P&P
http://paulbommer.bigcartel.com/product/my-cat-jeoffry

Delivered bagged and rolled in a stiff cardboard tube, by Special Delivery (UK) or International Signed-For (Elsewhere).

The purrfect gift for the cat- and/or poetry-lover close to your heart!