Leonie's New Drawings in NOT (an exhibition)

Leonie is showing her books and a couple of new large drawings at NOT (an exhibition), the launch the of independent visual arts and music agency NO WAY at Dalston's Print House Gallery until the end of June.

The works are part of Leonie's latest project, tentatively titled 'Envisageable Cities', and are large-scale pencil drawings conjured from the artist's imagination. They are inspired by Leonie's recent trip to the construction sites of Qatar and by literature on labyrinths.

The exhibition is open now and it is well worth seeing the drawings up close as they are so intricately detailed and are easily accessed in the mosaic covered Reeves building in a quiet back street right next to Dalston Junction.

Exhibition open 8th - 30th June,

Monday to Friday until 6pm or at evenings/weekends by appointment (contact leonie.lachlan@gmail.com)

The Print House Gallery
18 Ashwin Street
London E8 3DL

Christine's Desk

This is where I work when I am not printing. Right now the board is covered with tiny pressure print experiments to work out, for my new book, how printing might have been discovered in one room over one night, from necessity, rather than across the world in over a thousand years.

Some essential starting points were a cardboard box, research into images in early books and experiments with simple printing. These are though, sometimes a mad excuse to defer making the final printed page.

I was encouraged by this printing plate above, created with great intensity by a small group of children. They recently made their first collagraphs with me, inspired by illuminated manuscript images from the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin. I am trying a new approach; making pressure print collages from found materials before turing them into collagraphs.

The yellow desk in the top image is MKDC circa 1970. The wallpaper probably dates from then!

Here are some photos Patrick Roe sent of the very last copies of Sleep Walking ready for collection at The Fine Book Bindery tomorrow. Meanwhile a copy of the book is with Reed Contemporary Books who are showing a selection of Artists' and Fine Press Books from the UK, USA and Germany at the Fruitmarket Gallery in Edinburgh on 29 March.

International Women's Day book event

Here are my books in one of the very cleverly designed bookcases, which include a display cabinet, in Cardiff’s very new Central Library.

This typographic book by Philippa Wood of The Caseroom Press was enjoyed on display on the top floor of the library, accompanied by a lunchtime concert rising up from below (more singing filled the air outside later at the start of the rugby Wales v Ireland match).

In the afternoon there were more free cultural exchanges in the form of presentations and workshops. This is Lin Charlston (http://www.faction.org.uk/showing us how to make star tunnel books. Thanks everyone for a brilliant day in Wales!

“Newspaper ‘women’s pages’ from 1912 are recovered from a café cellar, and a local museum’s poster advertises a ‘hat trimming competition’ in 1912...Small book works bring together events in the lives of twelve women, around 1912. Three women are fictional. Dreams of the future are expressed through access to printing and in their choice of hat trimmings.”

Vol.1 From Revolution to Retail, Loveday, Natalia, Lolly, Emmeline

Vol.2 From Reason to Revenge, Dominica,Christabel, Annie, Sylvia

Vol.3 From Reality to Reinvention, The Maid, Vera, Clare, Marina

Recovered: A Storm of Stars:

This is a piano-hinged book, bound with wooden ‘hat pins’, these are ‘one of a kind’ books to allow for research and ideas to develop.

Hatbox: A Storm of Stars:

A box of poplar wood holds three concertina books. When threaded each book becomes star-shaped with text on one side and hats on the other.

This Saturday the 12th March there will be A Day of Book Arts at Cardiff Central Library which is hosting an exhibition of books by women artists to celebrate international Women’s Day. You are welcome to book in for any of the following events. The exhibition continues to the end of the month.

10:00 – 10:45 Sarah Edmonds - presentation

11:00 –11:30 Melaneia Warwick - talk on sketchbooks

11:45 – 12:30 Christine Tacq - talk & demonstration

1:15 – 2:00 Aida Garton - talk

2:10 – 2:30 Dorcas Frazer - demonstration

2:30 – 3:30 Lin Charlston - star tunnel book-making workshop with discussion

3:30 – 4:30 Heather Engel - making books from recycled materials

Sue Paton - mini books workshop

Leonie's residency

Leonie was awarded the second prize in The Abbott & Holder Drawing Award and her work will be shown at the Works on Paper Fair from 3 - 6 February 2011 at the Science Museum in London. She was also selected to be the artist in residence at the fair. p's & q's are not showing this year but Leonie will be there with her books.

Happy New Year 2011

This is to wish everyone a Happy New Year! (I was told that New Year cards are OK as long as they arrive before the end of January.) It's a chine collé print made with bits of recycled Christmas cracker hats and stamp-printed tissue, overprinted with a drypoint printed from cut-out plastic onto which I scratched my version of one of Natalia Goncherova's hat designs for the Ballets Russes. I have now seen the V&A exhibition for a second time just before it closed. The hat is in quilted silver paper and is part of a costume for a sea princess. Why are there paper crowns in Christmas crackers? Are they to do with the Three Kings or more likely are they a hangover from the Roman festival where masters and servants swapped places and the 'lord of misrule' held wild court until the 25 December? I have become very interested in the interpretation of hats, as will be seen at the central library in Cardiff this March in an exhibition of books by artists for the whole of March celebrating International Women's Day (8th March). I am showing versions of the new books Hatbox and Recovered. There will be special events on Saturday 12 May and you will be able to handle the new books.