This project is one of the activities taking place over 2025 to celebrate and commemorate 25 years of SPW.
20 March 2025 Update
Congratulations to everyone in the group, proof prints were completed on time and displayed in SPW drawing room at the ABP meeting on 18 March 2025. A fabulous range of images have been produced using different printing techniques. Well done to all!
The most immediate deadline | April 17
We need 6 Final DRY Prints of your image by 17th April. If we don’t have them by then we will not be able to include them in the SPW copy for the exhibition in Oriel Q.
In total we need a further 19 copies of each page by May 30
Most people in the group wish to have a copy of everyone’s print in their own book and therefore you will need to print an additional 19 Final Prints ( in addition to the ones needed for 17th April) of your image. There is plenty of time to print the additional copies. These additional prints are needed by the end of May. We will be identifying some Open Access dates in May specifically for ABP to assist printing, similar to those offered in March, as well as normal OA sessions.
Please note | if for any reason you decide not to include all the prints in your book please let us know NOW as we don’t want to involve people in any unnecessary printing.
Carole King | Bookbinding Days | Wednesday 18th June and Sunday 22nd June
Carole King, an expert book binding artist, will be supporting us during a day’s workshop for you to compile your own book. You may choose which date suits you best.
You can indicate which date you prefer by replying to the email address shared with all participants in the email update.
Don’t worry if you are unavailable on either of the workshop dates we will provide a further date in June to assist you, just let us know you can’t make the workshop dates arranged.
The Paper | hinge on the right hand side
Your Final Prints need to be printed on the paper which has been cut to size and is available at SPW. Those of you printing at home can collect paper from SPW and we suggest you take some extra sheets in case of ‘slip ups’, etc
Please register the sheets taken in the ABP MATERIALS FOLDER kept near the reception desk.
PLEASE book use of SPW for printing as usual on the SPW Open Access and Keyholder Booking App.
Screenprint images
Please make sure you keep your artwork safe, the transparency that you used and a note of the correct exposure in case you need to make a new screen, either because it is damaged or we need the screens for a workshop.
Costs
There are NO COSTS for Open Access time or ink used.
The paper works out at 30p per sheet and a small cost for book cloth, etc.
Each of us will pay for the number of pages in our book. Eg. 25 pages, with book cloth cover would total approx £10.00/£15.00. Those of you who make or buy handmade books will know that this is very inexpensive and SPW is being very generous!
Editions
As there might be variations in the individual books they would not really constitute a true edition. We would like each book to be numbered as a record and have an SPW stamp.
Each artist is contributing their prints on the basis that they will be used for one book only and it will remain as a personal item and not for sale. As we noted in the meeting, many of the images would work well in colour with further development, so everyone is obviously free to develop separate signed editions of their images and we would welcome having them for sale in our browsers and at exhibition events in the rest of the year.
We have had two very productive meetings already where we were able to progress agreement on some of the key deadlines and explore some potential themes within the overall theme of ‘Swansea’
We need to stress the collaborative nature of this project and therefore the need for those deciding to take part to fully engage with the timetable and be prepared to support and advise the development of individuals and the group
We encourage new members to take part in the project. If you have ideas but are unsure how to translate your ideas into a print process come in as soon as we open again in January and get advice and help.
The format will accomodate a single image across the double page spread with fold in the middle. Also possible to have two related images or an image and some text
Paper size
Key dates/ Timetable
Monday 3Oth December 2024 confirm your commitment on or before 30th December 2024
Tuesday 14th Jan 2025 1st ‘Sharing of design/image ideas session’ at SPW 6.30pm. This will be an essential session. PLEASE make every effort to attend. However, if unavailable please make sure information about your draft design/ images are at SPW by Monday 13th January for us to display and share with the group.
Tuesday 18th February 2025 2nd ‘Sharing of Progress session’ at SPW 6.30pm
Friday 15th March 2025 Submit Artist Proof (AP ) copy to SPW. You can submit more than one design if you are working on more than one idea
Tuesday 18th March 3rd ‘Sharing of each others’ AP prints session’ and together decide order of book content, etc
April Date to be confirmed . A book making session for the group supported by a professional.
Please note that some Open Access sessions in February and March will be allocated specifically for the Artist Book Project and support & advice will be available to help new members with developing their images and printing as much as they need.
Please note
Your final book will be absolutely your own personal choice. You agree to making your print available to everyone else in the group to make their books.
Notes from the meetings
Formats
We have used a number of different formats for book making on the past but for this project, the ‘concertina’ format would seem the most appropriate
Theme
The general theme of ‘Swansea’ is meant as a starting point. We are hoping that you will come in with your suggestions and certain trends will start to emerge. We are aware that this might be a disadvantage for those not living and working in Swansea, but the theme is so broad we are hoping you will find some connection that you can work with.
Some of the themes we looked at –
There are scenes from our everyday lives that we can observe from direct experience. We have a range of graphic novels in the library which are particularly illustrative of a wide range of experiences and situations. They are also useful to see the range of options when designing in black and white.
There are ongoing themes that are universal, entertainment, home life, pastimes, travel.
Frans Masereel’s The City, in particular recorded a vivid and informative picture of his surroundings and events. Looking through his book reminds us of the huge range of experiences associated with living in a city, a lot of which we take for granted and really not considered as a basis for a print.
Some of our members draw directly from their surroundings.
Sally Hands has used lino cutting in the past but now uses wood engraving very largely
There are a number of other ongoing themes -the commuter nightmare
There are less happy aspects to city life today reflected in the generosity of people working in organisations helping homeless people and distributing food supplies and demonstrating in support of local and national issues
Examples so far are largely figurative, but they dont have to be.
Another suggestion was to record any elements of change in the city environment. Swansea City Archive also has a fantastic archive of photographs of the city. It is possible to track changes in particular street views over long periods of time.
Swansea is great place for musical events and we have had a regeneration of some of our places of entertainment, The Palace Theatre and The Albert Hall. Waterstones bookshop in Oxford Street was one of the first electric Cinemas in Wales and narrowly escaped war damage and then demolition through local support .
Mumbles Lifeboat | RNLI
This is a big part of Swansea’s history and featured in a big exhibition recently in the Waterfront Museum. The rigs they use now started life in Atlantic College down the coast as project for their students and then adopted by the RNLI. We still have the old lifeboat station and the new one has helped to keep the pier in a usable state.
The activities of the Swans football club used to feature very largely around the studio as the shop was at the end of the street next to the old stadium at the Vetch. The floodlights and very large crowds of fans made it a very atmospheric scene especially when Cardiff were the visiting team.
The site of the Vetch is now a community allotment and park and the Swans moved to an even more historic site in the old industrial ‘Copper Quarter’ . This is also the site of the Museum Stores which has many items they are unable to house in the public building. We have had visits to draw there on a number of occasions. As well as transport [carriages, buses, bikes, lifeboats] they have inherited a natural history collection of butterflies/ insects and taxidermy.
Maritime history
We have a copy of a now unobtainable publication by Swansea Council from the days when they had more resources to design our environment. It is called Stony Stories | A Maritime Quarter Trail. It has a wealth of material around the history of the docks and the historical references used in some of the architectural and decorative features.
Suitable processes
RELIEF
- Grey lino
- Japanese vinyl
- Woodengraving/ if you already know the technique
- Letterpress /if you have already done a workshop
SCREENPRINTING
- Drawing in black and white on paper and photocopied onto acetate | limited tone
- Drawing straight onto Mark resist | this allows the most versatile set of marks using line, chalk, brush and wash effects for a wide range of tone.
- Stencils | paper stencils are fine but there is only one chance to print a set, not re-usable UNLESS you print a black and white print and then photocopy it onto acetate to be put onto photo emulsion screen.
- Stencils using Red Lith film. This is UV resistant and so will hold the light back and gives a long lasting stencil which can be re-used many times
- Ipad to screenprint | We used PaintshopPro on an ipad which was then exported digitally onto acetate. Advantages | lots of different brushes | lots of textures | you draw white on black and particularly good for this app – any text you want to incorporate
- Anyone with a graphics pad is also able to work this way on a computer but all final images are to be printed by hand through one of our process
RESOURCES
Our library has a range of graphic novels as well as general books on printmaking techniques. Any member is free to come in and browse through material on any open access day. There is no charge for this.
We will be scheduling some free studio time in January.
If you have some ideas and not sure how to use the material through a printmaking technique, we can talk you through it and offer some help.
You can contact us through the WhatsApp group and all central information will be posted on this section of the website.
The size of the paper will be decided very soon and we will have the paper cut to size