Jo Brown's news and thoughts. |
 I will be at SoLoCraftFair Christmas Market at Between The Bridges on the Southbank - next to The Royal Festival Hall, close to the London Eye. SE1 8XX. It is a covered market, all nice and twinkly, free entry - and full of creative designers and makers. Perfect to start your Christmas shopping. I will have lots of gift worthy things, hand printed t-shirts, bags, purses, my latest Dog prints, chickens, cards, tea towels and some cute stocking fillers. Come along and see! I love the South Bank, especially this time of year with all the lights, and lots of food stalls. And if you can't make it, there is still time to shop via my Folksy Shop  My latest screen Print, Dog Days is now available in my shop. I tried to be a bit more specific with dog breeds here, and used my observations of dogs at markets I have been to lately. So if you have been one of my customers this year, your dog could be in there. I used a lovely crayon-like texture to give the images a lively feel, and the dogs have a quirky amused look. Dogs are funny. As always I tried out different colour combinations. I printed several layers to get all the different colours with a pink background version, and a turquoise background version. The prints are A3 and will fit regular off-the-shelf frames. I think I will be making some more prints in this series, perhaps individual dogs next time, on a smaller scale. I studied textile design at art college, with screen printing as my major. After college I painted my textile designs to sell, and then moved into illustration, mostly for children's books, gift-wrap, packaging and stationery. My work has always reflected that initial training, in the way I think about design. I have in the last few years returned to print making in a different way. Not exclusively for textiles, although I do design and sell my t-shirts and tea towels and fabric items. Now I print on paper and am really enjoying the process. I began with some short courses at East Side Print in Brighton, a great open access studio. Over the past few years I have been experimenting with different aspects of printing, challenging myself. Every now and then something pops up that reminds me of my initial print training, a memory of how I used to work. At the time everything was analogue, I hand drew and painted my print separations. I liked it that way, working out how to create textures by hand that would be the work of seconds with Photoshop. I am using Photoshop now sometimes to create my print separations but I am being drawn back to working by hand. I am drawing on tracing paper with crayons and ink. I don't aim to draw something and then reproduce it - I could just do a digital print for that (which I sometimes do) I want to have a bit of fun with the print making process, I am trying to end up with something different than I intended... aka surprising myself. For me this means not sticking rigidly to the original thought, allowing for happy accidents, and learning from my mistakes trying out different colourways (this is a textile design thing I think, I always think of alternatives) overprinting, collecting different papers to try out not throwing anything away- yesterday's mistake is tomorrow's inspiration. Messing about 'just to see...' Thanks to everyone who has helped me on my print journey so far x  Updated events for the rest of this year (might be one or two pop-ups to come- I'm open to offers!)
I will have my range of printed paper and fabric goods at all of these events, but as lots of my products are one-offs, don't leave it too late to get what you want. Or you can shop online in my Folksy shop 🍅 Winter 2025 dates: Sunday 9th November Christmas Fair, Towner Gallery, Eastbourne. My first time here as a vendor, but lovely gallery - go see the Ravilious while you're there! * Sunday 23 November Between The Bridges London SoLo Craft Fair- spend a lovely Sunday on the Southbank, this is full of great makers, in a great location, so sparkly and atmospheric. * Friday November 28 evening 6-8pm , Saturday November 29th Lewes Creatives Christmas Emporium, All Saints Centre Friars Walk, Lewes - catch the Friday evening event for first dibs from my fellow @lewes.creatives * THE BIG WEEK: Thursday 4 December Lewes Late Night Shopping, Town Hall Lewes - loved this last year, great night and weatherproof! * Saturday 6 December Illustrators’ Fair Kings Cross London- hurrah! * Sunday 7 December Between The Bridges London SoLo Craft Fair- i will be tired but I will be there... * Sunday 14 December Between The Bridges London SoLo Craft Fair- pretty close to Christmas, great for last minute shopping, and so pretty and sparkling! This weekend I will be in Lewes at All Saints, Friars Walk Lewes 13 and 14th September as part of the lovely Lewes Creatives group. You can find out more about Lewes Creatives here. This event is part of Lewes District's Artwave festival and is listed in the artwave brochure venue 132 on the Lewes trail. Great for a day out, pick up a brochure at the station/tourist office/cafés etc. The All Saints venue is just five minutes walk from the train station/Depot Cinema/centre of town. I will have my full range of prints, t-shirts, tea towels, cards and badges. You can also pre-order for Christmas presents if you want a specific colour/size tee. (I won't be able to do this later in the year when it gets really busy)   My stall in London recently, I only had a tiny space, but I pack a lot in!
I screen print my t-shirts myself, in small batches, varying the colours. You can see the current selection in my shop here. I also have an option to order a t-shirt from my designs and specify the colour and size, if I don't have what you need.  🧵One of my favourite products is my hand printed and handmade purse. I usually have a few on my stall or in my shop, but did you know they are all different? I make a small batch at a time, printing my designs on fabric offcuts and scraps, and sew them up using cute coloured zips and contrast threads. I usually make 4 or five at a time. I use different fabrics, and mix different inks. They are all lined, usually in some kind of gingham, with a surprise dog print inside. So far I've printed on dark blue, neutrals, flowers, bright checks and black and grey fabrics. Each background fabric suggests a different ink colour, adding to the variation. I particularly like working with linen, it feels so nice and soft, and then crisp when you iron it. Making these purses includes all my favourite things -drawing, printing, colours, sewing- and haberdashery! I'm not keen on ironing to be honest, but it has to be done. The latest batch of purses included the red gingham which I think is my favourite so far...it got snapped up at The Illustrators' Fair in July. I have a few listed here in my Folksy shop, but most don't make it on there before they're sold. If you want a heads up of the next batch join my Tomato Ketchup via my profile and I will let you know as soon as they're stitched!   I will have a stall at the Art Market at Kingston Street Art Festival Art Market. Click on the image for details.
 Happy Chicken A4 Screen Print by Jo Brown New A4 screen print added to my Folksy Shop - Happy Chicken, find it (and variations) here.
I used four screens to print this- the line and black spots were separate. The brushy white background was achieved by modifying an exposed solid shape on the screen by brushing with screen emulsion to give texture, and then setting on the exposure unit. Will be available at my next print fair, Strange Magic 26 July Lewes Town Hall. (see previous post) Printed on Canford Card 300gsm. I am taking part in a brand new event, Strange Magic Printmakers Fair -focussing on contemporary printmaking, book art and zines. You can find them on instagram @printmaking_fairs. Town Hall , Lewes East Sussex. Saturday 26th July 11am-4pm free tickets available by registering here.  |
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