The Craft Cabinet at Darlington Arts Centre

The Craft Cabinets 21st February – 31st March 2012

Darlington Arts Centre

 

The Craft Cabinets at Darlington Arts Centre provide an intimate space for creative practitioners to show case their work in a relaxed and creative environment.  Currently on display is a selection of artists books by Theresa Easton a visual artist based at Ouseburn Studios and Warehouse in Newcastle. Central to Easton’s practice is printmaking.  Working with a variety of media including glass and paper, Easton is interested in pushing the boundaries of printmaking. The content of much of Easton’s work relies on research and an interest in heritage interpretation and historical events.   Recent book projects include a collaborative piece of work entitled The Book Apothecary, a travelling museum of artist’s books.  Housed in a specially adapted suitcase, the work includes text based glass pieces and found objects, referencing Darwin’s work on classification and categorisation.  On-going projects such as The Sunderland Book Project provide Easton with the opportunity to work internationally; creating opportunities for artist’s to show case their work on a global scale.

Craft Cabinets

Darlington Arts Centre Vane Terrace Darlington DL3 7AX

www.darlington.gov.uk/leisure/arts

Make Your Own Book Kits soon to be on sale at Newcastle’s Biscuit Factory

Make Your Own Book Kits! £7.50 (inc P&P) email theresa_easton@yahoo.co.uk or purchase direct from The Biscuit Factory, Newcastle. (Coming soon!)

These Kits are ideal for those who like to have a go at anything creative.  The pack comes with:

• A selection of paper
• Japanese paper
• Coloured card
• Ephemera
• An original print
• Instructions on how to make a simple book from a sheet of paper.

The contents have been carefully selected and hope to provide inspiration and an interest in all things bookish!

For further details: email theresa_easton@yahoo.co.uk

Travels in Time a tribute to Bewick and the North East’s Cutural Heritage

Travels in Time was originally conceived in 2010, during my short stay as AA2A (Artists Access to Art Colleges)  artist at Northumbria University, Newcastle.  The Great North Museum is in walking distance from the Fine Art department and frequent visits to the Museum’s world culture section inspired the book, Travels in Time.

The book requires the viewer to take part in the exploration and discovery of the islands of the Pacific.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The book has been designed and folded in such a way, objects from the collection present themselves alongside the animals that they celebrate.  Wolves, Frigate birds and crocodiles inhabit the pages in the book.

As the pages unfold, the sheet reveals the hidden wood engraving of Thomas Bewick of Mr Mason’s Cow.

 

Mr Mason, a rich farmer based in Chirton, county Durham, bred the biggest, fattest cow in the county.

He was so proud and excited by his achievement, he employed the services of our North East engraver.  The cow, however, was so inbred though artificial selection, it was sterile and he was unable to breed from his prize cow.

 

Travel in Time is a re-printed edition, the previous edition being seriously depleted as a result of theft.  I have now reprinted the work adding a silk screen printed layer to the lithography drawings and designed a bespoke box for the book to live in.

Turn The Page Norwich & GIAB

Friday 4th and Saturday 5th May 2012  Turn The Page

2012 will be the inaugural year for this unique two day event which is a ‘must see’ for bibliophile’s, art lovers and collectors from around the Norfolk region and beyond.  I will be taking part in the event, based  at the ‘Forum’ Norwich City Centre and plan to exhibit a series of new enamelled glass pieces as well as traditional printed and bound work.

Earlier in Spring I’ll be exhibiting at the Glasgow Internaitonal Artists Book Fair 28th & 29th April and hope to have a new Chap Book ready for the weekend!

 

 

New Acquisitions for the Tate Library’s Artists Book Collection

I am very pleased to announce the Tate Library, London has recently bought a number of my artist’s books including two Chap Books, The Sunderland Book and The Lit &Phil. 

Other Acquisitions include The Comet and Planting Can Foster a Sense of Belonging…….

The Comet

The Comet presents a series of bound prints produced after researching visual ideas connected to Copernicus & Galileo.

Planting can foster a sense of belonging

Planting Can Foster a Sense of Belonging holds a number of hand made relief prints connected with organic gardening techniques in the Victorian age. Other images are sourced from the book shelves of the Lit & Phil.  The library at the Lit & Phil (The Literary and Philosophical Society)  holds a host of inspiration, motivation and space for reflection.   I decided to produce a simple pamphlet stitched book in 2009 to mark the 25 year anniversary of the Bhopal Disaster, when Union Carbide released toxic gas during the night in the city of Bhopal killing and damaging the local inhabitants.

Lit and Phil

 The Lit and Phil and The Sunderland Book have both been designed as Chap Books (unbound, simply made books from one sheet of paper),containing brief text based narratives, hand drawn images and archival documentation.

inside pages of The Sunderland book

Forming part of The Sunderland Book Project, The Sunderland Book and is a celebration of the work of William Pile, (1823-1873) ‘’Sunderland’s greatest ship designer of his age’’.

 

Make Your Own Book Kits

Make Your Own Book Kits! £7.50 (inc P&P)

These Kits are ideal for those who like to have a go at anything creative.  The pack comes with:

• A selection of paper
• Japanese paper
• Coloured card
• Ephemera,
• An original print
• Instructions on how to make a simple book from a sheet of paper.

The contents have been carefully selected and hope to provide inspiration and an interest in all things bookish!

For further details: email theresa_easton@yahoo.co.uk

Hand Made Printed books for retail by Theresa Easton

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The Sunderland Book Project Goes To Bristol

The Sunderland Book Project will be displayed in the Tom Trusky cabinets at the Centre For Fine Print Reserach, University of West of England from the 1st February until the 1st March. 2012.

Andrew Wood

A complete archive detailing current participants can be found at The Sunderland Book Project Participants page.  If you are interested in taking part in the next exhibition of the Sunderland Book Project, download and complete Application Form Sland Bk and return to Theresa Easton with your completed work.  DEADLINE 28th March 2012.

The next North East venue for display is in Middlesbrough 2nd April until 26th May 2012.
The collection will be on display at:
Archive & Display Cabinets School of Arts & Media Teesside University Middlesbrough TS1 3BA UK

Roberto Ghisellini Zenesi

Artist’s Books For Retail by Theresa Easton

al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here

The  Al-Mutanabbi Street Coalition Project was formed as a protest and a commemoration to those that were killed or injured in the car bombing on March 5^th 2007 in al-Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad.  The street is the historical centre of Baghdad bookselling and is the heart and soul of the Baghdad literary and intellectual community.

The coalition is headed by Beau Beausoleil, based in San Francisco, who initiated the project and  called for a total of 130 Broadsides (the number representing those killed or injured) to be contributed by artists internationally to raise money for Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF). The Al-Mutanabbi Street Broadside Project now holds the work of printers from the United States, the U.K., Canada, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, The Netherlands, Italy, Germany, and France. Florida Atlantic University has digitised the  collection.

Henry Hetherington , a radical British publisher from 1820′s refused to pay the governments stamp duty on print. This tax was aimed at restricting the circulation of pamphlets and newspapers, a law that was brought in soon after the Peterloo Massacre of 1819.

The Power of The Press by Theresa Easton

al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here follows on from the Broadside project in the form of the book, representing the books destroyed or damaged in the explosion. It is a response to violence in Iraq from the letterpress and book arts community.  Beau Beausoleil and Deema Shehabi have come together to form an anthology of the work produced, due to be published by PM Press in the summer of 2012.  All 261 artist books will be exhibited at  The John Rylands University Library Manchester, UK January-August 2013

As part of the project Theresa Easton submitted The Tower, a bound Chap book style  book.

The Tower celebrates traditional bookbinding techniques and connects the universal and cultural condition of creating physical and ethereal icons.

Inside pages from The Tower by Theresa Easton

The Tower refers to the Tower of Babel and the myths surrounding the ancient city. Closer to home, North East landmarks fuse with ancient ziggurats, bridging the gap between past and present.