Coming Up...

Featured Artist: SO KLARA

Exhibition Runs: 06 - 28 September 2024

Preview: Thursday 05 September, 6-8pm

Glasgow Print Studio Ground Floor Gallery

Click here to see more works from the exhibition.

JUST PLAY

Klara Hinde is a multi-disciplinary artist and designer currently living and working in Glasgow and working under the name SO KLARA. She became a member of Glasgow Print Studio in 2022 where she has been developing her interest in monoprinting. Her designs draw on self-expression through the medium of abstract art, utilizing bold colours and strong dynamic shapes.

"Just Play is a series of artworks capturing my exploration of monoprinting. I was introduced to the technique here at the Glasgow Print Studio last year and I instantly fell in love as it brought me back to my fine art roots.

Since then, as the title suggests, I've been playing with different styles, layering vivid colours, adding mark-making while using stencils cut out of various materials. I wanted the monoprints to be expressive, fun, playful and full of movement. I wanted them to radiate feminine energy with their curved and rounded shapes that would frequently appear in the repetition of three which symbolises both the birth-life-death cycle and the body-mind-soul connection; fields that are both very close to my heart."

Hinde's design background is eclectic and varied. She developed a passion for art and an interest in psychology, alternative therapies and mysticism, which ultimately led to studies in counselling and fine art. Having always harboured a desire to help others feel better, Hinde undertook an MA in Textile Design at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London, founding SO KLARA in 2014 with the intention of running her own brand and creating quality, vibrant handcrafted products with a strong attention to detail - resulting in an inspiring, uplifting and empowering aesthetic.

Click here to see more works from the exhibition.

Images: SO KLARA, Unity, 2024, monoprint, 28 x 38 cm. SO KLARA, Sunset, 2024, monoprint, 20 x 15 cm. SO KLARA (Klara Hinde) at GPS, photography by Fiona Watson. Courtesy the Artist and Glasgow Print Studio.

Coming Up...

Online Exhibition:

Chris Allan: Drypoints from Nature

Exhibition Runs: 06 - 28 September 2024

Click here to see the works in the exhibition.

Drypoints from Nature

"These prints are based on full-size studies from life, mostly in watercolour pencil. The flora are cut from the hedgerow and drawn in the studio. The fauna are variously drawn from life and from museum specimens or adapted from photographs and book illustrations. But a pile of sketches do not make art - one needs models on which to build ideas. Both the format and the content relate to the hanging scrolls developed by oriental "Bird and Flower" painters over centuries. The verisimilitude of the Dutch C.17 flower painters and the technical prowess of the best engravers of botanical Flora always astonish me, while the wildlife specialists of the past two centuries - from Audubon to Thorburn, Tunnicliffe and more, set a benchmark which I struggle to equal.

All contribute to the purpose of portraying nature at close quarters. Not a nature only to be revealed on a TV trip to the tropics, but one that can delight us all in every hedge and ditch, or at the bottom of the garden. The familiar natural world around us seems annually transient, yet is reassuringly resilient. Brambles, bullfinches and bumble bees were all flourishing in Britain long before the first human foot ever crushed a daisy, and I'm sure will flourish long after our departure.

Drypoints are among the simplest of prints to make. You scratch the design into the surface of a polished copper plate with a hardened steel point. The furrows you cut, and the displaced metal  (called burr) thrown up by the point will both hold ink, and are printed like any engraving or etching. However, the processes of inking and printing soon wear the image down, limiting the number of good impressions. Only the most foolhardy would choose drypoint for a series of large elaborately worked plates…

At an intermediate stage where the composition is clear and firm, but not too heavily worked, I take proofs in a suitable base colour for hand-colouring. The watercolour washes amplify the underlying structure without looking muddy. Additional work then strengthens the design to create a further edition in monochrome."

Chris Allan graduated from Edinburgh University and College of Art in 1970. His career was spent in the museum world, at Manchester University and subsequently Glasgow University.  He began making prints at Glasgow Print Studio in the 90s. He is the author of Elizabeth Blackadder Prints (Lund Humphries, 2003), and in 2014 designed a reconstruction of Mackintosh's lost decorative scheme for Glasgow Art Club. He has works in several public collections including the British Museum and HM Government's loan collection.

Click here to see the works in the exhibition.

All works are available to view in person at the ground floor gallery.

Images: Chris Allan, The Blackbird, 2016, hand-coloured drypoint 68.5 x 39 cm, edition of 12. Chris Allan, Among Sweet Peas (detail - click here or the image to see full size version), 2021, 5 colour drypoint with hand-colouring, 68.5 x 39 cm, edition of 10. Chris Allan working at GPS. Courtesy the Artist and Glasgow Print Studio.

Current Exhibition

Between Islands

Exhibition Runs: 02 August - 28 September 2024

Glasgow Print Studio First Floor Gallery

Gregor Smith, Lin Chau, Marion MacPhee (Glasgow Print Studio)
Yoko Akino, Elke Thönnes, Niall Naessens (Graphic Studio Dublin)

Click here to see all the works and artist information.

Curated by James Murphy (GPS) and Peter Brennan (GSD)

Glasgow Print Studio is delighted to partner with Graphic Studio Dublin for this exhibition, featuring three artists from each studio working in land and seascapes. The exhibition will subsequently show in Dublin, opening on October 26th, 2024.

Click here to see all the works and artist information.

Both studios wish to thank Culture Ireland for their support.

Image: Marion MacPhee, North Uist VIII, 2024, monotype, 63 x 121 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Glasgow Print Studio.

Coming up...

Hetty Haxworth: Artist Talk

Thursday 29 August at 6pm

Glasgow Print Studio Ground Floor Gallery

To accompany her exhibition Colour and Form, Hetty Haxworth will be talking about her work in the ground floor gallery on Thursday 29th August at 6pm. Hetty will be using a slideshow in her presentation and there will be a Q&A at the end for audience members to ask questions.

Attendance is free but we ask you to register here through Eventbrite.

Click here to see works from the exhibition.

Please note, while this is a seated event we are limited in our maximum seating capacity and some attendees may need to stand. Let us know ahead of time if you have a particular requirement in this regard or other access requirements.

Register here through Eventbrite

Images: Hetty Haxworth, Tipped Towards The Sun, 2023, monoprint, 57 x 57 cm. Courtesy the Artist and Glasgow Print Studio.

Don’t forget, Glasgow Print Studio participates in Creative Scotland’s Own Art interest free scheme which allows buyers to spread the cost of buying original artwork, making it easier and more affordable than ever before to purchase high quality works of art.

For exceptional contemporary work produced by both established artists and new emerging talent visit Glasgow Print Studio.