Visiting The Studio West End

On Tuesday I met up with three other Brisbane members of Book*Art*Object for a bit of a pre-Christmas get-together. Robin Foster, Helen Malone, Jack Oudyn and I decided to check out the end of year exhibition at The Studio West End, before lunch.

The Studio is the domain of Adele Outteridge and Wim de Vos, and is where I learned to do coptic, celtic and other bindings in 2009. Adele and Wim offer classes and on-going support to their students, including opportunities like the exhibition we went to see, Bookplates Unbound and Artists Books.

Adele and Wim welcomed us warmly and Del was kind enough to allow me to take some photos of the show to share with you.

The bookplates showed great variety and there were some beautiful prints amongst them.

The artists books explored a range of media and structures. I recognized some Impress Printmakers' members names amongst the participants, including the very talented Glenda Orr.

This work by Susan Bowers, Standing Stories 4,5 (Bush women) is a lovely example of pushing the definition of a book.

Wim de Vos showed his current obsession, perspex tunnel books. This one is inspired by the Chrysler Building, and offers an interior view that I had not seen before.

Adele shared examples of book bindings that students can make in her classes. These lovely ones in the lower left which combine coptic, celtic, the icicle and the caterpillar are exemplars completed in a single workshop, to allow students to try all these different bindings in one go. What a great idea! Reminds me of something......

We all enjoyed the exhibition and our visit to the studio, and I enjoyed the chance to see Del and Wim again. If you'd like to see more of the Studio West End exhibition, Del tells me there will be more photos going up on their website soon.

Portrait of a Studio

On Sunday I went to see “Self Portrait”, the Studio West End group show that I mentioned a couple of posts ago.

In 1998 artists Adele Outteridge and Wim de Vos established Studio West End, from where they offer various workshops ranging through book arts, printmaking, painting and mixed media.

Wim has developed extensive skills working with perspex and the material has become somewhat of a signature material for both him and the studio. Adele and Wim create such a welcoming environment and have so much to offer, that many of those who come to study choose to stay and develop a lengthy relationship with the studio, and with Adele and Wim.

The works in the show demonstrated the wide and varied range of skills and talent nurtured at the studio. There were 25 artists represented and the photos posted here are simply the ones that appealed to me personally.

Studio West End recently launched a website, which you can find here. Wim told me that they will be documenting the show in full on the site soon. In the mean time, the gallery on the site has works by Adele and Wim, plus a number of photos of cute cats!!

Above: Adele Outteridge

 

Above: Bronwyn Estaban

Above: Fiona Medhurst

Above: Graham Bligh

Above: Philomena Drake

Above: Sharon Smith

Above: Sheryl Whimp

Off to Book Arts Classes...

At last a little bit of structure to my year...I have enrolled in a weekly class in Book Arts at West End Studio with one of the luminaries of the book arts in Queensland, Adele Outteridge. She runs the studio with Wim de Vos, another great book artist and they regularly offer classes in book arts, printmaking and mixed media.

I first heard of these classes in 2007 from a friend who was going. She recommended them and says that once you know the basics, there is freedom to pursue your own projects with Adele and Wim to facilitate. With my masters to finish, I had to be patient, but now I am really looking forward to receiving some instruction in binding and construction techniques.

A couple of years ago, I attended a one day workshop on artists books which was run at Impress Printmakers Studio, and everything else I have done has been self-taught. While it sounds impressive to call yourself an "autodidact" (what a great word, hey?) it is a slow process, involving a lot of trial and error, and false starts, at least it is for someone like me, who can never stand to just do what the book says - I always have something a little different in mind!

I'm hopeful that Adele and Wim will be a great "fit" for me, as their work is often very sculptural, and I have had a long time dream of learning more about printmaking too, which we touched on during my ceramics course. A lot of printmaking techniques can be adapted for use with clay by using plaster for your plate and underglazes or slips for ink.

So you can see what I mean about the sculptural aspect of Adele and Wim's books, I've uploaded some images of their work.

Adele Outteridge

Wim de Vos