Prints at the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition

Liquorice Whippets on Eccles Sea Wall 
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield, 2013
Image size(mm) 120w x 195h

I was delighted to hear from the RA this morning my 2 prints LIQUORICE WHIPPETS ON ECCLES SEA WALL and A HAPPISBURGH CARAVAN have been accepted for the Royal Academy of Arts Summer Exhibition. If you are out and about in London, the exhibition is open 10 June - 18 August daily 10am - 6pm and until 10pm Fridays. For further details visit the Royal Academy web site: www.royalacademy.org.uk

A Happisburgh Caravan
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield, 2013
Image size(mm) 195w x 120h

Neil Bousfield prints on Pinterest

You can find and follow me on Pinterest
at Neil Bousfield Printmaker

Drawing to investigate: drawing in practice

A rented sink
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
From "Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects" 

"Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects" ... update ... The front cover and end papers have been engraved and printed directly from the original engraved block, by myself, using a Vandercook proofing press. The portfolio of prints will contain 12 signed engravings, printed end papers, a title page, 12 pages of text about my practice & colophon page; it measures (mm) 195w x 275h. The portfolio is a personal manifesto expressing my passion for drawing to investigate my surroundings and record a sense of time and place ..

Cider Cider Cider!
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
From "Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects" 

Radio 4 and a Mug of Tea
"Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects" 

Living in Norfolk: wood engraving print series

Big Boy 
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield, 2013
Image size(mm) 195w x 120h
Part of the "Living in Norfolk" series

Originally from the North East, the sea and coastal landscape has played a fundamental part of my life from birth. The opportunity to live by the coast once again with a move to North Norfolk has inspired this latest series of limited edition prints. I have completed the engraving for eight more designs and will be aiming to complete the printing of these over the next few months. Please contact me if you wish to purchase a copy of this limited edition print by contacting me. Thank you.

Liquorice Whippets

Liquorice Whippets on Eccles Sea Wall (A.P.)
ARTIST'S PROOF IN YELLOW & BLACK
Engraved print by Neil Bousfield, 2013
Image size(mm) 120w x 195h

My latest print, hot off the press, is part of the "Living in Norfolk" series. This image is based on a collection of drawings inspired by a move to my new home and the landscape of the coast of Norfolk.

Visit the 75th Annual Exhibition & 8th British International Mini Print Exhibition

Where There Was Tea, Now There is Sea
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
Part of the "Living in Norfolk" series

75th Annual Exhibition of The Society of Wood Engravers

Zillah Bell Gallery, Thirsk, North Yorkshire, YO7 1PQ    2 - 30 March 2013

Private View: Friday 1st March, 6:30 - 8:30 pm  Details: www.zillahbellgallery.co.uk 

For full details visit The Society of Wood Engravers website  www.woodengravers.co.uk

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Pots
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
From "Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects" 

8th British International Mini Print Exhibition Printmakers Council

The Gallery at Gateshead Library 29 January to 13 April 2013

For full details visit The Printmakers Council website www.printmakerscouncil.com

A portfolio of objects

Making Curry and Rice
Engraved print by Neil Bousfield
Image size(mm) 100w x 80h

“Drawing in Practice: A Portfolio of Objects”, is making steady progress. This will be a handmade portfolio of prints inspired by my drawings of everyday objects, drawn whilst cooking my tea. All the main engravings are completed and printed, with the front cover and end papers being engraved at the moment and text being set letterpress. Each design has been printed directly from the original engraved block, by myself, using a Vandercook proofing press. The portfolio of prints will contain 12 signed engravings, printed end papers, a title page, 12 pages of text about my practice and colophon page and will measure (mm) 195w x 275h. The portfolio is a personal manifesto expressing my passion for drawing to investigate my surroundings and record a sense of time and place.

Society of Wood Engravers and Printmakers Council touring exhibitions 2013

You can see some of Neil's work at the following touring group exhibitions:

75th Annual Exhibition, The Society of Wood Engravers
29 January 2013 – 10 February 2013
Bankside Gallery, London SE1 9JH
Private View 2nd February 2012 3.00pm – 6.00pm
For full details of the tour visit The Society of Wood Engravers website www.woodengravers.co.uk

8th British International Mini Print Exhibition, Printmakers Council
29 January - 13 April 2013
The Gallery at Gateshead Library
For full details of the tour visit The Printmakers Council website www.printmakerscouncil.com

2013: What a relief!

Click Click: A Small Book of Cameras - cover image
Engraved print by Neil Bousfield
Image size(mm) 90w x 90h

I have been working on a set of designs for a handmade book of prints: “Click Click: A Small Book of Cameras” and finally completed engraving the 35^th block at the end of December, somewhere between the Christmas and New Year’s celebrations. Each design will be printed directly from the original engraved block, by the artist (me) using a Vandercook proofing press. My small book of cameras will contain 30 engravings, printed end papers, a title page, page of text about the project and colophon page. This limited edition book will measure (mm) 120w x 170h and each copy will be signed.

Dead but not buried - engraving

Dead but not buried
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
From forthcoming illustrated book without words "Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures"
Image size(mm) 150w x 240h

A small book of cameras - 22 engraved blocks

22 engraved blocks are now completed for my small book of cameras...

Whippets - engraved prints

Waggy dog
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
Image size (mm) 80w x 100h

Engraved book: A small book of cameras - update

Progress is going reasonably well - with 14 blocks now engraved... pictures to follow

Published work - reviews

The Cycle 2nd edition - published as  

Walking Shadows: A Novel Without Words

REVIEWS:
"Poignant and provocative... this is a masterwork of the wordless novel that leaves us speechless. Every reader will enjoy hours of contemplative deliberation over Bousfield's remarkable printmaking skill and vivid creative passion." - George Walker, author of Graphic Witness.

"Neil Bousfield displays astonishing skill as a wood engraver with fine lines and amazing detail in a riveting story of dramatic intrigue and mystery. Like the brilliant woodcut novels by Lynd Ward and Frans Masereel, you will return to Bousfield's stunning novel without words again and again, and discover further gems of surprise and wonder. This visual treasure is storytelling and printmaking at its best!" -  
David A. Berona, author of Wordless Books: The Original Graphic Novels.

"It seems appropriate that Bousfield is revisiting a novel type that was born with Lynd Ward’s groundbreaking Gods’ Man, published the very week of the Great Crash of 1929. In 2010’s economy, Bousfield seems to be competing not only with Ward but with Ward’s Great Depression circumstances—a tall task for a first book, but Bousfield holds his own. In addition to its simple narrative (fairly common to the genre), Walking Shadows boasts exceptional standalone prints; Bousfield, an engraver, is able to produce finer lines and more fully rendered work than a woodcutter might. (The difference involves how the wood blocks the artist employs were cut—with or across the grain.) There are many memorable images in Walking Shadows, including those of the mother mopping floors alone at Pack It & Wrap It. In one she’s moving a pail with her foot, in a gesture of futility and exhaustion; in another she seems to be washing away the shadows. There are also excellent exterior depictions throughout—including the father’s death scene and a single overhead shot of the housing complex where the family lives—and they are among the most striking images in the novel. Altogether, these pages are worth reading, then putting aside and revisiting, if only to admire Bousfield’s engraved prints for the fine one-off pieces of art that they are." -
Reviewed By Kevin Nolan (To read the full review visit: The Rumpus)

To purchase a copy visit Amazon.co.uk , Amazon.com , or you can order a copy from any good bookshop: ISBN-13:978-1-933149-29-5

New venues for touring exhibitions

75th Annual Exhibition - The Society Of Wood Engravers

24 November 2012 – 20 January 2013

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, BA2 4AT

Private View 23rd November 2012 6.00pm – 8.00pm  
For full details of the tour visit The Society of Wood Engravers website www.woodengravers.co.uk

8th British International Mini Print Exhibition, Printmakers Council

24 November 2012 - 20 January 2013

Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

For full details of the tour visit The Printmakers Council website www.printmakerscouncil.com

Me whippets

Much of my time is spent walking my dogs .. when I'm not working, producing my woodcuts and engravings or printing you'll find me out and about. Consequently, many of my prints contain images of our dogs as they always seem to get in to the drawing in one way or another!

Here's a recent engraving Me Whippets I printed recently:

Me Whippets 
Engraved limited edition print by Neil Bousfield
Image size(mm): 75w x 95h

Four wood blocks

I was pleased to receive in the post 4 small blank maple blocks to try out, sent by my friend, Canadian wood engraver, book artist, author, illustrator and educator George Walker . To have the opportunity to use wood instead of my usual plastic, vinyl or lino was a real treat and it was some time before I dared use these beautiful blocks! However, curiosity got the better of me and I completed 4 drawn designs, cut and printed the blocks. Here they are:

Clair & Peach  Image size (mm): 53 w x 77 h

  Peachy Boy  Image size (mm): 70 w x 61 h

Along the sea wall  Image size (mm): 77 w x 53 h

Fishing  Image size (mm): 53 w x 77 h

A small book of cameras

To break up the long haul of my book "Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures", I have set about on a small(er), shorter project - "Click Click: A Small Book of Cameras" a book containing 30 of my engraved images of individual cameras with a further 5 engraved images to make up the design for the end papers. Each block measures 60(mm)w x 60(mm)h. Progress is going well and I have engraved 7 blocks so far ..

Feet of Clay - Page Illustration

I was pleased to be commissioned by Joe McCann in 2011 to provide an illustration for the title page of a beautifully bound, limited edition publication of Feet of Clay by poet Paul Muldoon.. 

(Images: Black Cat Bindery)

Limited edition of FEET OF CLAY by Paul Muldoon
Designed and printed by John Grice, Evergreen Press, Gloucestershire, in 16pt Lutetia on Magnani paper, bound by Black Cat Bindery, Somerset
Published by Four Candles Press, Oxford
Engraving by Neil Bousfield

(Images: Black Cat Bindery)

Description by Black Cat Bindery: "Bound by Black Cat Bindery, Somerset in yellow ochre Morocco goatskin spine with black sides. Black leather label cut at an angle and gold title running down the spine. The leather spine has also been cut at an angle to echo Neil Bousfields engraving."

Engraving by Neil Bousfield
Image size (mm) 95w x 115h

Further details from:

Joe McCann

Four Candles Press

76 Oliver Road

Oxford

OX4 2JJ

Tel: (07971) 040507

email: joe@maggs.com

Touring exhibitions move to next venue

The Society Of Wood Engravers - 75th Annual Exhibition

24 November 2012 – 20 January 2013

Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, BA2 4AT

Private View 23rd November 2012 6.00pm – 8.00pm  
For full details of the tour visit The Society of Wood Engravers website www.woodengravers.co.uk

8th British International Mini Print Exhibition, Printmakers Council

20 October - 18 November 2012

Ropewalk Gallery, Barton on Humber

For full details of the tour visit The Printmakers Council website www.printmakerscouncil.com

Book project in progress

Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures

"Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures" (the working title) is being engraved on plastic blocks about 9 ½ x 6”. It follows its protagonist from the age of 7 in the late 1940s to his death around the present day. It is all story-boarded out but not drawn up in pages yet. There will be between 1 and 4 images (usually 2) on each block, allowing variety of pace. Neil expects to engrave around 400 blocks with 750 images on them. He does not know how long it will take. He has to try to make a living meanwhile. Amazingly, he finds time to make other prints as well. Alfred Brown explores the wider ideas of values and what we consider to be a useful and productive life. It is an attempt to understand what we are all doing, running around. There are no answers provided, just description. Neil himself, having ‘run around’ the whole gamut of modern technologies, has realised that a passionate concern with narrative lies at the heart of what he wants to do and that the engraver’s marks are the best means of doing it." Excerpt written by Simon Brett for the exhibition: Bewick’s Legacy: Six Contemporary British Wood Engravers
  

Started in 2008,  "Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures" is a novel without words based on the fictional life of Alfred Brown. The story unfolds through hundreds of engraved images from childhood to adulthood, old age and death scene. Due to the large scale of this work, I aim to produce and publish this book in three volumes.  A selection of the engravings I have completed so far ...

Example pages from the book "Alfred Brown: A Life in Pictures"
Engraved prints by Neil Bousfield
Image size(mm) 150w x 240h