Maybe it's the fumes from the ink, it could be that the big C.C. has something to do with it, or perhaps it's just that all concerned are wonderfully generous people, but whatever the reason, news has reached me that Print Club London, based over in hip and happening E8, have reduced the price of becoming a member of their club.
The cost has dropped from ninety quid to a very reasonable £65 a month, with the only (slight) catch being that this price applies to those booking for more than just one month (or frequent members as they put it). This seems like a good deal to me though, especially if you have already been considering giving screen printing a crack.
I completed one of the Print Club's workshops a few months back and thought the place was great. Good facilities, friendly people working and printing there and a feeling that you are in the company of some genuine artistic talent, which feels quite inspiring. So my advice would be, if you've got a bit of cash on the hip and you've fancied giving screen printing a go, sign-up now before they put the prices back up.
Last night I made it down to Print Club's Secret Blisters event. The concept; 35 artists designs had been selected and printed in limited edition runs of 35 and were on sale for £35. The secret part of the shows name comes from the artists name not being put with their print, so that people are buying on the merit of the design, rather than an artists reputation.
It was held in the MC Motors space just down the alley from Print Club's studio, which was aesthetically the perfect space for the show and big enough to hold the hundreds of people that had turned up.
Of the 35 posters on show there were some really great designs, which made it pretty hard to pick one to buy (I would like to have got more, but hey, there's a recession don't you know). In the end we decided on number 30, a really cool print of a piano with Nina Simone lyrics hand drawn on to it (see picture above). Though, due to the secret nature of this years Blister event, I'm not sure who printed it yet.*
It was a great night, make it down to Print Club's next show and maybe even give it a shot at getting your design in to 2010's blisters exhibition.
*Just found out that the artist responsible for the fine print I purchased was in fact Anthony Peters. (The signature on the poster was a tad hard to make out in case you're wondering why it took me so long)!
Saturday saw me finally take the plunge and get down to the Print Club in Dalston. Since seeing one of their posters up in Rough Trade early last year I've wanted to go there and get my hands inky and I'm really glad I finally made it.
Print Club offer a crash course in screen printing for anyone who is interested in giving it a go. In one day they will take you through the whole process - from your hand scribbled illustration to preparing your screen through to printing your design.
It was a really fun day. I had collaborated with my beloved on an illustration and to see it go from an idea in our heads to printing multiple copies of it was an extremely rewarding experience, helped by the friendly instructors and the other students being pretty cool too.
You can see the finished print, which is titled 'The Pursuit Of Hirsute', above.
This splendid poster was designed and printed by Revenge Is Sweet, a Franco-Australian duo who live and work in London.
I stumbled across it while perusing the site of London screen printing facility Print Club, a print shop that I would very much like to get my hands dirty at.
The 'Kill Me Softly' series numbers three in total, and I've chosen number three as my favourite, but have a look at one and two and make up your own mind.
All three posters are available to buy from the Print Club shop. There is also some other magnificent work on the Revenge Is Sweet site, none more so than the 'Love & Hate' poster.
