SPS members Anna Harley, Martine Baldwin and Liz Bird all have work in Littoral. More information on the Create centre here.

As part of her MA Print practice at UWE, Kerry Day invited artists to take part in The Micro Art Project. 41 Artists from UWE, Spike Print Studio and invited guests,  produced artworks in print on a paper size no larger than 10cm x 10cm.  The prints encompass a broad range of techniques  including 3D and collage. The project was supported by Spike Print Studio and was showcased at Spike Island Open Studios in May 2010. The exhibition was a great success and Spike Print Studio has been invited to exhibit at  the Berkeley Square Hotel from 21 July to 30 September.  Unframed prints will be available at the reception.

Berekeley Square Hotel 15 Berkeley Square, Bristol BS8 1HB  0117 925 4000

The exhibition will then go to the Tourist Information Centre, Watershed until Christmas.

If you missed this exhibition, view the list of artists who took part below.

Centrespace

6 Leonard Lane, Bristol BS1 1AE
Saturday 10 July – Thursday 15 July 2010
11am – 5pm (9-14 July) 11am-2pm (15 July)

Spike Print Studio presents a curated exhibition based on surface patterns. Our world is full of shapes which combine to form repeat patterns, ranging from simple structures to perceptual struggles. Spike Print Studio shows that through drawing and use of colour or imagery, pattern can be innovative and interpretive. This exhibition reveals how individual styles can use commercial or craft based approaches to produce pattern as fine art. Artists exhibiting are:

Martine Baldwin

Katy Chard

Paulo Da Silviera

Shella Fairbrother

Anna Harley

Tina Hill

Christine Howes

Heather Leeson

Gail Mason

Chitra Merchant

Jenny Millbank

Jane Ormes

Rose Pearson

Zoe Seddon

Ivana Svabic Cannon

Jacqui Watkins

Mary Rouncefield

Theo Wood

There is also a good selection of unframed original prints for sale including works by Kerry Day, Lea Lloyd, Francine Ismay, Anna Marrow and Frankie Partridge.

Saturday 20 March 11am – 5pm

Spike Print Studio at E Shed
From Saturday 16 January we are exhibiting at the new Bristol Tourist Information Centre, E Shed (next to the Watershed). It is open 7 days a week from 10am-5pm.We are the first artist group to exhibit at its new venture providing us with the opportunity to exhibit quality original prints at very affordable prices.

From Saturday 12 September until Sunday 20 September Bristol had a rare chance to see a wide range of contemporary prints. Artists included Ged Quinn, Mariele Neudecker, Peter Forster, Martin Boyce, Anya Gallacio and Christiane Baumgartner together with work from 12 Uk Open Access Print Studios. The exhibition was a great success and the private view was a crush – see the film by Joe Magee on this website.

Emma Stibbon will give an illustrated talk on Friday 31st July from 2 -4 pm.

Call the studio on 0117 929 0135 to book your place, there is a small charge of just £2.50 per person.

Emma will present her prints and woodblocks. The print shown here has just received the ‘friends of The Laing Art Gallery purchase prize’ as part of the Northern Print Biennale, currently on in Newcastle.

Emma’s large dramatic woodcuts make her one of the most interesting of the current British printmakers.

Spike Print Studio has taken over one floor at the Berkeley Square Hotel in Bristol. Artists currently on show include Chitra Parvathy Merchant, Rachel Bright, Ann Gover, Mary Rouncefield, Jane Ormes and Lee Kellgren. Our work is proving popular with the hotel guests and the prints  are  selling on a regular basis. This is part of an ongoing relationship  with Berkeley Square Hotel who, as Bristol’s first Art Hotel, want to offer visitors a rich experience through visual surprises and unique artistic concepts. The current exhibition  run for 3 months with the next one due in June.  Details of the opening will be posted nearer the date.

SPIKE OPEN STUDIOS 1 – 4 May 2009

Spike Island opened its doors to the public again this bank holiday and had a record number of visitors passing through. Whilst the public Galleries are open all year round, Open Studios is the only time during the year when visitors can literally get behind the scenes and explore at their own pace. The public was able to meet the artists based here, see their work and  participate in the programme of events and activities that took place over the weekend. Spike Print Studio exhibited members’ recent work and had a very busy and successful weekend.  Original prints are a fantastic way of collecting and investing in art and we were pleased to see how well our work was received.

IMPACT 6 NEWS

Please visit the Impact page for a full and regular update.  Impact 6 arrives in Bristol in September and Spike Print Studio is play a major part in this. We are hosting a UK Open Access Print Studio exhibition as well as other major activities including  Hidden Impact and Continuous Print.  We will be exhibiting the very best in Contemporary Print and are very pleased to announce that Alan Cristea Gallery is curating an exhibition with us.

In 2009, IMPACT 6 celebrates 10 years since the International inter-disciplinary print conference began in Bristol in 1999. Since then it has travelled the world – Finland, South Africa, Germany, Poland and Estonia and much has changed in the fine print world.Hosted by the Centre for Fine Print Research at UWE, Bristol, the IMPACT 6 conference aims to focus on the international diversity of the discipline, from its roots in industrial communication through traditional, fine art based processes, to the current cutting edge technology and theoretical debates.You can find more information regarding the conference www.impact.uwe.ac.uk

IMPRESS

Members Gail Mason, Chitra Parvathy Merchant, Ros Ford and Frea Buckler  took part in IMPRESS  Printmaking Festival, which was  held in the Stroud area during March. This ambitious print event was very successful in bringing together established and emerging artists.  Highlights included   demonstrations and workshops, open to the public, led by masters in their field such as  celebrated etcher, Norman Ackroyd, who set up a ‘field studio’on Stratford Park bandstand. A Symposium, lectures and guided tours of exhibitions all provided a stimulating and informative background to the Festival and emphasized the long and varied traditions of printmaking in the UK and Ireland and the many innovative contemporary techniques.

Spike Print Studio invites you to deck your walls with original prints so come and visit our exhibition which will run until Christmas.

This is a great opportunity to purchase affordable, original works of art which would not only make consider presents but can be seen as an investment. One way to avoid the credit crunch!

Image by Robert Manners ‘Beacon’
Sadly, the launch has been postponed, until a later date can be found. The event will then provide the opportunity to meet some of the artists at Spike Print Studio, and to learn more about collecting prints.

Speaking about the launch, Michael Bothamley said: “Our partnership with Spike Print Studio strengthens our support for the region’s arts community and enables our employees to get involved in local culture.

Our office building has a large glazed frontage, known as the Beachcroft Space, which we have used to showcase the work of local artists. The Corporate Friends Scheme allows us to build on this initiative and we hope that our employees will take the opportunity to learn more about the aims and resources of Spike Print Studio.’

Spike Print Studio Director Gill Nicol added:
‘In the current climate, it is a struggle in many ways for small arts organisations to move forward in their ambitions, and to create new opportunities for artists, so we are delighted to begin this relationship with Beachcroft. We are hoping that other businesses will join our Corporate Friends scheme, set up to provide a range of benefits that are relevant and meaningful to each organisation and for an annual fee of £500 we offer the opportunity for staff to learn about contemporary art and collecting prints, a discount on members prints and exclusive previews of our exhibitions. Such support will enable us to realise our vision, of promoting creative excellence and creative learning side-by-side.’

Spike Print Studio is a creative space for over 150 artists to make unique and original prints and is situated at Spike Island, the international contemporary artspace in Bristol.
It is an independent and not-for-profit organisation; its mission is to provide exceptional resources, inspiration and training to advance opportunities for the understanding and appreciation of printmaking.

Thirty years after Peter Reddick founded it as a facility for print students with nowhere else to go, Spike Print Studio is looking ahead with confidence and ambition. With currently 160 members, it is the largest open access Print Studio in the South West and has recently worked with a number of international artists publishing innovative limited edition contemporary prints. These prints are very suitable for fledgling collectors and make good investments. Recent sales have been to the Government Art Collection and the Centre for Sustainable Energy.

Spike Print Studio organises exhibitions for its members throughout the year, and runs a wide range of courses, workshops and masterclasses. It is a small organisation in terms of staffing but with big ambitions, and is highly regarded as part of the cultural fabric of Bristol. A recent collaboration has been with Watershed Media Centre to create a Printed in Bristol art market along the Harbourside, supporting Watershed’s aims to support creative industries in the city.

For more information please email info@spikeprintstudio.org or ring 0117 9290135