Inky Cuttlefish

A date for your diary! I am going to be opening my studio along with a few of the other studio artists over the first weekend of December. I will have my very special home-made mulled wine and mince pies to get into the festive vibe and to hopefully celebrate with friends who fancy a catch-up. I will have prints I am selling very affordably as I need to make space for new work...and my kids are selling hand-printed Christmas cards in the hope of making some pocket money! I really hope you can make it!

My work is on display in BORROWED LIGHT FLORALS in St James St, Walthamstow.

It's the perfect setting for my wildflower and pollinator prints. There are also unframed prints, cards and postcards for sale.

INTRODUCTION TO PRINTMAKING INTRODUCTION TO PRINTMAKING - the perfect health and wellbeing retreat - immerse yourself in printmaking while surrounded by nature.

EVENING TASTER PRINTMAKING WORKSHOPS - creative fun exploring printmaking techniques in a real life studio run over four evenings.

FOUR TUESDAY EVENING SESSIONS
PRICE: £120 (members) or £180 (non-members)
Tuesday 26 April 7-10pm
Tuesday 3 May 7-10pm
Tuesday 10 May 7-10pm
Tuesday 17 May 7-10pm

A wonderful opportunity to find out more about the traditional art of printmaking in a real-life studio environment. Run by Anna Alcock BA Fine Art (Hons), MA Printmaking over four evenings, the sessions will cover intaglio, screenprinting and relief printing.
You will get to take your original hand printed artwork home with you at the end of the sessions.
Becoming a member of Inky Cuttlefish Studios is easy and only costs £60/year. Membership includes your first five hours of studio use, and then you will get to book and use the open access facilities at reduced rates. You can buy membership through eventbrite.
There are a range of benefits - please see our website for more information.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/evening-printmaking-taster-workshops-tickets-253918927347?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

Spring Awakening: a Celebration of the Wildflowers of Walthamstow Wetlands by Artist and Printmaker Anna Alcock
- 2 March to 28 April

Artist and printmaker Anna Alcock's work is a celebration of the natural landscape, the flora and fauna, that can be found in one of the busiest cities in the world. Anna's studio - Inky Cuttlefish - is just a short walk away from Walthamstow Wetlands which is the inspiration for her latest work of fine art prints and one off unique pieces showing the wildflowers of the wetlands together with some of its pollinators and birds.

Walthamstow Wetlands is Europe's largest urban wetlands and a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Over 50 varieties of wildflowers have been recorded there and so it is fitting to be hosting Anna' s latest exhibition "Spring Awakening": from Wednesday 2 March until 28 April in the locally-listed Engine House.

Anna's exhibition invites us to treasure those special moments in the nature that can be found in our cities. This work continues her artistic journey to learn more about how we can protect our natural world for future generations and to raise awareness of the decline in pollinators, caused primarily by loss of habitat, intensive farming techniques and the large scale use of pesticides and herbicides.

Anna says: "I hope that by enjoying the colours and varieties of the wildflowers of the wetlands it might serve as a reminder and wake up call to us all of just how important it is for us to protect the natural world which surrounds us. This can be through actions large or small. We might simply set aside a tiny wild space in our own city gardens or window boxes to encourage bees and other pollinators. As a regular visitor to Walthamstow Wetlands it inspires my work and is a place I explore with my family, so I am delighted to be given the opportunity to exhibit there".

Regular visitors to Walthamstow Wetlands may already be familiar with Anna's work. Her specially commissioned "Wetlands Tale" linocut can be seen in the Coppermill Tower depicting the industrial heritage of the Coppermill stream which runs through the reserve.
Spring Awakening is a free exhibition and is open every day from
Wednesday 2 March until Thursday 28 April.

Exhibition Opening Times
March: 9.30 to 3.30pm
April: 9.30 to 4.30pm
Venue: Walthamstow Wetlands Engine House Mezzanine, 2 Forest Road, London N17 9NH.
Nearest tube/rail: Tottenham Hale or Blackhorse Road
For more information or images contact Anna Alcock [email protected] /07753 686331

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Anna Alcock is an Artist Printmaker working in a wide range of techniques. She has a BA Fine Art (Hons) from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal (First Class Honours), and MA Printmaking from The University of the Arts, London..

Each artwork is individually hand-pulled and printed on 100% cotton paper, at Inky Cuttlefish Studios, Walthamstow, where she has been based since 2007. Many of her fine art prints are either part of variable editions (VE) or one-off unique pieces.

This exhibition explores her journey to learn more about and raise awareness of the decline of pollinators, caused primarily by loss of habitat, intensive farming techniques and largescale use of pesticides and herbicides. Her journey began in 2018 when she was invited to create work in response to this theme and exhibit with four artists at Vestry House Museum in an exhibition organised by Alke Schmidt called ‘Swarm: Artists respond to the pollinator crisis’. Following a series of visits to the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity in the Natural History Museum in 2019, where she sketched pollinators ranging from bumblebees, bees, moths to hoverflies and beetles, she began turning her sketches into works of art. Her work in the Swarm exhibition was a triptych of linocuts.

During Lockdowns in 2020/2021 working from home with a much smaller workspace, Anna began printing smaller intaglio pieces using the sketches she had created in 2019 as the starting point to create her drypoints, etchings and screenprints of ‘Ghosts of a Bee’ series - a dead insect in a petri dish, including 24 Carat goldleaf to convey the delicacy and fragility of our pollinators, and the precious nature of their existence, finished with hints of watercolour to bring them back to life.

Anna's most recent work - and the subject of her latest "Spring Awakening" exhibition has been of the wildflowers found at Walthamstow Wetlands and which also bloom from the cracks in pavements and the wild corners of our city gardens and green spaces.

Walthamstow Wetlands is a fully operational 211 hectare Thames Water reservoir site which is the main source of water supply for 3.5 million people. Walthamstow Wetlands is also an internationally important nature reserve, providing home and shelter to a wide range of wildlife, from rare waterfowl to majestic birds of prey.
In October 2017, Walthamstow Wetlands opened to the wider public for the first time in 150 years. The nature reserve is fully accessible and admission is free of charge.
www.wildlondon.org.uk/walthamstow-wetlands-nature-reserve

Printing Workshop: Sat 18 Dec 10-12pm

Create your own insect tote-bag with guidance from Anna Alcock. £3 per person. Kids welcome. Booking essential.

BOOK HERE:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bee-inspired-bag-printing-workshop-tickets-194003598987?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

This fun kid-friendly activity will introduce printmaking using insect wood blocks. Participants will create their own designs on a tote bag to take home.

We have four 30minute slots.:

10-10.30am

10.30-11am

11am-11.30am

11.30-12pm

Please book onto one of the slots and arrive at your allocated time.
Please be mindful of other participants.
One bag per participant.
Parents welcome, if you would also like to participate or have a bag, please pay for a slot for yourself as well. Please be aware that we want to keep everyone safe and make sure that the space doesn't become crowded.
As the venue is covid-secure, we are very aware of the numbers in the workshop area. We ask that you wear a mask when taking part in the activity.
Under no circumstances should primary aged or toddlers be left unattended.
Please don't be early or late as it will disrupt the flow of the sessions.
We are charging £3 per person to help cover the material costs.
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Anna Alcock: Birds and Bees

An exhibition of delicate intaglio prints inspired by wildflowers, pollinators and birds found in and around Epping Forest.

Date of Exhibition: Tues 19 Oct 2021 - Sun 9 Jan 2022

Exhibition Opening Times: Tuesday-Sunday 10am-4pm & Bank Holiday Mondays

Meet the Artist: 10am-2pm on the following dates where unframed prints and smaller items will be on sale:

Sun 24 Oct 10-2pm Sun 31 Oct 10-2pm

Sun 7 Nov 10-2pm Sun 21 Nov 10-2pm

Sun 28 Nov 10-2pm Sun 5 Dec 10-2pm

Sun 19 Dec 10-2pm

Printing Workshop: Sat 18 Dec 10-12pm

Create your own insect printed tote-bag with guidance from Anna Alcock. £3 per person. Kids welcome. Booking essential.

About the Artist

Anna Alcock is an Artist Printmaker working in a wide range of techniques. She has a BA Fine Art (Hons) from University of Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa (First Class Honours), and MA Printmaking from The University of the Arts, London.

This exhibition explores her journey to learn more about and raise awareness of the decline of pollinators, caused primarily by loss of habitat, intensive farming techniques and largescale use of pesticides and herbicides. Her journey began in 2018 when she was invited to create work in response to this theme and exhibit with four artists at Vestry House Museum in an exhibition organised by Alke Schmidt called ‘Swarm: Artists respond to the pollinator crisis’. Following a series of visits to the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity in the Natural History Museum in 2019, where she sketched pollinators ranging from bumblebees, bees, moths to hoverflies and beetles, she began turning her sketches into works of art. Her work in the Swarm exhibition was a triptych of linocuts. During Lockdowns in 2020/2021 working at home with a much smaller workspace, she began printing smaller intaglio pieces using the sketches she had created in 2019 as the starting point to create her drypoints, etchings and screenprints of ‘Ghosts of a Bee’ series - they show a dead insect in a petri dish, including 24 Carat goldleaf to convey the delicacy and fragility of our pollinators, and the precious nature of their existence, finished with hints of watercolour to bring them back to life.

Regularly visiting Epping Forest with her family, this journey has extended into looking at local birds and raising awareness of the importance of wildflowers.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/bee-inspired-bag-printing-workshop-tickets-194003598987?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY!
Our annual Winter Warmer
Sat and Sun 11-12 Dec
10am-4pm

Mulled wine and mince pies will be served!

We will have Christmas cards made by our kids's groups and a 'Bargain Table' of prints - £20 or less.

Our youth group have successfully been shortlisted for the 2021 Creative Lives Award.

This award shines spotlight on the resilience and creativity during the pandemic. Shifting to an online platform meant that our youth group had to adapt to new ways of being creative.

Our fortnightly Zoom call sessions provided an opportunity for the kids to keep in contact with each other whilst creating beautiful art pieces that were later displayed in our Spring Splash event in May.

Now Ratpack is calling for your support! Being shortlisted is only halfway to the final destination.

The kids are determined to win the full award and to do so we need your vote before the 31st of January 2022. Here are just a
few testimonials as to why the kids think you should vote:

Isabella (16): I enjoy being in a safe space with
my friends where I can take time to do
enjoyable relaxing activities. It’s really chill
place with gardening and also food. I look
forward to attending every session.

Joshua (12): I like that anyone can join, you get
a free meal, you get to do fun projects like
making the pond and decorating the garden
and building stuff like the trellis. That is why I
like Ratpack.

Arda (11): A great opportunity to learn new
skills and have fun while doing it with others. I
particularly enjoy the activities that include
creating new things for ratpack especially
when its with friends. Even during lockdown,
the found a way to keep us entertained with
fun quizzes. We have done DT projects,
painting, and activities to do with making a
trellis and helping out with the plants.

Tahir (16): The Gnome house is a warm,
friendly staff and supportive place to be. I really
enjoy doing different activities each week. It
has been a lifeline for me! I looked forward to
coming every week it’s something to get me
out and about meeting people and learning
new skills.

Aminta(17): I like Ratpack because it is really
creative and I can learn new things there. Also
meeting friends and having laughs.

Voting is now open for the People’s Choice Award. Members of the public can visit www.creative-lives.org/2021-shortlist to read about the shortlisted projects and choose their favourite between now and 31 January 2022. Winners will be announced at the Creative Lives Awards ceremony in Coventry in early March 2022, as part of the city’s UK City of Culture celebrations. Winners will receive an award, framed certificate, cash prize and free access to all of Creative Lives’ future ‘Creative Learning’ online training sessions

2022 PRINTMAKING WORKSHOPS

EVENING TASTER PRINTMAKING WORKSHOPS - creative fun exploring printmaking techniques in a real life studio run over four evenings.

FOUR TUESDAY EVENING SESSIONS
PRICE: £120 (members) or £180 (non-members)
Tuesday 18 January 7-10pm
Tuesday 25 January 7-10pm
Tuesday 1 February 7-10pm
Tuesday 8 February 7-10pm
A wonderful opportunity to find out more about the traditional art of printmaking in a real-life studio environment. Run by Anna Alcock BA Fine Art (Hons), MA Printmaking over four evenings, the sessions will cover intaglio, screenprinting and relief printing.
You will get to take your original hand printed artwork home with you at the end of the sessions.
Becoming a member of Inky Cuttlefish Studios is easy and only costs £60/year. Membership includes your first five hours of studio use, and then you will get to book and use the open access facilities at reduced rates. You can buy membership through eventbrite.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/inky-cuttlefish-studios-10973354525

Lovely participants creating etchings and collographs in our Printmaking Taster Evening sessions....

We still have places available on our Screenprinting evening workshop...get in touch if you would like to book a place.