LONDON CRAFT WEEK: PAPER 9 - 15 MAY 2022

At a time when wallpaper making and paper marbling have been listed as endangered crafts by the Heritage Crafts Association, we follow a paper trail round London Craft Week to discover innovative artisans rejuvenating the age-old crafts of block printing, marbling, book binding, paper making and calligraphy.

Block Printing at Anthropologie, King's Road
Inspired by the colours of Rajasthan and the Bloomsbury Group’s playfully hand-painted interiors at Charleston, the modern British textile-maker, Molly Mahon, has breathed new life into block printing. ‘There is something special about block printing that has stood the test of time. I never tire of lifting the block and seeing the impression that has been left and the “perfect imperfection” of it. The skill master block printers have is remarkable and the accuracy is mesmerising. To me it brings the fabric alive’. If you share Mahon’s fascination for the subject, go to see an exhibition of her bright, bold, simply patterned fabrics, wallpapers and homewares at Anthropologie’s King’s Road gallery where she is Artist in Residence. To hear more about the art and history of block printing and how it’s used in the 21st century join Mahon on Thursday 12 May in conversation with journalist Cosmo Brockway, Penny Oliver co-founder of fashion retailer East, and British fashion designer Lucinda Chambers. CLICK HERE for further details and to book your ticket.


Image: Molly Mahon, the modern block printer, will be in conversation on Thursday 12 May at Anthropologie on the King’s Road, Chelsea.

Marbling
Rupert Bevan’s expertise in bespoke interiors has given him a rich understanding of materials and finishes which he has now applied to his new passion for marbling onto paper. His nostalgic but funky patterned marbled wallpapers come in bold colour combinations: spirals of red and aquamarine, and dun and ochre rosettes. If you feel intrigued to find out more, join Bevan for a demonstration at the company’s Notting Hill showroom on Thursday 12 May, 10:30 - 15:30 BST.

Image: Rupert Bevan, Wallpaper Landscape.

Cockpit Arts, Secrets of the Studio: Book Binding
British bookbinding techniques are being reworked into beautiful editions by a burgeoning group of esteemed book binders. A small group are sharing their expertise in a series of workshops at Cockpit Arts, Bloomsbury studios on Saturday 14 May. Midori Kunikata-Cockram will be teaching how to make Concertina Bindings (10:30 - 13:00 BST). Kaori Maki will help you make a slip cover (14:30 - 17:00 BST) and Rachel Ward-Sale is running two workshops making a Hard Cover Sketchbook (10:30 - 13:00 BST) and an afternoon workshop teaching how to make a soft leather covered journal (14:30 - 17:00 BST).

Artefact: Meet the Maker Programme at Chelsea Harbour
As part of the week-long Meet the Maker programme book binder, Hanbury Press founder and Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust (QEST) Benefact Trust Scholar, Kate Rochester, will be demonstrating how to hand-sew book sections and head and tail bands on Sunday 15 May between 11:00 – 16:00 BST. An example of Rochester’s work, The Fables of Jean De la Fontaine, a quarter binding in black leather and vellum and will be exhibited at Artefact. The covers are hand-painted under and over the vellum with black ink and gold leaf. The spine was hand tooled in gold. End papers were also hand painted and hand tooled. The design is a play on the fable of The Fox and the Crow. CLICK HERE for more details.


Image: Kate Rochester, The Fables of Jean De la Fontaine. 

Quills and Calligraphy Masterclass at the British Library
Writing with a quill on vellum (calfskin) is a craft that has been practised by scribes for centuries. The British Library has invited world-renowned professional calligrapher and illuminator, Patricia Lovett MBE to teach a workshop where you can learn how to cut a quill from a swan’s wing feather, to lettering Gothic Black script on a piece of vellum. The course will be held on Sunday 15 May, 10:00 - 17:00 BST, and is open to beginners and those with experience of calligraphy. To book your place on the Quills and Calligraphy Masterclass CLICK HERE.

Lino Block Printing Pop-up Studio and Workshops: Old Spitalfields Market
Artist and printmaker, Nicholas Hughes, has developed an enthusiasm for Lino Block printing which he is hoping to infect us with at his pop-up studio and shop in Old Spitalfields Market where he is running workshops and selling his hand-block printed wallpaper, prints and lampshades. Hughes’s designs are defined by their quality of line and a celebration of illustration and pattern. He chooses his papers carefully using 20gsm paper for his printmaking and hemp for his lampshades which he says are nicely textural and take the inks well. ‘Creating bespoke wallpapers is a labour-intensive process but I think when people get involved with the commissioning process hopefully they can live with it for longer’. Recent commissions include a large-scale hand-printed mural, ink drawings, hand blocked designs and patterned wallpapers. His main incentive for his block printing workshops is to introduce new people to the craft of hand block printing. To book your place on one of the daily 90 minute ‘Celebrating the Splodge’ Lino Block Print Workshops CLICK HERE.


Image: Nicholas Hughes Lino Block printing.

Paper Demonstrations and Printmaking Workshops at the City & Guilds London Art School
For the 2022 edition of London Craft Week, the Art School will be hosting two days’ of activities exploring the properties, uses and conservation of paper, to mark the launch of our 2022-23 research programme, Material Matters: Paper. 

Throughout the two-day event, Tutors, students and Fellows will be running paper-related demonstrations and showcasing a series of specialist paper conservation and fine art techniques, taught on their renowned degree courses. 

Learn the traditional process of ‘blind printing’ with the head of printmaking, Jason Hicklin, who is leading a series of short, hands-on workshops on Saturday 14 May. Blind printing is the historic intaglio printing process without the ink, so visitors leave the Art School’s historic Print Room with beautiful debossed artwork but no inky fingers! The one-hour workshops are £5 (+ booking fee) per person and booking is essential.

The printmaking workshops are now fully booked. Check their booking page again as places may become available, or register on the waiting list.

Check our blog again tomorrow for more updates on the London Craft Week.