MY VISIT TO GUANLAN
30 November 2009

In the middle of October I travelled to the International Artists’ Centre at Guanlan to spend four weeks there. The Original Print Base, which is how the Chinese refer to it, is not more than 35 miles west of the border with Hong Kong and close to the huge city of Shenzhen, which is itself a centre for commercial printing and graphic design.

I had some preconceptions of Guanlan, gained from email exchanges with previous visitors there. The first surprise was the size of the campus. It includes ancient and modern buildings, two lakes and a large area for market gardening, highly productive of all kinds of vegetables. Artists were housed in a traditional 200 year old village, but the workshop – one very large almost factory-like new building – was divided into zones for the different print processes, woodcuts, lithography, screen printing and etching.

It took me about a week to adjust my plans to the circumstances but in the remaining time I was able to make my largest etching plus some woodcuts and collagraphs. Technical assistance, particularly with printing the large work, was excellent. My handmade paper samples which I had taken with me aroused interest there as did my pattern printing with pencil erasers. I was disappointed that they held only one type of Chinese-made paper. I was expecting to find a wide range, such as I have seen in Beijing and elsewhere.

I found stimulation from the locality, the walls of the old buildings and my curiosity about the written and spoken languages, mainly Cantonese and Mandarin. I made an unforgettable weekend trip to Guanlan and Yangzhuo. This is a centre for Chinese tourism as well as visitors from abroad, because of the fantastic landscape. High mountains - steep and narrow - lots of them rising out of a flat landscape. A landscape of fantasy! This will resonate with me for along time.

CELEBRATING PAPER
2nd February 2010

Almost immediately on my return I had to pick up again the task of organising the exhibition CELEBRATING PAPER for the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol. The exhibition includes the work of 38 artists, many from Bristol and the south west, and a smaller number from elsewhere in Britain and abroad. As the name indicates all the work uses paper as an active part of the creative process. As well as handmade paper there is cut paper, sculpture, decorated paper, paper folding in the origami tradition and paper made from military uniforms.

I was uncertain about the space required for all the items selected but I am relieved and delighted that it has produced an exhibition that is not cluttered and allows the beauty of the galleries to be appreciated. This in itself enhances the exhibition. This may be the last exhibition I will organise for the RWA. It has required a lot of concentration and time but has provided me with a wonderful opportunity to display very large work of my own in a grand setting. Among the many pleasing comments are:

In all the years I have been coming to the RWA I have never seen these galleries looking more elegant”, Francis Greenacre, former Curator of Fine Art at the Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery
A quite remarkable exhibition and one of the best I have seen at the RWA. So much of this work bursts with the creative energy of paper that in some examples is profound!”. Andrew Stonyer RWA. Sculptor
“One of the very best in both content and display - and great value”George Ferguson, Architect, Former President RIBA

“A stunning exhibition in a marvellous space. The best show featuring paper I have seen” Maureen Richardson. Papermaker and one of the founder members of the International Association of Paper Makers and Artists ((IAPMA)