William Blake and the art of engraving

 William Blake is one of England's greatest poets and artists, perhaps the greatest poet-artist of all. His vision shines through his verse and his extraordinary engravings. He was an artisan, working from home with his own printing press, producing unique prints, and while doing so, enjoying complete freedom, and bypassing any threat of censorship. I am a member of the William Blake Society which is organising an event: A Blake Printing Workshop with Michael Phillipps. This contemporary artist has spent a good part of his career studying how Blake used copper plates to engrave and print. He would apply an acid-resistant substance to them, and then let the acid eat around the rest, leaving his artwork to 'stand out', ready for him to apply his range of colours, and then put the paper through the rollers, pressing it on to the copper surface. 

Here is a short video in which Michael Phillipps demonstrates something of Blake's extraordinary creativity:

http://www.williamblakeprints.co.uk/

L.S. Lowry: Visions of the City

It is interesting that many artists come from modest backgrounds, the working class or the simplest middle class environments. Lawrence's father was a miner. 

I watched a wonderful film the other night, Le Facteur Cheval. It is about a country postman in the Drôme region of France who one day decided to build 'le Palais Idéal' on a plot of land he bought for the purpose. It took him 33 years. He had no prior knowledge of building, or architecture, only the vision in his mind and an incredible determination. The enormous, elaborate structure still exists and can be visited. Ferdinand Cheval (1836-1924) was finally given official recognition, as it was classified as an historical monument by De Gaulle's culture minister André Malraux in 1969, who described it as "le seul représentant en architecture de l'art naïf (…) Il serait enfantin de ne pas classer quand c'est nous, Français, qui avons la chance de posséder la seule architecture naïve du monde et attendre qu'elle se détruise…".

Thinking about 'naive art', created by artists with no formal education or training, often from very modest backgrounds, one English 'naive' artist came to mind, although he is not always considered ‘naive’ by the specialists : L.S. Lowry (1887-1976)...