we are putting on our own show in glasgow

business card

I was going for the "crazy polymath" angle. This is the first time I've used my Kelsey table-top press. I got the plate cut at Centurion Graphics (who I found out about from Steve Brett). I know it's kind of cheating to set it digitally and then cut it to a plate but it would have cost a lot more in time and money to buy the type. I'm pretty happy with this solution and it cost me about £20 to make 100 business cards (and the next 100 will only cost £3.50 now that I have the plate). Another great thing about cutting stuff onto plates like this is that next time I need a new card design, I can try something hand-rendered!

live at cafe kino

I finished the artwork for this last week. It's been over a year since we made these recordings and we're finally ready to release them. It'll become available on the Polite Records page in the next couple of weeks. 

By the way, Tiger & Panda are playing in London with Goat on Saturday the 14th of December, where we'll be selling this new CD and a load of others. The show is hosted by Burn The Jukebox and will be at the Sebright Arms. This place claims to have an over 18s policy so if you're under 18 and want to go, let us know and we'll figure out how to work it!

a new lino project

Proofs from a couple of new panels. I'm having a go at a slightly longer story this time. I don't know when it will be done...

stuff from my old sketchbooks #4

encyclopedia: a kind of press release

So it's finished. I'm pretty happy with it. It's more than a year's work.

I printed the inners at Hanway Print and silk-screen printed and bound the rest at home. The foil blocking on the cover was done at the Wyvern Bindery. I was looking into doing it myself but in the end the cost to set up would have been the same and I definitely wouldn't have done such a good job. I was also keen to give Wyvern Bindery some custom after all the friendly help I've had there in the past. They charge a setting fee of £25 for the first line of text and £5 for each additional line. Then it's about £5 per unit for every copy made after that. I think this is justifiable for an artist book.

Right now, I'm still figuring out how to present it. Doing readings is kind of limiting as this book kind of needs to be handled and leafed through to work as an artwork. My current plan is to hold some kind of event at Cafe Kino some time later this year.

I'm also thinking about offering a bespoke binding service for those who want their own personal copies. This makes more sense than mass producing and I don't want to charge for the content. Just the binding.

Speaking of which, I'm providing .PDF copies of this document free of charge to those who would like to read it (there will be some kind of 'this belongs to hrjireland' watermark on the pages) so if you'd like a copy, contact me somehow...

encyclopedia: book belt

A  non-letterpress version of the blurb/book belt. I will be trying to set a letterpress version in the future but I've spent enough money for one day...

encyclopedia: foil blocked

Just a peek for now. And yes, in case you've been wondering, the spelling is deliberate.

printing weekend

Spending this weekend taking a break from running around and getting on with some print stuff. These are getting close to the final stages of two big-ish projects and it takes me ages to get up the courage to make each new mark. Luckily, I've got all weekend.

copper spires a5

Finally finished the A5 version of my copper spires sketchbooks and uploaded them to my folksy and etsy shops.

the print was inkier this time, but I think the addition of the nice turquoise book cloth keeps everything together.

So that's the second 'to-do' project of the year finished. I'm keen to get through all of these upcoming projects by the end of May, as that is when this year really speeds up...

corners: a zine about maths and art

Finally finished the first personal project of the year. It's a zine and print package about a pretend statistical analysis I did to kill some time in 2010. It's taken me a couple of years to get round to collecting all the raw material I collected into this 32 page zine. I limited the run to 20 and I tried to make it as nice as possible. I'm pleased with it. In some ways it's the most complex personal project I've made in the real world...

Oh year, and you can buy it from my folksy shop, and maybe some real shops in the coming months.

prints in progress

I made prints from earlier sketches. Both of these are from music projects that I'll hopefully be finishing simultaneously. 

The year got off to a hectic start, but I'm slowly finishing a whole lot of projects. Our flat is full of brown parcels of materials. It's very exciting.

kino residency: prints and drawings

My last Cafe Kino event was in November and I hung some prints and drawings around the gallery and invited some friends to play some music and records down in the basement. It was a fun year and this work is still hanging in Kino for the foreseeable future, so stop by and have a look if you are in town.