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New photographs from Grapevine
A selection of photographs taken by poet Adrian Ward, who also has photographs on show at the Grapevine Gallery.
InPrint poets collaborate with city artists' group
In the midst of all the excitement of the Paston project, all the InPrint poets have also become involved with the Norwich 20 Group of artists, who are organising a collaborative exhibition called Voicing Visions in May.
Our experience in collaborating with InPrint artists has been invaluable – and continues, of course – but it has been a real pleasure to meet and work with people outside the group.
Lisa D'Onofrio is working with bronze sculptor Vanessa Pooley; Caroline Gilfillan with another sculptor, David Chedgey; and Tim Lenton with Sandra Rowney (who has produced paintings of Norwich from a unique perspective) and Ruthli Losh-Atkinson (whose semi-abstract work stems from a visit to the Scandinavian tundra). Former InPrint member Rupert Mallin is also involved, and he is partnered with Linda Chapman: they have collaborated on work centering on Norwich Railway Station.
Voicing Visions, which will involve 80 leading Norwich artists and poets, runs from May 11 to 23. Nearly 100 collaborations will be on display at St Margaret’s Church, St Benedict's Street.
Norwich 20 Group is also publishing a book, featuring photographs of the artists’ work set alongside the poems and a CD of the poems read by the poets. The recorded poetry is also going on MP3 players, to give visitors to the exhibition the option of listening to the poetry as they view the art.
We're all pretty excited about this: the exhibition breaks new ground in many ways and takes the process of collaboration a step further.
Grapevine exceeds expectations
The launch of the new, expanded Paston exhibition at the Grapevine Gallery on Unthank Road, Norwich, today exceeded expectations, with the gallery room well filled for over three hours and huge amounts of praise heaped on exhibitors by all and sundry. This was a reward for the organisers and everyone who took part, but especially for hardworking InPrint artist Annette Rolston, who demonstrated the hand-made book to visitors with assistance from InPrint poet Caroline Gilfillan and artist Martin Laurance. Such was the enthusiasm that for much of the time crowds were gathered round them and the book was invisible to the rest of the room!
Paston Heritage Society chairperson Lucy Care, without whom the whole project would never have happened, was happily well enough to attend with her family and gave a brief introduction to the Paston Letters, just before the poetry reading. All the InPrint poets read: Caroline, who had acted as lead poet for the project, followed by Lisa and former InPrint poet Rupert Mallin, opened proceedings. Then Dot Cobley, Kay Riggs and Adrian Ward, followed by InPrint poet Tim and ending with Rob Knee. All poets were very warmly received by what must have been a crowd of about 50 people.
The exhibition itself featured a large amount of impressive new work, and although the handmade book itself drew most interest and comment, there was also a tremendous amount of enthusiasm for the scope and quality of the work on display. Paston Heritage Society members in medieval garb also drew interest for their calligraphy and paper-making demonstrations. All-in-all, a day to remember.
On the brink at the Grapevine
With the big Grapevine Gallery Paston Exhibition on the verge of opening in Norwich, most of the work fell on the shoulders of InPrint artist Annette Rolston and her neighbour at The Art Factory, artist Martin Laurance, who has been heavily involved in the Paston project from the outset. Poet Adrian Ward also gave valuable assistance. The exhibition features a great deal of new work, both art and poetry.
Watch this space for news and pictures of the private view, and word of a new project involving InPrint poets.
More books sold
Publicity on local radio following the EDP article already mentioned has resulted in the sale of an amazing four more Paston books. Meanwhile Tim has collected the book that was on display in the Millennium Library, and work is in progress for the Grapevine exhibition. Prints and poems not seen before will be on show there.
Firm dates for Grapevine exhibition
More details of the Grapevine Paston exhibition were revealed by Annette at a joint meeting of 15 Paston poets and artists at the Cringleford home of poet / photographer Adrian Ward. We also heard about plans for a big exhibition in summer 2010 at Oxburgh Hall, a National Trust property south-west of Swaffham with strong connections to the Paston family.
The dates of the Grapevine exhibition have now been fixed. It will open with a private view on Sunday, March 29, from noon to 4pm, with poetry readings at 2pm. The exhibition will then run daily until April 18, with an additional evening of special events, including poetry reading, on Tuesday, April 7, from 7pm.
New poems and images from InPrint members and others will be on display at the Grapevine, which is in Unthank Road, Norwich, and is currently housing Coast to Coast, a stunning one-man exhibition by Paston artist Martin Laurance. Well worth a visit!
We heard that four of the hand-made Paston books had been sold out of a limited edition of 15. Valuable publicity was being provided by members of the Paston Heritage Society around North Norfolk, and one of them – Jo Berry – was pictured in the EDP on January 26, with a long piece on the progress of the project.
Lucy Care, chairperson of the Paston Heritage Society, said there were plans for an exhibition in the Griffin Gallery in North Walsham in May, and the possibility of other venues was being explored. She reminded us of places with connections to the Paston family that might inspire more work or give an opportunity for further exhibitions. They include two houses in Norwich – in Elm Hill and King Street – Caister Castle, Baconsthorpe Castle, Felbrigg Hall, and Framlingham Castle in Suffolk.
A brief meeting of Inprint members later the same day agreed that our main thrust for this year was still the Paston project, and we would be looking at ways we could expand this, through workshops aimed at the creation of further poetry and the propagation of the eco-friendly non-toxic intaglio printing process.
Paston book now in Millennium Library
One of the hand-made Pastons' Country books is now in the Millennium Library at the Forum in Norwich, and will stay there until the end of the month. It was delivered on January 9 by Annette, Lisa and Tim and installed in a large glass display case with the creative assistance of librarian Claire Agate. It can be found on the second floor of the library, near the reception desk. As well as the hand-made book, the case contains examples of the facsimile Paston books, information about the Paston Project, and books from the library itself about the Pastons.
Only one page of the book will be displayed at a time, but the pages will be turned regularly – so it's worth more than one visit!
A meeting will take place on January 25 to discuss further progress on the Paston Project, and this will be followed by an InPrint meeting to look at ideas for the coming year.
Here is the Book
Here on the edge of a drowned world
land of the True Cross
we walk on the moon, dark side,
among marbled pillars
touching unearthly colours
dusty passages
fingering forgotten legends
Treasure buried in the priory
where foreign knights battle secretly
against skeletons
and in the Kingdom of God
near Bromholm
the dead are raised
Iron stands like spears against the sun
while stone dissolves
As in the beginning
the word breathes on
until the void takes form
becomes a sacred, fertile field
Visions of Hildegard or Agnes in the rain
play dark tricks
as the world folds into paper,
holding on
Ruins bought and sold
breathe again
words emerge from the rock:
locks are broken
Burning kingfishers perch on fallen walls:
paths burst from the undergrowth
Here on the edge of the moon
Here is the book
Here are the letters thrown down and lifted up
Here the rushing wind
fire and water
laid like a cloth of gold and silver
under the patient stars
Poet's comment: This was written for the Paston Project in 2008 and draws on many aspects of the work, especially history and the surrounding countryside – and of course the book itself.
Cromer's Paston exhibition taken down
The mini-Paston exhibition hung at the North Norfolk District Council offices in Cromer for a couple of weeks was taken down on a cold and damp 17 November, with Paston Heritage Society chairperson Lucy Care and InPrint poet Tim Lenton in attendance. The exhibition consisted of about 24 framed prints hung in a corridor on the first floor outside the restaurant, and we were given to understand that it had been very well received.
Meanwhile a third hand-made Paston Country book has been sold.
Paston exhibition success in the sun
The "amazing weekend" forecast for the Paston exhibition turned out to be exactly that, with the sun shining brightly throughout, and medieval characters to be found enjoying the unexpected warmth of the sun in the graveyard, as well as fulfilling such functions as scrivener and paper-maker inside. In the normally cold church the atmosphere was temperate, even for the Latin Compline on the Saturday evening, when fog paid a fleeting visit outside.
The Private View on the Friday evening was a big success, with a fascinating film of the project being followed by a poetry reading, in which InPrint poets Caroline Gilfillan, Lisa D'Onofrio and Tim Lenton took part. The handmade, leather-bound book had centre stage, with InPrint's Annette Rolston turning the pages and explaining the background. Prints and poems from the book were on display. Small facsimiles of the book were very popular at £10 a time, and two copies of the big book, priced at £850 each, were ordered during the weekend.
On the Saturday Annette and Lisa offered a workshop, and bookbinder Judith Ellis from Aylsham demonstrated her skills. There were further poetry readings from the InPrint poets and from the other Paston poets – Dot Cobley, Kay Riggs, Rob Knee and Adrian Ward. Natural England organised a couple of visits to the Great Barn, which is rarely accessible. Visitors to the exhibition were augmented by a large party of ramblers who happened by and who found the whole project fascinating, especially Annette's description of the book's contents.
Sunday was dominated by the visit of medieval music interpreters Horses Brawl, who rehearsed during the afternoon and put on a concert of 18 songs in the evening, interspersed by readings from the Paston Letters. One of the pieces, sung by Jennie Cassidy, was from a manuscript found in the church in the 1920s and dating back to the time of the Pastons. It was believed to be the first time it had been heard since that time, and it was beautifully sung by Jennie.
InPrint were proud to be part of the project, which owed much of its sucess to Annette's determination to master the innovative non-toxic intaglio process and produce excellent prints. Lucy Care, from the Paston Heritage Society, had the vision for the whole thing and worked closely with Annette to bring it to fruition. Part of the exhibition will now go on show at Nottingham, and at the North Norfolk District Council offices in Cromer. The book itself will be on display in the Millennium Library in Norwich in December, and more exhibitions are lined up for the New Year. The Eastern Daily Press recognised the importance of the project by devoting two full page threes to it – one on the Friday and one on the Monday.
On this site
Biographies
- Lisa D'Onofrio
- Bronwen Edwards
- Mike Fenton
- Caroline Gilfillan
- Jayne Knowles
- Tim Lenton
- Joan Murray
- Annette Rolston
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