Women in Print

I was super excited to be invited to take part in the exhibition Women in Print by Jane Bowyer, illustrator, designer and all-round good egg. I'm exhibiting alongside some top-class female artists, so I feel very flattered to be asked to contribute. The launch is tonight at Rudy's Pizza Place, one of my favourite pizza joints in Manchester. It runs til the 30th of August, so get yourself down and buy some prints, all proceeds go to Manchester Women's Aid. Prints, pizza and beer, what's not to like??

Product Photography Improvement

Hello! The first post of the year! I've been working on improving my product photography, I've noticed a drop off of my online sales, which is a bit worrying, and when you're competing against so much lovely stuff online, it's a good idea to look your best!

So I've had an overhaul of my alphabet risograph prints. The old ones are taken against a white background, using lights, which I thought were great at the time, but natural light is so much better. It was fun to do a bit of styling with props too, I think the new shots have a much warmer feel to them. What do you think?

I used the Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos by Heidi Adnum, I'd really recommend this book if you're keen to learn a bit more about product photography. Of course, there are loads of online guides, but I like having a book to refer to! All my prints are available online, and from my bricks and mortar shop at the Craft and Design Centre, which is also having an exciting face lift!

Tote-ally great

I've been updating my online shops, so I now have 5 different designs of tote bags available to buy. Check 'em out here: http://nellsmith.bigcartel.com/category/tote-bags. They are organic cotton, hand screen printed by me, and at 10 pounds a pop, would make a lovely pressie for your Secret Santa! For the run up to Christmas, I'll be including some surprise gifts with each online order. I love Chrimbo!

New Work! And Black Friday discount code.

Hello to you! I'll skip the usual lack-of-blog apology and move right along to the important stuff. I've worked all summer long on new things and I have FINALLY put new prints up on my website. Here are a few work in progress shots to prove that I have been working hard, and that I draw everything by hand before any printmaking commences.

I think one of my favourite prints is the Spectrum Goat Skull. I love the way the colours blend, so each one is completely unique. It's always a bit of risk, trying something new and changing direction, so I really hope I sell some of this work. I've loved making it. There are five new prints up, go have a look, http://nellsmith.bigcartel.com/ and if you like what you see, there is 25% off everything in the shop all weekend with the code NONEMOREBLACK. Have a good 'un! x