New Dead Language

MEND - These Islands, We Sing

2011-07-01T19:14:00.004Z

This month sees the release of These Islands, We Sing a new collection of poetry from publishers Polygon. As the Polygon web blurb says "this anthology pays tribute to the islands’ creative output by bringing together a huge array of poetic talent, from the internationally-renowned – Sorley Maclean, Iain Crichton Smith, George Mackay Brown, Ian Hamilton Finlay, Hugh MacDairmid – to those fantastic poets deserving of more attention – Jim Mainland, Aonghas MacNeacail, Meg Bateman, Alex Cluness, Jen Hadfield, and many more – in one wonderful collection. With poems exploring the themes of love, language, landscape, identity and belonging, These Islands, We Sing is a significant and heartfelt celebration of poetry and place."

This collection is of particular interest to us here at New Dead Language as it features a number of poems from our very first publication, MEND by Alex Cluness. We are extremely proud to have worked with Alex on the original pamphlet and are delighted to see a selection of these poems reaching a wider audience.
If anyone is interested in purchasing a copy of MEND it is now available over on our etsy page.

Boxerfish

2011-07-01T15:21:00.000Z

For many known and unknown reasons this print has been a long time coming. The original layers were inked and uploaded to my flickr page 18 months ago. Unsurprisingly when I came to print I couldn't remember the exact colours I'd intended to use although perhaps surprisingly I got two out of three right. I'm still not entirely sure what the third colour would have been had I printed at the time of illustrating (I have a note of it somewhere) but the results are satisfying enough.

In the image below you can see the developmental stages of the aforementioned misprint. Absentmindedly I'd printed the green layer the wrong way over the copper layer. This gave a curious impression of depths and shadow, the suggestion of a denser school of fish than I'd originally drawn. It's a very nice effect that I wish I'd had the foresight to do intentionally. Intrigued, I split the run in two with half following the error and half continuing down the intended path.

There are 10 copies of each variation, A4, signed and numbered. The main version is available over on etsy but if you fancy buying a copy of the variation just let me know and we'll sort that for you.

Kissy Kissy Fairy

2011-07-01T15:13:00.003Z

Back in the January of this year Jono Sandilands and I had ourselves a little doodle week in which we each found elements to develop into full screenprints.

Elephant Deuce

2011-07-01T15:10:00.001Z

Original artwork from Philip Eight's seminal 1978 fragrance, Elephant Deuce.

Mind Your Head

2011-05-28T18:06:00.006Z

For the next fortnight the latest prints from co:lab will be hanging at the Peerie Shop Cafe in Lerwick. For this project we've worked together with local charity Mind Your Head and have each explored the subject of mental health in our own unique way. This has made for a very rich and diverse set of prints. You can see above my contribution - My Aching Back, My Tiny Crown and Rate the Bug People.
All monies made from the sale of these prints go directly to Mind Your Head and we're hoping the work invites debate while further raising the charity's profile.
If you're interesting in buying any of this work you can fill in one of the forms at the Peerie Shop Cafe, speak directly to one of the artists or visit our online Heart Your Head shop over on Etsy. Co:lab will also be launching an Etsy page specifically for this project in the next day or two so watch this space for more details. Each print is an edition of 20, 297mm x 420mm and cost £20 each.

Above and below you can see a brief photodocumentation of the printing process we used. Both my prints feature three colours - cyan, magenta and yellow.

NDL goes Etsy : Buy now!

2011-01-19T09:25:00.006Z

The New Dead Language shop is now active over on Etsy. It's still a little rough around the edges but I'll refine it as I upload more prints and such for sale.

For a lot of you it'll still be easier to buy direct from me, face to face. But for those of you who are a little further away this should be a useful addition to the NDL webnest. Check it out and tell your friends!

Doodle week

2011-01-19T09:21:00.002Z

Jono and I recently enjoyed a doodle week over at the co:lab blog.

You can of course also see the results over on my flickr page.

The Mathematicians

2010-11-23T23:23:00.004Z

Here's a peek at the latest prints currently being exhibited at the Bonhoga gallery as part of their Sprickle an’ Peester Christmas show. Co:lab were delighted to be asked to contribute and set about producing two pieces of work each to our own loose theme of "two".
I decided to explore the lives of two French mathematicians and tell their stories in two colours.
As is my want these days I tried a few variations with the colours and particularly like the results from using the same semi-transparent blue for both layer.
The show runs until 23rd December 2010.

Tanngnjostur og Tanngrisnir

2010-11-04T21:18:00.007Z

My Co:Lab cohorts and I were recently asked if we'd like to submit work for this year's Christmas exhibition at the North Rock Gallery. We were, of course, more than happy to take on the challenge and we each set about interpreting their Yule time theme.
Although briefly tempted to tackle the story of the Yule Cat, it was the Julbocken or Yule Goat that, in my research, excited me most. Generally represented in straw bound in red ribbon, the Yule Goat is a strikingly simple and beautiful sight and would lend itself well to screenprinting.
However, as I explored the history, I was increasingly intrigued by it's links with the legend of the Norse God Thor who rode through the skies in a chariot drawn by two goat, Tanngrisnir and Tanngnjóstr (teeth-barer and teeth grinder). At the end of each night Thor would slaughter and feast on his goats only to resurrect them with his mystical hammer the next day and set out anew. I was struck by and sympathised with the curious daily routine these goats would endure and the loyalty they seemingly showed their master.
In my illustration I was most keen to capture that sense of burden these goats carry and contrast it with the spritely enthusiasm of them as newly born kids. I've taken a few liberties in my interpretation of this but it seems fairer on the goats to allow the scene to be reimagined in new ways.
The text in the composition, with the help of google, translates from the Icelandic as "born again with each new dawn"

Bonhoga Open Exhibition: Portrait

2010-09-11T00:32:00.003Z

Themed for the first time, the Bonhoga Gallery Open Exhibition this year filled their halls with portraiture. Photography, painting, sculpture, jewellery and print all featured and there was an impressive turn out for tonight's opening (though, disappointingly, many of the prize winners were conspicuous by their absence).
Here's my entry. It is composed from three different five colour screenprints torn and pasted together.

Exeter Poetry Festival 2010

2010-08-23T20:45:00.009Z

A wee peep at the brochure, programme and a promotional postcard for the Exeter Poetry Festival.
Check out their web page www.exeterpoetryfestival.com for more information.

Telephone, telephone so much

2010-05-17T19:54:00.003Z

Another co:lab project for you all. This one was produced during the two week residency of the pop-up shop down at the Toll Clock shopping centre. The theme this time around was red and blue with the criteria being that we use red and blue only and the artwork fits to A6. Here is my effort. I can explain the thinking behind it if anyone cares to ask!

Co:lab down the pop-up shop

2010-05-17T19:37:00.002Z

The co:lab kids would like to thank everyone who came down the pop-up shop, hung out, chatted and bought prints. We've had a lot of fun seeing you all over the last two weeks. Big thanks also to Karen Bruce without whom the shop never would've happened and all the folk involved with Vunk Fest. Looking forward to the big weekend in July!

Two Ply Gin

2010-05-17T18:42:00.006Z

Co:lab have once again been at the printing ink. Our latest project is 3-fold and explores the rich seam of interpretation inherent in our alphabet. 26 individual characters being reproduced in countless variations the world over.
In presenting our take on our favourite graphemes we not only show the alphabet in its natural order but also put them to practical use in the context of 3 very different pangrams. Additionally each co:labber has chosen their favourite letter to BIG up.

I experimented extensively before reaching a style I was happy with and felt would carry through from A to Z with relative ease. The technique involved great reams of toilet paper, lots of water, ink and a big fat brush. In selecting a pangram I decided to search outwith my native tongue and found two potent and very different samples. One Danish and one Portuguese. I went with the Portuguese pangram "Um pequeno jabuti xereta viu dez cegonhas felizes" which as it turned out didn't feature all 26 letters as the Portugese alphabet isn't exactly as it is in the UK. This left me missing w,y and k – a problem I navigated with the naming of my jabuti "Wakiya".

Curiously, despite the Portuguese pangram, the three pieces look particularly eastern. Largely I guess thanks to the method I used to create the letters but also how well they work reading top to bottom as opposed to our convention of left to right.

There were only twelve of each of these printed and we launched them two weeks ago with the opening of the temporary Vunk Fest pop-up shop. Sales of this and other prints were encouraging and I'm pleased to say that my pangram is now completely sold out. Thanks to everyone who bought a copy of this and/or any of my other print. It's much appreciated and I hope you enjoy having them in your home!

Turtle print

2010-03-01T09:32:00.004Z

Some months after finishing the inking work, the turtle print has finally reached completion. It was a delay that amazed with the problems encountered in finding somewhere to produce the A3 acetates to be used in exposing the screen. Fortunately my good friend Martin down in Falkirk came to the rescue with a suitable solution.

So once again, with Jono's generous assistance, I set about printing. Two variations this time. The first, in keeping with my original plan, featured the three basic primary colours of red, blue and yellow. The idea being that through overlapping I'd hopefully achieve the secondary colours of orange, purple and green. What I actually got wasn't quite as well defined as this but the results are none the less satisfying with clearly defined secondary colours... albeit not a direct match for those in my mind at the point of conception. And in the interests of the experiment I could have been a bit more liberal with the blending of the blue and the yellow in the pursuit of green. There are 24 of these, signed and numbered.

The second variation features purple, turquoise and copper and was purely an additional indulgence taken before washing out the stencils. A chance to play with the composition using a rather more earthy palette. The purple and the turquoise work beautifully and found compliment with the copper (having failed to agree with a pull of raw umber). As I'd hoped, I've learned a good few lessons with this design and can see how I can develop the work further. There are 21 of these, signed and numbered.

All in we spent about nine hours straight working on these prints... coating, exposing, washing, printing, washing, drying, coating, exposing and so on. It was a long cold exhausting day but very satisfying.

Philip Eight

2010-02-15T09:49:00.004Z

It was a heavy few nights of printing last week as co:lab set about the second of our team tasks. The brief we set ourselves this time was to create, within the space of a week (give or take allowances for general real life shenanigans), an A4 advert suitable for two colour printing. Those were our only spec. The product, concept, ideal or whatever we set out to promote was entirely ours to choose.
This is my contribution...

Philip Eight, the brand, has become synonymous with magnificent fashion and the most elegant of fragrances. Beloved of the great and the good.
We see here an advert for a new man smell designed for the fat glossies. Although originally conceived as an initial yellow layer plastered over with a second black layer, inspiration kicked in and I decided to try out the florescent pink, caking it in a second coat of raw umber. The pink was magnificent and when shining through the raw umber the colours joined in a deep regal red. I have 18 of these, signed and numbered.
We'd set aside a full night for each of the co:lab designs so I decided to plough on and try a variant on the initial yellow idea... unwittingly treading on the same error Jono and I had made with the screw picture from co:lab 1b. Yellow, it appears, is a remarkably difficult colour to work with when overlapping colours. It seems to lack punch and struggles to hold definition. We printed 21 sheets with a base colour yellow and proceeded to work through 4 alternatives (many of which delivered oddly hazy results) before getting excited about the blend of the yellow with the florescent pink which we had stumbled upon earlier in the process while fooling around. I have 11 of this final combination, signed and numbered.

Addendum: Having seen the workings for these prints Philip Eight has ask Andrew to become his official biographer and over the coming months his life will be documented in pictures at philipeight.blogspot.com.

Works in progress

2010-01-11T12:30:00.002Z

Here's a wee sample of what's being worked on at the moment.

The three layers on the left make up the turtles print. This is being produced as a test, experimenting with a dense brush technique and multiple colour overlays. If the results are promising the approach should lead on to other experimentation which in turn should lend itself to larger works I have in mind.
The layers on the right make up the boxerfish print. This is more a piece produced for fun although certain challenges in the colour management and how information is to be related adds to the value of the experience.

The Co:Lab team at Unique Presence

2009-12-05T23:39:00.004Z

Big thanks to everyone who came along to Unique Presence to witness the Co:Lab live debut on Saturday 5th December. We were all extremely please with how it went and greatly appreciate the enthusiasm shown. It was a long day starting at 2pm in the Islesburgh Community Centre and the first half was especially busy. We're glad however to have been able to keep the show open until 9pm, welcome the folk keeping less regular hours and sell them prints! Hopefully all the prints sold will settle happily into their new homes and earn a quizzical look or a toothy smile from time to time.

Thanks must also be extended to Karen Bruce of Vunk Photography and Mootie House Designs for organising the event and inviting us to participate. The Drama Room at the community centre was a great space in which to exhibit and looked particularly vibrant when filled with the textiles, jewellery, photography (and prints) of independent local artists and designers (Vunk Photography, Mootie House Designs Ltd, K J Originals, Jane Naish Jewellery ...)

For anyone who couldn't make it along, never fear, we're hoping to give you another chance to pick up a print very soon. Watch this space for details!

Co:Lab - Tag Team take two and exhibition news!

2009-12-02T22:49:00.007Z

Following on from the first stage collaborations between Andrew Morrison, Beto and Jono Sandilands we have repeated the process in reverse! Which is to say, Jono, having received Beto's art to work first time around and his piece having gone Andrew's way, this time Jono's illustration went Beto-wise while Beto's effort was passed to Andrew!
Interesting and educational results... particularly in the instance of failure experienced in the first attempt on two of this series' collaborations – solved with advanced colour consideration.

The work from both stages in this Co:Lab project are to debut, for one day only, this weekend at Unique Presence, an exhibition of print, photography and textiles with sales of original artwork and contemporary gifts. If you're in Lerwick on 5th December any time between 2pm and 9pm then swing by the Drama Room at Islesburgh Community Centre. There are only 40 of each obscenely affordable print so be mindful not to miss out!

These photos by Jono Sandilands

Tag team fun with Jono & Beto

2009-10-17T20:26:00.001Z

The results!, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

Andrew Morrison recently joined Jono Sandilands and Roberto Getto in a 3week tag team screen printing experiment. For the first week they each created an A4 image which was passed to another member of the trio who would then for the second week create another A4 image to overprint this with. Third week saw the printing! Here are the results. Watch this space for news of a second set of these and more fun from the trio!

Belonging on Flickr

2009-10-17T20:01:00.001Z

Belonging, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

All nine of the prints from the Belonging series can now be seen over on Flickr. The exhibition in the Bonhoga Gallery Cafe has been extended by a month so if you've not been, there's still time to get along.

Belonging

2009-09-01T18:36:00.001Z

Back in March we posted about funding awarded to Andrew Morrison of New Dead Language to put toward purchasing equipment and materials which would aid in the production of a body of work suitable for exhibition.

Well, Andrew has been working fairly intensively for the past six month's and will this week share the result of this with the world at large!
Belonging is a set of nine two colour prints. Each print captures a moment, a single 'cell' or 'still', suggestive of a greater whole. There is a potent untold back story and unknown outcome. Each one was conceived independently of the others with the only common thread being a sense of era. The idea however is that by grouping them into random sets, in random order, the viewer will instinctively draw a line through them, making connections and conjuring a story in their own imagination. The hope is for every person who looks at a set of these prints to find their own personal interpretation, vivid and entirely unique to themselves. And by rearranging the nine time and again (or simply by reordering a set of three or four or what have you) the worlds in these prints are continually altered. What may have seemed serene may turn sinister, or a gesture or glance which in one instance appeared benevolent can in another suggest malevolence.
Each print has been pulled, signed and numbered of 40 by the artist.
Belonging has it's opening tomorrow evening (2nd September 2009) at the Bonhoga Gallery Cafe where it will hang for the duration of the month. Another set will also be exhibited at this weekend Wordplay Book Festival.

Andrew will post photos of the collection on our Flickr page early next week. In the meantime you can read how it all came to fruition by visiting www.twitter.com/newdeadlanguage

Happenstance review of Praising the Guga

2009-04-16T22:27:00.006Z

http://tinyurl.com/d2llc8
Here's a review of Donald S Murray's Praising the Guga published by North Idea. Some nice words about Andrew Morrison's illustrations. Worth picking up if you haven't already. Donald's The Guga Hunters published by Birlinn is also worth checking out.

New project and funding

2009-03-21T16:05:00.000Z

New Dead Language are very pleased to announce confirmation of a Visual Artist Award: Shetland Arts in Partnership with Scottish Arts Council. The funds received from this will contribute to the costs of Screenprinting equipment which will be used primarily in NDL's next major project. This will be a series of (largely) 'silent' prints each heavy with narrative but also very much open to interpretation. An exhibition of the work is being planned for later in the year.

Praising the Guga

2008-10-18T13:16:00.002Z

St Ronan ink , originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

New Dead Language have recently completed a series of illustrations for Donald S. Murray's poetry collection Praising the Guga. This is to be published by North Idea and will be launched in Stornoway in late October to coincide with the release of Donald's book The Guga Hunters published by Birlinn.
NDL artist Andrew Morrison has produced seven illustrations for Praising the Guga five of which relate directly to individual poems (seen here is the art for 'St. Ronan Works on a Manuscript'). The poetry pamphlet also features cover art by Douglas Robertson.

Beaten Gold – the launch

2008-09-08T21:47:00.005Z

Beaten Gold was launched on Saturday 6th September as part of an event celebrating the poetry of Jim Moncrieff (which in turn was part of the Shetland 2008 Wordplay festival). Unfortunately Jim was unable to be there himself as he was stuck in Aberdeen but the work was read by a number of local peers and the book was warmly received. Many thanks to all those who came along and to James Sinclair and Alex Cluness for their help in making the book happen. Thanks also to Dolphin Press who made a cracking job of the printing.
The book is now available from the Shetland Times bookshop for £4 or alternatively get in touch with us at the email address above.

Beaten Gold

2008-07-25T16:16:00.001Z

Beaten gold cover - saxifrage, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

We've just been putting the finishing touches to the latest publication from New Dead Language. Beaten Gold is a collection of 17 poems by Jim Moncrieff. This, his second collection (after Seasonsong published in 1998 by The Shetland Times), will be launched on Saturday 6th September 2008 at the Wordplay book festival in Shetland. The poems are complemented by a series of eight illustrations from artist Andrew Morrison.

Update... plus Gretchen & Red Fever

2008-05-22T13:22:00.003Z

Finally looks like things may be coming together for a couple of as yet untitled "books". For now though here are a couple of samples of non-New Dead Language work. Illustrations for short stories written by Peter Morrison. http://mythaxis.co.uk/2issue2.htm

2008-05-22T13:16:00.006Z

2008-05-22T13:16:00.004Z

Storytelling

2008-02-12T18:45:00.001Z

This is a series of five drawings New Dead Language is currently workshopping with local Writers' Groups.

SHOP

2007-09-05T19:59:00.000Z

The New Dead Language Shop is now active! You can purchase MEND online simply by clicking on the link to the right and hitting the buy button.

As advertised in The Shetland TImes

2007-09-05T19:54:00.000Z

MEND launch

2007-08-10T15:29:00.001Z

MEND LAUNCH invite, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

We can now confirm that Mend will be launched at the Shetland's Wordplay Book Festival 2007 on the 9th September. If you're in the area please do come along. Following the launch the book will be available in Shetland shops and also online from the New Dead Language store which will open shortly after the festival has concluded.

Hot from the printers

2007-07-27T17:01:00.001Z

The first handful out the box!!! Giddy with excitement now. We should be confirming a launch date within the week.

MEND cover: revised

2007-06-17T21:29:00.001Z

MEND cover: revised, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

So, after a week or so of looking at the initial cover design, I've amended it and I'm much happier with the results. I had a hunch the last one wasn't quite right and this reworking seems to have soothed that.

MEND the cover

2007-06-12T17:11:00.000Z

We're days from wrapping up pre-production work on Mend and are pleased to post the cover here for you to see. There may as yet be a little fine tuning but essentially what you see here is what will be sitting on the bookshelves. We're still set for an August launch and have been discussing possible venues. More info nearer the time.

New Dead Logo

2007-06-12T16:56:00.001Z

This will be the logo that will appear, allbeit faintly, on the back cover of the first New Dead Language book. My thinking at the moment is to vary this with each successive book keeping the text the same but with a different graphic, probably of a similar scale, representing the mood of the work.

MEND

2007-05-10T08:19:00.000Z

Mend, a collection from Alex Cluness and Andrew Morrison, will be the first book from New Dead Language. Both Alex and myself are thrilled with what we have and are looking forward to an August launch (date TBC). We'll be sending the pages to the printers early June – the final illustration should be completed within the next fortnight. These images are rough posters I've mocked up using drawings from the book and may give you an idea of where we're going with this.
Further illustrations and possibly a few poems (some no longer included in the collection) will be posted closer to the launch.

Finding God

2007-04-08T13:22:00.001Z

This must be about 3 years old. Maybe more. It's one of a series of strips I did with Alex Cluness without really knowing where they were going. I was editing the Shetland Life at the time but the tone of the work wasn't really appropriate for the magazine. I'm still really pleased with most of them and the style I was developing came into its own. I've reeled it in a lot since then partly because I started doing a more conventional strip for a more conventional audience but also because it was in danger of wigging out. My inking style depended too much on instinct. I practically did it while looking away. I still kinda do that to be honest. Obviously it doesn't always work so good. Maybe we'll come back round to these someday though. Rework some of them perhaps.

Poetry book

2007-04-03T07:31:00.000Z

Exciting talks yesterday with Alex Cluness about his new book. This in all likelihood will be the first publication from New Dead Language. We have a title, which we will post at another date, and a number of strong ideas on how the book will come together. More info (and possible extracts/illustrations) as the work develops.

Angry kid

2007-03-30T07:34:00.001Z

Angry kid, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

topping up boozers

2007-03-30T07:32:00.001Z

topping up boozers, originally uploaded by newdeadlanguage.

A small sample of my recent illustration work.
These drawings appear in Matthew Wright's Topping Up, a collection of short stories based in a fictional pub in Orkney. Check out the North Idea link for more details.

Introduction

2007-03-13T21:39:00.001Z

It is the intention that New Dead Language will publish a wide range of art and literature over the next few years. Work already in production include a new book of poetry from Alex Cluness and a graphic novella by Andrew Morrison. These are expected to be available by the end of 2007.
Watch this space for progess reports and posting of design developments, extracts and sketches. Details on how to purchase books will be given once they are available.
For more information contact peerie.andrew@gmail.com