Hope Press Newsletter: Edition 1
- Ben Darlington
- Jun 4
- 3 min read
Pilot Project for People with Neuroimmune Conditions.
The name has got no punchier, but the project has gone well this spring. I’ve had two regular attendees who have built their confidence in printmaking and made themselves at home in the studio.
One of the regulars, now 18, has suffered from CFS since she was 13 and has missed almost all her secondary education. Sometimes she can only manage a short print-making session, but she’s built up a terrific sketch book of printmaking that has supported her successful application to study part-time at a local art college. Woohoo!
From September I plan to make the programme more structured: offering a nine-week ‘introduction to printmaking’ course. My hope is this will be a bit less daunting than simply ushering people and in saying ‘get on with it’. My hope is to offer this three times a year to cohorts of up to four people. Once they ‘graduate’ – and if they want to continue – they can use the studio on an open access basis. I’ve got a meeting next week with the social prescribing person from our local GP to discuss referrals.
New Studio
it came as a bit of a shock when I learnt last month that I was going to lose my lovely studio space. Yes – the one that with your help we’ve made so nice! Unfortunately, my landlord has had a change of circumstances and is giving up the whole workshop.
After the initial blow, I’m sure this is a positive thing. One of the lessons from the pilot was the unsuitability of the old space for a growing project: it is too small to cater to groups larger than two, and the access through the other (fully operational) workshop was a worry.
Happily, I have found a fantastic new studio: it’s bigger, easier to access and importantly it’s not going to be whipped out from under our nose again: we have a contract for up to five years.
The move is going to take place in June and my first jobs are to build some more work benches and partition off some small studio spaces. I’m making it work financially by subletting to a couple of other creatives. Fortunately, the materials I bought for the old space can be repurposed for the new.
The new print making studio space is in Adelphi Mill in Bollington
My art / my health
I’m thrilled to say that my own recovery is going very well. I’m now nine months into the Perrin Treatment – that aims to get your lymphatic system back on track – and the results have been great. As well as enjoying family life with renewed energy I’ve been making lots of art in the studio.
My focus has been to add to my arsenal of printmaking skills so that I can offer more to other Hope Press users. With the help of Hope Press super-supporter John Peake we’ve repurposed an old press that has the considerable power required to print etchings and Drypoint.
What’s next?
The summer is going to be dominated by settling into the new studio but there Is plenty of other things afoot. I’m putting the finishing touches to a funding bid that, if successful, would allow me to invest in some better equipment and get set up for screen printing. Watch this space! I’ll look forward to sending more news in autumn.
In the meantime you can follow on Instagram @hopepress_bollington, or come and visit any time. Thanks so much for your support,
Ben
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