Frankenstein Press

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Last week I made a very rainy trip to Bedminster in Bristol to visit Frankenstein Press. Having been at art college in Bristol over 25 years ago, trudging up North Street in the winter drizzle felt very much a walk down memory lane. While much was the same, a few shops and cafes had been spruced up, and there was certainly nothing as exciting as this little place in my day.

Opened in 2023 by artists Anna Ruiz and Cristian Zuzunaga, Frankenstein Press is a printmaking studio specialising in traditional printmaking techniques and creative workshops. At the heart of the studio stands an old French etching press dating back to the late 1800s. Over the last 10 years, the press has followed the couple on a transformative journey across various destinations – from Barcelona to the idyllic Catalan countryside, and ultimately to the vibrant cities of London and Bristol. During the move from Spain to London, a technician who reassembled the press noticed its unique characteristics. During its lifetime it had undergone several modifications and acquired additional parts, leading him to call it a “Frankenstein press.” And so the name was born.

In an age of instant gratification, dominated by rapid technological advancement, social media and the rise of artificial intelligence, places like Frankenstein Press provide a counter-balance to the pervasive influence of digital technologies. Here you can experience analogue creative techniques and craft by hand, taking time to work at a slower-pace, while nurturing genuine human connections. The studio promotes a range of creative workshops including lino cut, wood engraving and bookbinding, where you can develop new skills and make new friends.

Anna Ruiz leads the linocut sessions. A form of relief printing, the process involves sculpting an image into a smooth linoluem surface, which is then inked and run through the press. Her own work takes inspiration from mythology and spiritual symbolism. Having sold out of all our blue editions of Anna’s Swimming Girl, I came away from my visit with the new gold version. The print is based upon the Greek goddess Amphitrite, goddess of the sea and wife of Poseidon. Amphitrite and her sisters had the power to calm rough waters and provide sailors with safe passage through a storm.

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Spotlight on the Ten Bells – Jack the Ripper’s Pub?

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by Dan Barton

Allow your mind to wander back in time… to the bustling streets of Victorian London.

Imagine the feel of the cobbles beneath your feet. Your path ahead is lit by smoke-hazed gaslight.

You come to the Ten Bells pub. It’s perched on the corner of Commercial Street, in the Spitalfields district of the East End:

Whitechapel.

The Ten Bells by Marc Gooderham

The pub stands a full 3-floors high — casting an imposing presence on the street below.  Even for those who don’t know the spooky history of the Whitechapel district, it’s the sort of building that sends an invigorating chill down the spine.

And if you were to decide there was something haunted about the place, you’d find many of the Ten Bells’ regular clientele nodding their heads in agreement… as they knock back vintage ale from silver-plated tankards.

Many of London’s pubs are steeped in legend, of course.

But it’s only the Ten Bells that is famous for being the suspected watering-hole of Britain’s most infamous serial killer.

Compelling questions (and clues to answers)

Part of the enduring fascination with the Ripper legend is that the facts are generally as smog-obscured as the Whitechapel streets: 

Who, for example, was Jack the Ripper? What was his real name?

More questions: 

Did the police interview him, perhaps, and then release him? Or was he never apprehended at all?

The possibility exists that we’ll never know the answers to these compelling questions. 

But what we do know is that at least two of Jack’s victims had links to the Ten Bells pub — with some Ripper experts convinced that all of his known victims were connected to this iconic building of London’s East End.

Anne Chapman, for example, drank at the pub often — and is indeed believed to have popped in for a drink at the Ten Bells shortly before her fateful encounter with the Ripper. 

Mary Jane Kelly, too, working as a prostitute, picked up clients on the street outside the pub… and was herself identified as drinking inside the pub the night before she was murdered. 

Now, was Jack the Ripper drinking in the pub at the same time? It doesn’t seem much of a stretch to conclude the answer is “yes”.

1888 was a long time ago, and we still don’t know all the answers. But what’s clear is that the Ten Bells—linking “Jack” with at least two of his targets—is a place of extreme interest for professional and amateur detectives alike. 

If the mystery of Jack the Ripper is ever to be truly unraveled, the Ten Bells may yet prove to be the key.

The work-of-art that continues the story

For true crime enthusiasts—and for art collectors looking to dive deeper into the bustling alleys of Victorian intrigue—Marc Gooderham’s The Ten Bells is a “must own”. 

Marc, of course, is known for his captivating portrayals of iconic landmarks and classic architecture from the Great British capital. 

But for urban atmosphere fused with gripping historical drama, his depiction of the Ten Bells is perhaps king of them all.

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Kate Middleton Wears Chalk Earrings On Windrush Day

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Kate Middleton wearing Florence Earrings

We were very excited to see Kate Middleton stepping out in a pair of Florence Earrings by Chalk Jewellery on Windrush Day this week. Kate and Prince William unveiled a special memorial in London, and the Duchess of Cambridge made sure to include a thoughtful detail in her wardrobe for the event with earrings designed by Malaika Carr of Chalk.⁠

Memorial Unveiling at London Waterloo Station

Windrush Day marks the arrival of Afro-Caribbean migrants to the UK aboard the Empire Windrush ship in 1948, and continues to honor the continued contributions of immigrants to the Britain. It was absolutely fitting to see her wearing statement jewellery from a London-based, black woman-owned business. Malaika’s own grandparents and father being Windrush generation.

Malaika Carr founder of Chalk Jewellery

As well as being a jewellery designer, Malaika is also an architect; the Revival Collection featuring The Florence Earrings is based on the design of London’s Royal Opera House, which also has a connection to post-World War II Britain. Following the war, the theatre reopened in 1946 and became England’s first permanent home for opera and ballet.⁠

⁠Congratulations Malaika!

Florence Earrings by Chalk

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CMYK OK!

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There are many ways to replicate an image in print, and one of them is to screen print using CMYK colours. So what are CMYK colours and how do artists use them to print their artwork?

CMYK stands for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Key. Key usually being the black layer that is used to align the other colours. These four colours are layered and used in combination with halftoning to create an almost infinite number of colours. It starts with separating the cyan, magenta, yellow and black colours from the image and creating new separate images with each of these individual colour values. A halftone is created from these single colour images which means turning the image into tiny dots.

Sunrise by Gavin Dobson

These tiny dots are printed at different sizes depending on how dense that particular colour is in an area of the image. For example an area printed with small cyan dots would appear as pale cyan and larger dots would be a darker cyan. This is because there would be more or less of the white space of the paper showing between the different sized dots. As the dots are so small your eye reads them as one colour when looked at from a distance. To create multiple colours cyan, magenta, yellow and black are combined together at various densities to give the illusion of one colour. On a very basic level an equal sized yellow dot overlaid with a cyan dot would give you green. Changing the size of these dots would give you a pale yellowy green or a darker blue green. With the addition of magenta and black you can create all sorts of colours.

If you look closely at Ponds and Plants by Ashley Amery for example, you can see the small dots that make up the image. It’s easy to see in newspaper imagery where the dots are bigger you get a crude image, and where they are smaller a finer image can be created. Each dot is overlaid at a particular angle so as not to create a uniform pattern that the eye would recognise. If you look closely you can see a rosette pattern of the overlaid dots which is characterful of halftone printing. If the dots are not lined up correctly or are larger, a moiré or interference pattern appears which can cause the image to look blurry.

Below is a selection of artworks that use CMYK separation and halftone printing to recreate the imagery. Some are more obvious but some need a closer look.

Penguin by Gavin Dobson

Screen print on Fabriano paper 310gsm with a deckle edge.

500mm x 700mm

Signed limited edition of 100

Ponds And Plants by Ashley Amery

Screen print on 350gsm GF Smith Colorplan paper

490mm x 550mm

Signed limited edition of 50

Morning Star by Fiftyseven

Screen print on 330gsm GF Smith paper

297mm x 420mm (A3)

Signed limited edition of 100

Sunrise by Gavin Dobson

Screen print

500mm x 700mm

Signed limited edition of 100

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See You In Stokey

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N16 is full amazing shops offering beautiful clothing, jewellery, homeware and cookware, books, cards and more, as well as cafes and restaurants cater to every taste. See You In Stokey celebrates the vibrant and friendly independent businesses that make Stoke Newington unique.

image – seeyouinstokey.com

The See you in Stokey website is a hub and resource for anyone wanting to shop Stokey and support small businesses.

‘Local businesses care passionately about community and are part of the fabric of what feels like village life here. We’re the friendly faces welcoming you to the area and we’ve created this site to help you discover what’s happening in Stokey, to learn a little of the area’s history and to make it easier for you to shop local.‘

seeyouinstokey.com
image – seeyouinstokey.com

seeyouinstokey.com acts as a directory, listing the small local businesses categorised by type. So if you are looking for a new outfit, something to eat for lunch or just a coffee you will find it here. All upcoming events are also listed, alongside guides to some of our much loved local landmarks.

Coming up is the The Invisible People Art Trail. Artist and Guardian cartoonist Henny Beaumont in partnership with Kate Revere of social enterprise Revere the Residence have teamed up with businesses in Stoke Newington to curate the Invisible People Art Trail. Revere the Residence is founded on the idea of employing disabled adults and parents of disabled children in order to level the field. Henny’s daughter Beth works at Revere the Residence in the holidays. Henny explains: ‘Kate and I bonded over a sense that we both feel our daughters are a bit invisible. There is a sense that they are not part of the community, friendships are very difficult and isolation is a real problem.’ The idea for The Invisible People Art Trail was born.

The aim of this trail is to highlight art made by people who feel marginalised or invisible. The work submitted to the trail will be displayed in the shops and business around Stoke Newington. Artwork will be sold with all proceeds going to the artists. Pieces donated by artists will be sold by auction to raise money for the Stoke Newington Business Association for Invisible People 2023. Henny and artist Brigit Connolly have also been working with local special needs school Stormont House to produce plates and mugs with students’ artwork, which will be sold in Stoke Newington this summer. Henny adds: ‘The Art Trail is a celebration of these people’s abilities, an opportunity to make people feel visible and for their artwork to be seen. It’s an appreciation of difference.’

The Invisible People Art Trail will run from 2nd – 10th July. To submit work or find out more, please contact hello@seeyouinstokey.com

A Gardener’s Year

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The arrival of the Gardener’s Year Journal by Studio Wald has got us dreaming of the year ahead. The journal features a bold monochromatic abstract plant patterned cover and with open-dated month to view pages divided into weeks and a place to write in the month, you can make a note of all your planting dates and garden reminders, such as when your seedlings are ready to be potted-out or your blooms are due a feed. Plus there are lots of extra pages such as notes, shopping list, garden planning and weights and measures. Here are a few ideas from Of Cabbages and Kings.

January

Start planning the year. Use this time to get an overview of what you want to achieve in your garden. Keep track of what you want to plant, planting dates and harvest times.

Gardener’s Year Journal – £5.95

February

Solitary Bees nest in the spring so make sure you have a home waiting for them like these Bee Bricks. The Bee Brick provides a stylish urban nesting site for red mason bees and leaf cutter bees among others, and make a lovely addition to any garden or allotment.

Bee Brick – £30

March

Start sewing your seeds in early spring with the help of this handy Paper Pot Press. Paper pots are made from strips of newspaper rolled around and shaped by the press. Fill with your growing medium and plant with seeds.

Paper Pot Press – £14.50

April

This is a good time of year to give your houseplants a once over. Re-pot them if necessary and trim off any dead or dying leaves. The Houseplant Care Cards are a boxed gift set containing 35 cards packed full of advice and tips for botanical success indoors.

Houseplant Care Cards – £12.95

May

Start planting out your seedlings and take inspiration from this five colour screen print by artist Tom Berry. A vine of bright pinks and reds entwines around a teal figure as they are planting it into the ground. The painterly mark making of the figure’s body compliments the crisp outline of the vine leaves, creating a joyful print and a celebration of nature.

Garden Man II – £65

June

In the warm weather plants start to grow quickly, especially the unwanted ones. Keep on top of your weeding and deadheading. Or embrace a wild mass of plants like in Ashley Amery‘s print Ponds and Plants. A surreal waterscape of wiggling weeds and brightly coloured flora and fauna.

Ponds and Plants – £165

July

Your garden is alive and thriving, but so are others. Use this time and the summer weather to explore. Hoxton Mini Press have put together a selection of the best parks and green spaces London has to offer. A tough choice in a city that has 3,000 parks! This little guide is perfect for finding the ideal picnic spot or place for a walk. From central London to some outer boroughs and detailing 50 locations, you will find a new green space to fall in love with.

An Opinionated Guide To London Green Spaces – £9.95

August

As some plants finish flowering you can let them go to seed, providing you with seeds for next year’s planting. This Seed Collecting Kit has all you need to harvest, categorise and plant your seeds in one handy tin.

Seed Collecting Kit – £15.99

September

As fruits and vegetables start to ripen, now is the time to cook and enjoy them. Use this Recipe Journal to keep track of treasured family recipes or ones you swap with friends. The journal also includes a handy weights and measurements page at the back.

Recipe Journal – £8.95

October

Autumn approaches and plants begin to die back and trees shed their leaves. Keep your garden tidy by collecting them up and you can even make leaf mould for next year. This painterly rendition of an Autumn Leaf by Gavin Dobson is a four layer screen print in rich autumnal tones.

Autumn Leaf – £225

November

During the winter it’s even more important to feed garden birds. This stylish Birdball Seed Feeder is made in the UK from slipcast clay, this simple design is frost resistant and offers safe, year-round feeding for birds such as tits, sparrows, finches, woodpeckers and nuthatches.

Birdball Seed Feeder – £59.95

December

There is not a lot happening in the garden in December so hunker down, dream of the year to come and do a bit of plant research with this beautiful The Botanical City book. Inspired by William Curtis’ Flora Londinesis and illustrated with exquisite 18th century artworks, it reveals the hidden secrets of plants and flowers growing on your doorstep through up-to-date information, long forgotten folklore and herbal traditions.

The Botanical City – £25

Have A Crafty Christmas

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Handmade Christmas gifts draw on the popularity of craft and offer the opportunity to give unique and memorable presents. From making your own handmade Christmas decorations or Christmas cards to giving people the knowledge and tools to explore their own craft journey, craft can bring people together and is fun for all ages.

Our DIY kits encourage more sustainable use of materials and can often be personalised with the help of a little imagination. Explore this crafting trend with our selection of make your own Christmas ideas and turn this Christmas into a Crafty Christmas. 

Origami Decoration Kit by Ola Studio
Create beautiful handmade festive decorations with these Origami Decoration Kits by Ola. This kit contains everything you need to create 3D origami ornaments using Ola’s iconic pattered papers. The Benita pattern is inspired by the female designers of the Bauhaus; Anni Albers, Gunta Stolzl and Otti Berger. The geometric pattered papers come in two colours, navy and ochre. Each kit contains materials and instructions to make eight patterned decorations, as well as a link to Ola’s video tutorial which will walk you through the process, step by step. 

You’ll start by learning to make a sonobe module, a traditional Japanese origami pattern. The module is then put together to create two different decoration shapes – a pyramid and bauble – both of which will look beautiful either hung on your Christmas tree or adorning your home.

Once you’ve mastered the techniques, you’ll be able to use these skills year after year (we especially like repurpose used gift-wrap to save it from the recycling bin!)

Unleash your artistic side and create your own Christmas cards with this Screen Printing Kit. By making festive stencils out of card or freezer paper you can print your own designs and send unique and personal messages this Christmas.

Simple to use, this kit contains a screen, squeegee and water-based printing inks in black and white. It is ideal for creating your own t-shirt or tote bag designs or printing on to A4 paper. This screen is designed to print an area of 210 x 297mm (A4), but is also available in A3.  

Learn how to screen print with stencils on the OC&K Blog.

A4 Screen Printing Kit by Hunt The Moon

Lighting scented candles is a great way to create a cosy atmosphere when it’s dark and gloomy outside. What’s even more fun is making those candles yourself. This little DIY, Make Your Own Candle Kit is an enjoyable way to spend a relaxing few hours and is a perfect gift for candle lovers. Available in four scents: Christmas Spice, Orange Blossom, Rose Geranium and Fresh Fig.

Each kit contains everything you need to create two scented candles: Soy wax flakes, fragrance oil, glass jars and wicks, and the simple instruction leaflet explains exactly how to make your candles with ease. The small votive candles will burn for roughly 15hrs each. A thoughtful gift for any creative person.

All Parkminster products are made in their Sussex workshop. They source all of their ingredients and packing from UK suppliers and recycle or re-use all packaging and boxes.

Make Your Own Candle Kits by Parkminster

Candle rolling is a fun craft for the whole family, no need to melt wax, just simply roll and enjoy. The relaxing natural scent of beeswax and the gentle craft of candle rolling creates candles with a warm golden glow and a homely atmosphere perfect for Christmas. Each Beeswax Candle Rolling Kit contains all you need to make four candles: Four sheets of 100% natural beeswax in two sizes sustainably sourced in England, your sustainable hemp wicks pre-waxed in natural beeswax, instructions and safety card.

This kit is made out plastic-free ingredients, sourced and made in the UK. Completely biodegradable and all natural.

Beeswax Candle Rolling Kit by Pretty Bee Fresh

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45 Original Presents Rainbow Theatre Retrospective Editions

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This collection of limited edition prints celebrates the musical history of London’s iconic Rainbow Theatre 1971-1981 with re-imagined art.

Rainbow Soul by Fiftyseven for 45 Original

2021 marks the 50th anniversary of the rebirth of the iconic Rainbow Theatre in Finsbury Park, London, a venue that audiences loved as much as the incredible artists they flocked there to watch.

From 1971 to 1981 this venue crammed in gigs featuring every name that counted in music. No self-respecting act’s CV was complete without at least one date at what quickly became a venue of mythical status – the list of those having plugged in and strutted across its legendary boards is an A-Z of 70s music greats.

AC/DC, Bob Marley, David Bowie, The Clash, Fleetwood Mac, Iron Maiden, James Brown, The Jacksons, Pink Floyd, The Ramones, The Who…

Image by Ian Grundy

Astonishingly given how cherished it became, the former Finsbury Park Astoria was only at the cutting edge of live music for one short decade. The stars that burn brightest burn quickest…

45 Original is the vision of Bruce Fisher and Simon Collett, design directors and founders of Tour Design, leading creative agency in the UK live entertainment sector. 10% of Rainbow Theatre Retrospective Edition sale profits are donated to the Music Venue Trust #SaveOurVenues campaign.

Rainbow Rock, Rainbow Punk and Rainbow Reggae by Fiftyseven for 45 Original

Four unique designs from artist and designer Steve Mitchell of Fiftseven Design capture the Rock, Soul, Punk and Reggae music legends to have performed live at the venue in just one stellar decade before it closed its doors.


Working as a graphic designer since 1998, Steve has created and overseen advertising design for festivals such as Latitude, Reading and Leeds, Sounds Of The City Manchester, Country To Country and The Big Chill, and live campaigns for major acts including Eminem, The Black Keys, Burt Bacharach and the Spice Girls. 

As well as acting as a Senior Design Consultant for Tour Design, he can be found working on logo and identity design, producing elaborate typography for magazine covers as well as album artwork and t-shirt designs.

The Diamond Headed Serpent by Fiftyseven

Steve also produces fine art, illustration and street art under the pseudonym Fiftyseven, having developed a unique style he likes to call Neo-Victorian Maximalism.

On his 45 Original collaboration he says, “As a graphic designer with a particular interest in music and typography the Rainbow Theatre brief is the most fun I’ve had for a long while. Working on these designs I was constantly thinking ‘I wish I could have seen so many of these shows!’”

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Local Hope

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One extremely positive thing to take from the past year is just how much local communities have come together to support each other through these difficult and uncertain times. We are very lucky here in Stoke Newington to be surrounded by a whole bunch of strong and supportive independent businesses who have been there to lean on and give us a leg up through three Lockdowns. This last one has definitely been the hardest for us all. We are so proud to be part of this creative and colourful neighbourhood. N16 shops and businesses have joined forces to create this short video to show our community just how much we’ve missed everyone. Here’s to a brighter future!

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Suffolk Lines: An Interview with Rachel Sodey

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Rachel Sodey is a Suffolk based artist and printmaker who responds directly to the landscape around her. Rachel walks the Suffolk countryside with her dog Bo and draws inspiration from the flat land lines, the changing light, and the mood and feelings of the seasons. We are delighted to introduce a selection of her prints, created using a variety of textural printmaking techniques. In this interview with Rachel we get a little insight into her work and find out more about her process.

How long have you been printing for? When did you start out?

My first real experience of printing was at The Norwich School of Art where I studied a degree in fine art textiles. My favourite workshop was the print room and I definitely spent most of my time in there. The technicians were absolutely amazing and taught me so much. At Norwich I mostly worked with screen printing and free-hand embroidery. It was only when I started teaching at West Suffolk College that I rediscovered my love for printing through teaching it. I have the freedom to teach all aspects of printmaking and this is what drives my own work forward.

What is it about the Suffolk landscape that inspires you?

I am definitely obsessed with the flat fields of Suffolk and the clear horizons. Even from a young age I have had favourite fields and just cannot stop photographing the perspective lines.

A lot of your prints take an unusual circular form; how did that come about?

This was by accident really. I had written a project for my students and set the parameter that they all had to produce art work within a circular form. In one particular lesson in the print room, I demonstrated to the students how to create an intaglio plate on a circular piece of drypoint cardboard. When I put it through the press I was really happy with the outcome. This 10-minute demonstration inspired a whole new series of work. Most of my prints evolve from little experiments.

Tell us about the process creating your prints and how you create your plates

I mostly work on drypoint cardboard and make marks onto the plate by using a craft knife. I also have the choice to peel away layers of the cardboard which will hold the colour of the ink (just like the engraved lines) when I print it. The shiny surface of the plate also allows me to create mono prints as well. I am able to choose how much ink to leave on or wipe of the surface, this makes the printing process very exciting as I am never quite sure how each print will turn out.

You talk about the inking process being part of the experimental nature of the printing. How does the process of printing influence the end result?

There is so much to consider when printing a plate. I use the scrim to wipe the ink off the plate once it has been pushed into the engraved lines that I have made. The scrim then also becomes a tool to add movement to my prints – it is a painterly approach really. Although I have a certain amount of control that influences the end result, there are other factors at play such as how damp the paper is and the pressure the press is set to. I am just never quite sure how effective a print will be until I peel the paper away from the inked up plate.

You mention walking, where is your favourite place to walk?

My favourite place to walk is getting lost in the fields in the village where I live in Suffolk. After about 10 minutes of walking I am able to let the dog off the lead and I am just surrounded by fields. Lately on my walks I have been seeing a heron in one certain field which is completely amazing.

Have you found lockdown influencing or changing your work in any way?

Teaching online during lockdown has definitely been challenging so this has left me with less time than normal to get out in my studio. I think lockdown has made me appreciate the ability of being able to escape in my printmaking more.

Whats your favourite takeaway (food)?

Well normally I would definitely say my favourite takeway is a good old vegi curry, but I must say that lockdown has made me crave for a big fat juicy halloumi burger with fries.

Thank you Rachel.

To view more of Rachel Sodey’s work visit her Artist’s Page on ofcabbagesandkings.co.uk.

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