We have a very cheap and simple siphon to take water out of the shower (just leave bath plug in while showering), out the first floor window and down either directly onto plants or into water butt, and every year it's such a reminder of how stupid and wasteful the wealthy countries' approach is […]

Just look at the live fire map of US and Africa, and next year El Nino will be in top of this. Get your money out of the big banks and into triodos or co-op or whatever equivalent your country has, next to no effort and one of the most powerful ways not contribute to worsening this utter hell […]

Plug in solar legal in the UK from end August (baffled that it ever wasn't but here we are, the human species) https://octopus.energy/blog/plug-in-solar-panels-explained/

A few pics from my final MA show, more later when I'm less exhausted. Two finished little books, one made with etchings the other with wood engraving prints, all the original prints on display together with the original plates, tools, ink tubes and cloths […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

Managed to find and curve trace some molybdenite: https://cornish-semiconductor.com/index.php/Molybdenite Which is satisfying because it's currently looking like the most likely post-silicon semiconductor: a thousand times less energy hungry. You can make […] [Original post on post.lurk.org]

Kind of shocked being in artskool for the first time just how much the students lean on the technicians for *everything*. It's to the point where the exhibitions are often really a show of the technicians' capabilities not the students'. If a student can't produce their own project, figure out […]

Finishing up two little books for the authorial illustration MA, with our show only a week away. One is made entirely from etchings, the other from wood engravings. Quite surprised the cover band for the latter came out ok with the combo of a wood engraving […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

Current estimation is that finishing an illustration MA is about 4 times harder than finishing a genetics PhD.

Dig for Dirt has gone live 🌱 We're looking for growers and farmers to collectively find out more about the microbes under our feet. Soil bacteria can help clean up the toxic pollution that is the legacy of mining in our area, but very little is known […] [Original post on social.thentrythis.org]

This is great - showing how much hotter it is where you are compared with 'normal' (though the normal they use is quite a recent post-industrial baseline, within living memory for most of us, which as far as I understand it is increasingly being used as people seem to find it more […]

Made some cushions today with my etchings. Squishy. #PrintMaking

Quite a change of political tone https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/l0058jwm/andy-burnhams-plans-for-the-country

BBC News - Andy Burnham's Plans for the Country

Burnham will use first major speech to set out a 10-year plan to boost living standards

bbc.co.uk

Two unis in the town here - one apparently issued 'your job is at risk' yesterday to entire dept who do climate/enviro stuff, and the another I was at today had staff working on heavy manual jobs all day but gave them a free ice cream van as recompense (complete with a diesel generator of course […]

Books heading off to Bristol next week! Entirely illustrated with aquatint etchings, hand bound with matching waxed linen thread, and with double sided belly bands. Epic labour of love, only nine of them made for the Bristol Artist's Book Event. #PrintMaking

Happy solstice from my new little friend 💫

“Young women are moving to the left more than young men are moving to the right,” https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/jun/18/uk-young-men-not-more-rightwing-than-older-groups

Beavering away doing book layouts with the etching prints I've been making over the last few months... #PrintMaking

What an alignment of headlines.

Useful map of UK housing areas likely to subside fairly soon with climate extremes https://www.bgs.ac.uk/news/maps-show-the-real-threat-of-climate-related-subsidence-to-british-homes-and-properties/

Maps show the real threat of climate-related subsidence to British homes and properties - British Geological Survey

New maps launched by BGS reveal how climate change is likely to drive an increase in subsidence-related issues for British homes and properties over the next 50 years.

bgs.ac.uk

Had a nice bit of news lately that I can finally put on here - one of my prints has been longlisted for the World Illustration Awards in the editorial category :D I am baffled and confused but it seems to be real […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

'The world must prepare for the imminent return of El Niño and the supercharged weather extremes it brings, the UN has warned... an 80% chance of forming before September... scientists have previously warned that it could be the strongest this century.' […]

Back on my nonsense 😎 Turns out it's a thing to have bizniz cards at arty shows so just printed one on the pasta machine. I think they are pretentious things that belong in the 80s, personally, but here we are. #PrintMaking

Thought I should do an etch-along but obviously failed at that, so I'll start a few steps in and go from there until I catch up with where I'm at. Here's a zinc sheet that I've had laser cut into a wiggly edged shape. I polished it with brasso and jeweller's […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

Exhausting day trying to get a decent print from this large plate (A2), aiming for a nice consistent ink tone over the aquatint. Changed paper and moved onto this enormous press which I haven't used before, and it worked perfectly! As the technician said, a […] [Original post on mastodon.green]

OMG I got a thing and I'm not allowed to say what the thing is but I got a thing I had zero-to-minus-infinity expectation of getting :frogchamp:

Me too, little tree, me too.

Tiny wood engraving print by Bewick from late 1700s-early 1800s. He engraved his own finger print at life size into this scene, the whole thing is about 4x2cm.

Latest illustration project now has its own page on t'internet, really to be trawled by bots and copied for ai slop. Or if you're human, a minute or so of looking at a nice printing press, shiny metal etching plates, some prints in progress, and too much detail on how they're made […]

Part of big A2 etching test printed today 🌟 Can't say I'm happy with the overall print but might have to learn to be ok with that with deadlines looming 🫣 we'll see. #printmaking

[UK Pol] My weak hope/lukewarm take for the UK is that these election results mean starmer goes out, burnham somehow gets in instead and can continue to push through a lot of the labour policies that are really positive (and already doing good things just, of course, not really making the news) […]