Claire Hartley‘s hand illustrated cards are priced at £6 for a pack of three different designs.

Abigail Borg‘s letterpress cards – ‘Daphne’s Pinecone’ – are priced at £2.99 each, or £7.99 for a pack of 3.

Stephie Says‘ polar bear and reindeer cards are priced at £4 a pack, or £2 each.

Ruth Green‘s hand printed cards come in packs of 5, and has four designs to choose from. Each pack is £5 each.

Night Owl‘s hand drawn cards include four different designs, and can be be bought separately or as a pack for £4.55.

Emma Hardicker‘s silkscreen printed cards come in a variety of designs and colours, priced at £14 for a pack of 5.

Jo Ruth‘s ‘Spirit of Birmingham’ charity cards are £5 and come in packs of 8.

The Pavilions Pop-Up Arts Shop will be open from Friday 1 April to to Wednesday 7 April (excluding Easter Sunday). Here’s some info about what they’ll have in there:

Organiser Jamie, a contemporary feltmaker from Selly Park specialising in fashion and home accessories, will be offering his own range of items for sale, including clutch bags, satchels and trilby hats, many made with locally sourced wool from Worcestershire.

Other artists scheduled to showcase their work are Jan Bowman, architect turned painter, illustrator and author of the recent children’s book ‘This is Birmingham’; Dudley based glassmaker Ian MacDonald; jeweller Ettore Consorte (Smethwick) digital illustrator Jane Anderson (Bearwood) and Nisha Grover who produces various different artworks such as acrylic painting, textiles and murals.

As well as providing valuable retail space for the artists, the shop will also act as a gallery space, showcasing a wide selection of art from Midlands artists. Among the work on display and for sale will be the acrylics, oils and silkscreens of Emma Hardicker, who will also be compiling collections from eight fellow members of Birmingham Printmakers including Harborne based Anne Crews, Tim Southall and Phil Wilkinson.

I happened to walk past it earlier today – this is what it looks like:

Ooh, it’s a compelling title. They’re not so secret as to not invite people though:

Join us at the Solihull Arts Complex this spring and delve into a secret library of contemporary artists’ books with an exhibition dedicated to the genre.

Artists’ books and book works, installation and book-related performances will all be showcased

The Secret Library will open on 8 March and loiter inconspicuously until 8 May. Artists involved include Earle D. Swope, Francis Elliott and Cas Serafin, Frans Baake, Jackie Batey, Jatinder Bains, John Bently, Mike Nicholson, Paul Laidler, Sally Alatalo, Sarah Bodman, Sarah Noreen, Simon Goode, Stephen Fowler, Tom Sowden.

There’ll be a Solihull Artists’ Book fair on 20 March too, featuring those who work in book arts and related disciplines (illustrators, publishers, etc). Lined up for that so far are Alix Swan, Artist Book Collective @ BIAD, Catalogue of Concern, David Lasnier, Emma Hardicker, Hoi Polloi, Karoline Rerrie, Lindsay Jenkinson | Gemma Frearson, Rag-and-Bone Shop Books, The Yellow Door Bindery, [insertspace].

That’s me (on the right) working the mulled wine stall on Saturday at the Kings Heath Big Party.  A huge thanks to everyone who came down and bought a cup of something warm.

In fact, a fair few thanks are in order:

• Kings Heath Centre Partnership for having (and supporting) us
• Sarah Allen for her ever-impressive organisational skills
• Vivid and Fazeley Studios for lending tea urns
• Joanna Geary (co-stall runner) for services beyond the call of duty
• Emma Hardicker, Jo Ruth and Ginger Peach for being nice stall-neighbours (and for excellent cakes from the latter)

I’ll soon be putting up some info about the next project that’ll see CiB getting out and about in the world. I’d best write some posts about other folks first though.

This print is based on Birmingham’s iconic buildings. There are twelve recognisable pieces of architecture in the silkscreen print, placed together to create an architectural pattern in an illustrative way. Have fun trying to find them all

On her about page we learn the following:

I work as an artist producing clean, crisp prints, full of colour, texture and strong pattern. I am a member of Birmingham Printmakers, where I specialise in silkscreen printing. I design and hand print my work to make quality finished pieces of art for your wall. Working from my studio, I also create paintings in oils and acrylics creating landscapes of pattern in rich colours

She has a few prints and cards on sale as well as a poster available via the TfL website, created as part of The Outer Limits – Beyond Zone 1 Poster Competition.

Thanks to Rob Strong, who saw Emma’s work at the Botanical Gardens over the weekend, for the heads up.