#wimbledonartstudios — Public Fediverse posts

Our Forge & Craft “mini-masterpiece”1 for the Wimbledon Art Fair for spring 2025, is titled Heliocode.

Throughout the past year, we’ve been experimenting with the use of paint as an element of our pen plotter work. This is not to the same extent as some of our friends in the community, who have built complete systems to pick and apply colours individually2 – instead, we’re using 3D printed styli to draw through poured paints. We’ve found this to be an interesting combination, juxtaposing the organic and unpredictable movement of the paints with the precision of the drawn lines.

Our previous mini-masterpiece, New Horizons, was in the show sale last November; a behind-the-scenes image crept into my previous post about plotter work.

The new piece, Heliocode, is something that Heidi spent a lot of time on, largely while I was travelling in my new role! The line art design was my principal contribution – that may reappear in different form, in a future project; experimentation with paint, and creation of the final artwork, were all thanks to her efforts. The design was was not intended to be reminiscent of the previous work, at all (in fact, it was never created with the intent to be plotted) – although, viewed one after the other, I can see that there’s a coincidental similarity.

Heliocode

The artwork was created with a Bantam Tools NextDraw 1117, and again combines poured paint techniques with the more strict stylus dynamics of a coded SVG design. We chose a vibrant yellow medium, and a dark violet for the line art. A slight imperfection still found its way into the pattern, which is part of the charm of working with a mixture of digital and analog tools.

Feel free to take a look at the new work, on the Wimbledon Art Fair sale site – it is one of a kind, at an affordable price.

You can also come to visit us at the event itself – find us in Red Studios 273, between May 8th – May 11th 2025.

1. The mini-masterpieces are made and donated by each of the artists taking part in the fair, as part of fundraising for the future of the show. ↩︎
2. See Licia He’s Painting with Plotters course, as one example. ↩︎

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/28/heliocode/

#100DaysToOffload #art #artwork #bantamTools #creativity #forgeAndCraft #generativeArt #nextdraw #paint #paintingWithPlotters #penPlotter #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

Last year, I gave a number of talks on the subject of pen plotters / drawing machines, and how they have been used in different ways to realise different forms of art.

I wasn’t immediately able to share the main talk (the closing keynote from QCon London 2024), but I posted about the shorter edition that I delivered at Electromagnetic Field, and I’ve also written about the distinction between computer art generated using algorithms, and generative AI creations.

It took some time for the video to become available to share, but you can now take a look at the closing keynote that began it all, on the InfoQ website: Where is the Art? a History in Technology. I really enjoyed researching the subject.

This year, I plan to tinker with building more of my own plotters, in different formats.

Next up, we have our fifth (!) Wimbledon Art Fair – next month, May 8-11. We’re still working with the plotter and pouring paints, and have upgraded from the AxiDraw A4 SE to a larger NextDraw 1117 for some of our more recent work. If you’re in the neighbourhood, do come and take a look!

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/17/pen-plotters-and-the-history-of-computer-art/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #forgeAndCraft #history #info1 #infoq #penPlotter #plotterArt #qcon #Technology #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

Last year, I gave a number of talks on the subject of pen plotters / drawing machines, and how they have been used in different ways to realise different forms of art.

I wasn’t immediately able to share the main talk (the closing keynote from QCon London 2024), but I posted about the shorter edition that I delivered at Electromagnetic Field, and I’ve also written about the distinction between computer art generated using algorithms, and generative AI creations.

It took some time for the video to become available to share, but you can now take a look at the closing keynote that began it all, on the InfoQ website: Where is the Art? a History in Technology. I really enjoyed researching the subject.

This year, I plan to tinker with building more of my own plotters, in different formats.

Next up, we have our fifth (!) Wimbledon Art Fair – next month, May 8-11. We’re still working with the plotter and pouring paints, and have upgraded from the AxiDraw A4 SE to a larger NextDraw 1117 for some of our more recent work. If you’re in the neighbourhood, do come and take a look!

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/17/pen-plotters-and-the-history-of-computer-art/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #forgeAndCraft #history #info1 #infoq #penPlotter #plotterArt #qcon #Technology #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

Last year, I gave a number of talks on the subject of pen plotters / drawing machines, and how they have been used in different ways to realise different forms of art.

I wasn’t immediately able to share the main talk (the closing keynote from QCon London 2024), but I posted about the shorter edition that I delivered at Electromagnetic Field, and I’ve also written about the distinction between computer art generated using algorithms, and generative AI creations.

It took some time for the video to become available to share, but you can now take a look at the closing keynote that began it all, on the InfoQ website: Where is the Art? a History in Technology. I really enjoyed researching the subject.

This year, I plan to tinker with building more of my own plotters, in different formats.

Next up, we have our fifth (!) Wimbledon Art Fair – next month, May 8-11. We’re still working with the plotter and pouring paints, and have upgraded from the AxiDraw A4 SE to a larger NextDraw 1117 for some of our more recent work. If you’re in the neighbourhood, do come and take a look!

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/17/pen-plotters-and-the-history-of-computer-art/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #forgeAndCraft #history #info1 #infoq #penPlotter #plotterArt #qcon #Technology #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

Last year, I gave a number of talks on the subject of pen plotters / drawing machines, and how they have been used in different ways to realise different forms of art.

I wasn’t immediately able to share the main talk (the closing keynote from QCon London 2024), but I posted about the shorter edition that I delivered at Electromagnetic Field, and I’ve also written about the distinction between computer art generated using algorithms, and generative AI creations.

It took some time for the video to become available to share, but you can now take a look at the closing keynote that began it all, on the InfoQ website: Where is the Art? a History in Technology. I really enjoyed researching the subject.

This year, I plan to tinker with building more of my own plotters, in different formats.

Next up, we have our fifth (!) Wimbledon Art Fair – next month, May 8-11. We’re still working with the plotter and pouring paints, and have upgraded from the AxiDraw A4 SE to a larger NextDraw 1117 for some of our more recent work. If you’re in the neighbourhood, do come and take a look!

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/17/pen-plotters-and-the-history-of-computer-art/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #forgeAndCraft #history #info1 #infoq #penPlotter #plotterArt #qcon #Technology #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

Last year, I gave a number of talks on the subject of pen plotters / drawing machines, and how they have been used in different ways to realise different forms of art.

I wasn’t immediately able to share the main talk (the closing keynote from QCon London 2024), but I posted about the shorter edition that I delivered at Electromagnetic Field, and I’ve also written about the distinction between computer art generated using algorithms, and generative AI creations.

It took some time for the video to become available to share, but you can now take a look at the closing keynote that began it all, on the InfoQ website: Where is the Art? a History in Technology. I really enjoyed researching the subject.

This year, I plan to tinker with building more of my own plotters, in different formats.

Next up, we have our fifth (!) Wimbledon Art Fair – next month, May 8-11. We’re still working with the plotter and pouring paints, and have upgraded from the AxiDraw A4 SE to a larger NextDraw 1117 for some of our more recent work. If you’re in the neighbourhood, do come and take a look!

https://andypiper.co.uk/2025/04/17/pen-plotters-and-the-history-of-computer-art/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #forgeAndCraft #history #info1 #infoq #penPlotter #plotterArt #qcon #Technology #wimbledonArtFair #wimbledonArtStudios

One of the things we’re starting to work with in the studio is… paint!

We’ve got a number of friends who have been using paint with their plotters for some time – for example, Licia He has specifically written code for her AxiDraw and specialises in generative algorithmic painting, which is really incredible stuff1.

We’re taking a different approach at the moment, and starting out just with some pouring paints, silicon oil, and heat, with the plotter nowhere to be seen (yet – well, OK, I’ve started to 3D print some parts that will come into play later). This is really all just in order to start getting comfortable with the medium.

These are just some examples from our current experiments. Very different to what we’ve usually been dealing with!

1. If you’re interested in plotter art, I have a page to accompany one of my talks on the subject, with links to other artists and resource. ↩︎

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https://andypiper.co.uk/2024/09/03/art-experiments/

#100DaysToOffload #art #creativity #experimentation #forgeAndCraft #plotter #studio #wimbledonArtStudios

This year, we’ve been working on improving the profile of our small maker studio – in particular, through getting out to different kinds of events.

For those not aware, for about 18 months now we’ve been building an art / maker space and studio, which is known as Forge & Craft – based in the Wimbledon Art Studios community, in south west London. The concept is that we are interested in making physical art with technology, and in particular our primary work is using pen plotters. I wrote some more about it last year.

We’ve now taken part in three Wimbledon Art Fairs at the studios (and we’ve signed up to take part in the next show, in November). These are four day open studios weekends, where you can visit us as well as exploring over a hundred (!) other artist spaces.

Since the last show in April, we also had a stall in the Night Market at Electromagnetic Field (where I also gave a talk about the history of computer art with plotters – I’ll be sharing more about the talk when the videos become available; and, we showed our machines and craft in our popup village). Two weeks ago we travelled up to Liverpool for this year’s Liverpool Makefest – we went as visitors last year, but this time, we got involved as exhibitors. It was a lot of fun!

Coming up next, we’ll be at the Twickenham High Tide Festival (specifically, we will be located at Twickenham Green), on Sunday 28th July; and then, as mentioned above, we’ll also open the studio again in November for the next Wimbledon Art Fair.

Finally, as well as the talks and shows, I was really honoured to be commissioned to create some prize pieces for CommCon this year. It was a lot of fun to work with my restored, vintage 1980s Roland DXY-1100 flatbed plotter, and to collaborate with Dan to create some images of London and San Francisco for the event.

We’re working on a refresh of our simple web landing page at the moment, but in the meantime, you’re free to also take a look at the shop and see the kinds of art we’re working on. We have a Pixelfed profile with images of our work, as well. If you are interested in discussing commissions or any other opportunities you have in mind, please get in touch.

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https://andypiper.co.uk/2024/07/19/activities-with-forge-craft/

#100DaysToOffload #art #events #forgeAndCraft #forgeandcraft #maker #penPlotter #studio #talks #wimbledonArtStudios