How To begin?
Print works, was once the home of the Mirror group press, in the days when print was King and computers occupied vast rooms. These days it’s a social hotspot, one of many. Images of nightlife, parties arriving and departing. One of many entertainment spots in a vibrant city.
Behind the CIS building towers, once the largest UK skyscraper outside London but not anymore. Face the other way and look down Deansgate or Corporation Street and you’ll see a growing skyline. It started with Beetham’s tower and gradually expands.
And there's more.
To our left is the Corn Exchange. The blue and white sign is hard to read at this angle. Although, given its letters have been squashed into a square sign with three lines, it’s hard to read face on as well. I liked design but sometimes I think designers can be too clever for their own good.
Time is everything.
Why this view? I wanted to show the contrast between old and new Manchester. I’m also a sucker for a clock. What can I say, timepieces fascinate me. How can you measure time? It flies when you’re happy and drags when you’re bored. Yet we like to try. Sure it’s important to be able to predict when trains are leaving, and so on. But isn’t it great when you’re off the clock and can let time pass and just be in the moment.
I’ve said this before, however well planned and considered a work of art, there comes a time when serendipity plays a part. In all creativity, the artist has to rely on a degree of instinct, and recognising the potential of a scene, before the thought of a painting ever emerges. In the days of the mobile phone and their digital cameras, it’s easier to capture a moment in time, thinking vaguely, that might work. Some time later, as you look through the photos it speaks to you, calling out to be painted. And that’s how Printworks began.
