NEW WEBSITE LAUNCH!!!

We have been working hard behind-the-scenes here at Ryantown HQ building our new website and we are excited to announce that the site is now live! 

The website features a full archive of Robs work, studio images, details of forthcoming events and so much more! From now onwards this blog will be relocated to the new website so please read all about the latest Ryantown happenings there.


We now have our own online shop where you can easily buy direct from us! The shop will be selling all of our products, including screenprints, lasercuts, studio ceramics, textiles and books too. You can visit the shop website here.

We worked with the brilliant team at Glock, who have done a great job building the site we wanted. The website is easy to use and is home to all of Robs work, past and present. It has been a lot of work uploading all of the images but it is now finally ready. We are so happy with it and we hope you like it too. You can visit the new website by clicking here. 

Louise Renforth
Studio Assistant

Sims Reed Gallery 'There Is Only Time'

Great News! Rob's solo show 'There Is only Time', which is now on display at Sims Reed Gallery has been extended to Saturday November 16th, 2013. The exhibition, in conjunction with TAG Fine Arts, showcases a new body of papercut work and limited edition screenprints. 

The opening times are weekdays 10 - 6pm and Saturday 11 - 3pm.

Sims Reed gallery is located at 30 Bury street, London, SW1Y 6AU. We hope you can make it to see the show!

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant

Book Signing at Ryantown!!

On Saturday 23rd November from 12pm onwards, Rob will be at Ryantown signing copies of his new book 'The Invisible kingdom' if you would like to visit the shop to meet Rob and have your book personalised. Ryantown is situated at 126 Columbia road, E2 7RG. There will be copies of 'The Invisible kingdom' available to buy at the shop too.


Louise Renforth
Studio Assistant 

Tatty Devine and Rob Ryan Collaboration

We are very excited to announce the launch of a brand new collaboration with Tatty Devine which is now available exclusively at Selfridges!

Rob and Harriet of Tatty Devine have worked closely together to translate elements from Rob's signature papercuts into a fine jewellery collection which comes in a choice of sterling silver, 18-carat gold plated and 18-carat rose gold plated sterling silver.

The beautiful collection features minature birds, intricate lock and key detailing, romantic knots and lyrical wording.

 

Back in the summer, Ryantown HQ was transformed for the day as the Tatty Devine Team used our studio for the photoshoot. Here is a look at some of the behind the scenes photos from the day.

Libby from the studio worked closely with Harriet to design our very own pop-up shop in Selfridges,  you can find the specially designed space on the third floor of the department store. 

Rob comments on the collaboration, 'I make big, complicated, elaborate paper cuts and it’s hard to encapsulate that in tiny pieces of jewellery. I wanted to make something that had joy and lightness to it. If it were up to me alone, I’d have come up with ridiculously complex ideas! Harriet brought a real simplicity to the work to create beautiful, wearable pieces.'

The collection is available exclusively at Selfridges London now and will also be for sale in Ryantown later in the year. Watch the video below to see Rob and Harriet Vine in conversation, as they share their thoughts behind the design process and ideas behind the collaboration. 

You can see each piece in more detail on Tatty Devine's Pinterest here! The Jewellery is also available to buy online on the Selfridges website
 

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant

There Is Only Time: Sims Reed Gallery

Rob's solo show There Is Only Time is at Sims Reed Gallery from now until 8th November 2013. It is open Monday - Friday  10am - 6pm and Saturday 11am - 3pm. The exhibition showcases an entire new body of papercut work and limited edition screenprints.

Rob has also produced a new Ryantown SPQR newspaper especially for the exhibition, it shows in detail a behind-the-scenes look at the work being made. You can collect your copy from the gallery or via our etsy store here.

The exhibition coincides with the launch of Rob's new book The Invisible Kingdom, which forms the first part in a trilogy. To celebrate the launch, Sims Reed Gallery will be hosting a book signing with Rob this Saturday from 1-2pm. The gallery address is, 30 Bury Street, London, SW1Y 6AU.  We hope you can make it to the show! 
 

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant

The Invisible Kingdom

Rob's new book, 'The Invisible Kingdom' is published this week on the 24th October 2013.  It forms the first part in a trilogy telling the story of 'a small boy, a big imagination and learning to be your own person.' 

With the publication date drawing close I thought it would be a good time to share a glimpse at some behind the scene stages involved in the making of it here at Ryantown HQ.

Early in the year, Rob started planning the story and mapping out his ideas, starting with post-its, then onto long pages of notes which covered the walls of the studio.

Once happy with the plot he began to illustrate his words. Rob's drawings were scanned and laid out on the computer by his studio assistant Libby, who did an amazing job in helping bring the story to life.

 

The upstairs wall of Ryantown was transformed as the pages of the book began to take shape with colour and texture. Rob was clearly able to see each page and make any changes as he went along.

'The Invisible Kingdom' will be available to buy from 24th October 2013 and Rob will be signing copies at Sims Reed Gallery on October 26th from 1-2pm. Here is a brilliant video where Rob discusses the book and his thoughts behind the making of it.

Louise Renforth
Studio Assistant 

Good shit Happening!

 

There are some exciting events coming up on the Ryantown calendar this month! Rob is showing a collection of new work, There Is Only Time, at Sim's Reed Gallery, in London, it opens next Wednesday, 23rd October and runs until 8th November 2013. The gallery is open on both Saturday 26th October and Saturday 2nd November 11 am - 3pm for those of you traveling from outside of London or unable to make it during the week.

Rob's new book 'The Invisible Kingdom' will be published on the 24th October, and Rob will be signing copies of the book at Sim's Reed Gallery on October 26th from 1-2pm.  I will be posting a blog very soon with more details and images of the making of the book and some of the stages involved in bringing the story to life. 

Rob has also collaborated with Jewellery Designers Tatty Devine, 
to produce a collection of fine jewellery which is exclusively available at Selfridges from 20th October!

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant 

V&A Membership Pack and Artist talk

Last year Rob was commissioned by the Victoria & Albert Museum to design their membership card and pack, here is the original papercut which Rob created for the front.

The piece reads: 'The Excellence of Every Art Must Consist in the Complete Accomplishment of its Purpose.  Hours that I spent walking and wandering and wondering and wondering on my own to look and think and think and look feeling apart yet feeling a part of all that I saw as the past and the present slowly became one'

 

The V&A have also invited Rob to discuss his career as an Artist as part of their membership programme of events.

Rob Ryan 'You Can Still Do a Lot with a Small Brain' 
Friday 15th November at 7pm 

Evening Talk
19.00 – 20.00 (talk) 20.00 – 20.45 (refreshments)
£15 (including wine reception)

If you are a member you can find tickets available here,  however non-members are also welcome and can buy their tickets here!

Louise Renforth
Studio Assistant

Sims Reed Gallery: Work in progress

With Rob's show There Is Only Time at Sims Reed Gallery fast approaching, it is full steam ahead here at Ryantown HQ. We have all been paper cutting Rob's new drawings for the exhibition. Here is an exclusive look at some of the new work in progress.

Once the drawing has been cut Rob will choose what colour he would like the piece sprayed, we carefully pin down the papercut to foam board and spray it in sections to make sure we get an even coverage across the whole image. When the papercut is dry we can very lightly stick it down to mount board using a very tiny amount of PVA. We want the piece to still have movement rather than lie flat, so parts of it can be slightly raised to create delicate shadows within the work. It can now be sent off to our framer to be framed ready for the show.

From this new work we are also producing some limited editions screenprints, which will be available to buy at the show. Jackie and Tom have been busy sampling and experimenting with new colours for some of the prints, as you can see from the images below. 

Rob made a special flyer for the show which Jackie screenprinted on to some muslin. You can collect one from Ryantown on Columbia Road and we are including one with all etsy purchases too.

The exhibition, in association with TAG Fine Arts, runs from October 23rd - November 8th 2013, and coincides with the official launch of Rob's new book 'The Invisible Kingdom'. Sims Reed Gallery will host a book signing with Rob on Saturday 26th October, from 1-2pm.

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant

On Paper: Grand Central at 100

Earlier this year Rob was invited to participate in an exhibition featuring the work of four contemporary papercut artists as part of Grand Central Station’s Centennial celebrations in New York City. The exhibition was commissioned and curated by MTA Arts for Transit and Urban Design, and will be on view from September 27th 2013 through to September 2014. 

 

The central terminal marks its 100^th birthday with a year-long celebration of events and exhibitions. Rob has produced four large papercuts, which will be installed side by side in light boxes located on the dining concourse on the lower level of Grand Central Terminal. 

It was all hands on deck here in the studio to cut the pieces Rob had drawn for the exhibition. The papercuts, when placed alongside each other, read ‘There Is Only Time!’ 

When working on Rob's papercuts we start by cutting out the smallest part first, this allows for the papercut to stay fairly sturdy for as long as possible. In this case, we cut out all of the tiny hearts from the border.

Once the borders had been cut we begun working on the larger areas and the big letters. We used a special tool called a Japanese drill punch to make the holes in all of the clouds. 

When the pieces had been cut they were ready to be sprayed, because of their lightbox setting we coloured them black. We did this outside in our yard by carefully fixing each papercut to a piece of mount board with pins so it didn't blow away.

Rob said of the work, ‘In making this piece of work I wanted to connect quite directly with the people that use the station. I wanted to speak clearly and directly to these busy, tired and hard working people that are always on the move, that are constantly rushing through this building, catching trains, trying to make it on time. I wanted people to be able to stop and look at something that might help them take a deep breath and exhale and relax and somehow feel everything was going to be ok. The poet Philip Larkin said it a thousand times better than I could when he asked the question ‘Where can we live but days?’.  If somebody can sit down and take the weight off their feet, look at my four pictures and it gives them some kind of solace, if only for a few moments then that would be good.’

I will write another post next week with images of the final pieces and a behind the scenes look at the installation of the work at the station. For more information regarding the exhibition and the work on display you can visit the Arts for Transit twitter page here, or their facebook page to find out more!

Louise Renforth

Studio Assistant