When Annegret Frauenlob (Atelier für Grafik und Buchkunst, DE) invited me to participate in the 'Hits! Printmakers' Top Ten' project I wasn't quite familiar with it yet, but as it involved music and printmaking I thought 'Hey, you can't go wrong with that, can you;)'.

The first edition of 'Hits! No.1' dates from 2017 when Annegret invited various printmakers and book artists to create artwork with the main focus of using songs – music and lyrics – as an inspiration. It has been going on ever since. Each box contains ten music-inspired prints – each of them of a different size but folded into the size of a Single. Each participant is free to use printing techniques available at his/her workshop therefore each box become a showcase of experimental artworks full of vivid colours and playful type. It is a genuinely great source of inspiration.

After going through my eclectic Spotify list I stumbled upon the song "Ain't No Sunshine" by Bill Withers from his 1971 album Just As I Am, produced by Booker T. Jones. Well, I do have a soft spot for the 70s music hits. I immediately had an idea of what the composition should look like and how gentle the colours should be to create a dreamy mood.

It took me two half days of mixing the colours, typesetting the wood and metal type and printing 50 copies on FAG 405, at the Museum of Industry in Ghent. Using the ornament available at the museum to illustrate the cloud, setting the Hollands Medieval metal type and puzzling with wood type as I didn't have enough type of the same size, so it became a combination of wood type from various cases.

It was great fun and I'm proud to be part of this project! Thank you, Annegret!
listen to the printmakers top ten youtube playlist for Hits! No.5: youtube / spotify

Hits! Printmakers' Top Ten