Because, of course, the International Print Biennale is currently on, at a scattering of locations in and around Newcastle. I had great plans, although from the very start it was agreed that if the weather was good we'd spend time out of town and fit some print in around that. So that was what we ended up doing. Tynemouth turned out to be a pleasant little seaside town (I was rather taken with the Barca Art Bar where, looking in through the window, I could see WWII plastic soldiers fighting it out across the ceiling), and Druridge Bay was a miles-long gentle crescent of beautiful sand and picturebook rolling waves all under a summery blue sky, with perhaps as many as a dozen people to share it with.
My own favourites were particularly Ann Aspinwall's series of collagraphs of paving setts in various cities
and Milos Djordjevic's telegraph poles on what look like torn plates,
and also Victoria Burge's Night Pixel prints,
I wish I could have taken in more of the Biennale, because there we actually were, and it won't come around again for (at least) another two years. But I'd rather have been able to spread any more over a few days and anyway I was very pleased with what I did get to see. It was enough, in the time we had.
The Hatton Gallery is part of Newcastle University - as we left, I was delighted by two very artful university windows - art is where you find it, don't you think?