Printing in different ways

For some reason unknown to even myself, I decided I wanted to do some feather mono prints through the week. And so I did.

I got out my gelli plate and the Golden Open Acrylics that work so well and wash out so well and had  myself a little play.

It had been ages since I had done mono prints and I really enjoyed the ghost print results from the gelli  plate - it does hold the impression so well.

I mean look at this detail...

So there are a bunch more cards to be made and some fun coasters to dot around the studio!

And continuing with the coaster theme, A friend came over on Saturday and I introduced her to the joys of letterpress.  She made some beautiful work and at the end of the day we quickly de-bossed some coasters - and I just love them.

So many ways to print...

Thursday Thoughts...

“Art is intimacy, lover’s talk, and yet it is a public declaration.” 

 Jeanette Winterson.

Even tho these words seem so intimate or personal or private; I think they capture that oddest of sensations of showing art.

We make our art. It comes from within. It comes on the wings of whispers.  It tells a story.  It goes deep and then surfaces.  Our art is so very very personal.  We know, only we can make the art we do. And we know, we can only make the art we do.

So then, the showing. The baring. The very public presentation. Asking, hoping.

The intimacy of lover's talk becomes a public declaration.

I can still remember the anxiety going to visit Pas de Deux for the first time before it opened; and hoping that it looked OK; that my work held up all right.  And then I wept a little bit, quietly when I saw it. It was beyond belief beautiful and more than I could ever have hoped for...

And the last time my beautiful mum saw my work on show...more tears today.

Still stitching

Well, my main arty activity has been the ongoing embellishment of this bag.

I made it from scraps from my clothes sewing a year and half a ago and have really enjoyed it.  But I did often think it  might benefit from a little something decorative and so the stitching began.

The bag always wears one of Liz Ackert's peace pins..

I loved some of the patterns that emerged from the perpendicular stitching.

Then I did some different stitching on another panel

And some starry cross stitches along the base.

 Then changed the thread colour and began thin creamy white running stitches on the black...

Lots of fun awaits and it is great to just pick it up and stitch when you have a moment or two.
Who know when it will be done???

A little bit of this...

Studio time has been a bit tricky to grab this week - lots of different things needing attention elsewhere; but fortunately the time I have managed I have been able to use to do a range of things. Small things, but things that settle my mind a bit.

As we printed the sample book, I discovered a number of fonts of type that needed to be put in cabinets rather than boxes, and I did that as well as printing labels to identify where they are.  That of course also meant that I needed to update the type inventory with locations and whilst I was at it I updated the paper inventory as well.

I initially forgot to do a label for Annonce Grotesque, but that has been rectified now.

This lovely pile of type awaits identification and sorting and cataloguing - a job for when I really have nothing better to do!

This box was quite muddled...

 
But is now beautifully sorted and the box is even labeled properly rather than with this taped on piece of tracing paper.

Saturday was a day of unsettledness and so I simply sat in the moments and stitched when I could.  Working on 'decorating' a bag I made a while back with meditative running stitches.

So soothing.

And Barry has been collecting more of his peace doves that have fallen from the tree in the wind and the weather.  We now have eight welcoming us at the front door in this mini installation...

Life is made up of moments with a little bit of this, and a little bit of that...

Thursday Thoughts...

"Not all readers are leaders, but all leaders are readers". 

Harry S Truman

With a book-based Thursday Thoughts to ponder, this one feels really important.  If we think about what books can do, and how they affect us, then surely we should hope that our leaders are readers.

If one reads non-fiction, one understands history, strategy, war, loss, revolution, systems breakdown, how to manage people and the rest of it.  Of course one could also read about lizards, plumbing and tree growth which may or may not help one lead.

If one reads fiction, one learns about imagination, dreaming big, empathy, narrative, and diverse characters.

I think Harry Truman is well placed, having himself been a leader, to suggest how important reading is to being a leader.

Once in position, it becomes even more important I imagine - reading briefings, getting across detailed policies, understanding the subtle nuances of language in diplomatic communiques and so on.

Even though I often try to remove the word 'should' from my vocabulary; this feels like a slight tweak to the quote that would enhance it for me - "...all leaders SHOULD be readers".

I truly would like to think that the folk in charge have read broadly and seen multiple viewpoints and learned from history and others.

And visited a library or two!!

Playing with colour

It has been a long time coming - letterpress sample book intervening - but I was back in the studio today simply playing.

I have been sending all sorts of cards out recently, but realised that there was a bit of an absence of simple old handmade happy birthday cards in my stash. So I thought I'd get some colour and a paintbrush and create a few.

I rummaged around and found a few envelopes and cut up some scraps of paper for cards and sat and played around for bit.

I chose the Caran D'Ache NeocolorII water soluble crayons as the colours are quite vibrant.

 I started by simply drawing a few circles.

And then added water for a few kind-of-almost-squares.

And some stripes.

I added a few Happy Birthdays here and there.

And the odd meandering dotty line. And more dots.

So here we go, a few more cards for the stash, ready to send when we have a birthday on.

As an aside my Dad was telling me a story about a 90 year old woman he visits, who at the beginning of each month, writes all the birthday cards for the month and has them in their envelopes with stamps on all set to go, and they get posted as needed.

I was so impressed by the forward thinking, I wondered if I should adopt the practice in the new year!  I am always a bit sad when I get caught out and can only text, email or call...I like to get a card there on time if I can.

And a further aside are these lovely hydrangeas that came inside yesterday morning.  The colours are just so gorgeous.

So at least I have played with little bit of something.  My mind has been going in all sorts directions nonetheless and the place is strewn with notes i have written down here and there about ideas I want to capture; new classes I want to teach...hopefully I will get some time to really get down and make some stuff soon.

Preparing and teaching

I had another full day of exploring coptic binding with the folk at Buderim Craft Cottage Calligraphy and Paper Arts group on Saturday.  It was hot and we worked hard, but got some great results.

Part of what I taught was around paper grain - especially important when making books.  When taking paper into contact with glue; or when folding it to make pages to turn, grain matters and we spent time looking at different ways to test and discover the grain.

For one of the examples, I was able to use our new paper guillotine to take the spine off a small book; and then set the book up in a press and re-bind it in the opposite direction.

May I say the guillotine was amazingly effective - simple and so smooth to use and wow it just chopped it off no worries at all!

I had bought two copies of this tech girls are superheroes at an opp shop and also enjoyed flicking thru it and reading some very good stories about smart women, but that aside... here I am rebinding one copy.

And this is a comparison - how the book is bound (to save money on sheet sizes of paper)

And how I rebound it...see how much more easily the book opens and the pages lie flat? Grain matters in books.

and some samples of hand made paper where there isn't a grain so much because the fibres aren't jiggle into lines; they are just jiggled.

My test book - just checking that sizes and stitching will work.

 And some of the results from Saturday. We also made a paper slipcase to protect the book.

Some folk finished everything; some folk didn't finish their slip case but most folk finished their book and left with a sense of accomplishment.

Janine stencilled her cover; Greg wrote on his and Irene V covered heres with hand-coloured paper.  I was very much taken with how these three played so beautifully together colour-wise!

Irene got the idea and stitched beautiful.

I encouraged folk to maybe do a cut out on their cover - to remind themselves they can do the on their next book... This one will be completed at home.

Here Janine knotted two colours of thread together to see how the plait worked - how elegant is that?

And Greg put his book's title in the cut out, and managed to save all his deckles to use on the foredge.

I bombarded them with information and they did well to retain it!  We got some great results and folk left with a book in a box in their hands!