End of Term

Last morning at college yesterday, I shall miss it! What will I do with myself?

We were encouraged to hear that we'll probably all pass (teach is marking the pieces over the holidays.) If I do pass I'll get a certificate for Level 5 which is an Intermediate 2, one down from the Higher exam that gets you into Uni up here, something like an AS Level so I'm deLIGHted! Above is the 'highly finished' piece one, Lino cut print on collage with stitch. I only had one go having made up the torn paper ground at home then printed at college, a little hairy in the stitch area - this was printed without a press using a roller on the back of the ground over the lino block. The papers were a mix of monoprint, collograph, clean up from the collograph & the registration sheet I ruined by using it under my block when inking, what a useful mess I made ;)

 Above was the 'highly finished' piece 2, (a different version to last weeks pic) Mono printed ground with lino cut Curlews, a collage of monoprinting & again printing without a press. Very accessible.

 Louise's wee man

Fiona's mono printing

 the cat's are Fiona 2's etchings & Lisa's Old Man of Storr collograph

 Abigail's etchings

 & as a thank you to Teach I couldn't miss the opportunity to make a card out of my curlew block. It just goes to show that altho I like the different textures here using gesso or screen printing ink instead of releif printing ink which would stay here you put it, doesn't cut it! I will invest ;)

 one of my favorite parts of college, drying the inky scrim on the struts under the table, lovely.

Went for a wild walk in the Easterly, North Easterly biting wind, fabulous, exhilerating, so loud! I'm always fascinated by the way the tide going out leaves seaweed in such 'arranged' positions across the whole beach, evrything facing the same way. Then there are the slices of thin seaweed left cloaked over rocks & sand, delicious. I must try some Nuno felting.

Reading Gwen Hedley's book, the first thing that is suggested is to make backgrounds alternative to pristine white which if you've been reading here for a while will know that suits me down to the ground....which is why I bought this book, Drawn to Stitch ;) Above I'm almost embarrassed to say is a pile of B&B tea bags drying...since last summer. cough.

 Luckily I have been encouraged by Gwen to make a surface out of them, (just hadn't got round to it yet!)

Can't wait to use the pink fruit tea bags, what a color.

& last but not least, a little pheasant under the bird feeder, taken by the DH early in the morning (see the sun?) the colors don't look real, do they?