Late in the day

I'll be brief as I've left it late in the day ;) Brief, moi?

College stuff first. After struggling with scratching/sketching on perspex I found mono printing with watercolor very relaxing. Now I want my very own set of watercolors....as if there's room in my studio for more! (but I need them)

  a poppy field but a little washed out

 second pull, more impressionistic, like this one ;)

 My attempt at abstract, hmmm. Difficult to get the paper damp enough & the paints not too wet!

Below is a drawing on slate found on the shore using an awl, much easier! Teach reminded me I might be able to take a print, of course - I was just excited about being able to make a mark ;) Might etch a little deeper tho - it's not as feint as it looks here. I'll practice the watercolor monoprinting, it was fun to do.

 Above is part of my registration sheet & some card used for wiping ink onto the etching plates must have got stuck on to the back of it. What fabulous marks have soaked thru! It's gone into my sketchbook for now but will probably be the first found mark in my marks book..when I've made it ;)

The results from last week - why does the program I use for cropping sometimes make them blurred? 3 angles of the cuff 

below 2 little 3 x 1" snippets I'm keeping for a rainy day

 2 even smaller patches  I made from collecting from around my desk...for my shoes! (remember those?

 one side of the purse - Day

the other side, evening ;) A button made from one of the corners

A sample piece - good thing I'm practicing; a wonky organza moon & a pretty strangulated heron - doesn't help if you can't see the drawing you've made on the back to stitch from & the DH said my trees are like seaweed..very good seaweed!

 Looks a little like an African mask, earthy colors even tho it's meant to be evening sky with sunset...

The book turned out ok, about 4 or 5 " by 6 or 7". I may make tassles for the ends of the cord - see they're wrapped around the second 'corner' button. It'll be better when I've stitched some pages in ;)

Pleased with the brooches, they're abut 1 1/2 by 1 1/2

 & some cards, about the same as the brooches but not tidied up, sort of a colorful Boro look (now there's another idea - using the needle felting machine gives a lovely disintegrated, old patched feel, what else could I make, I wonder?)  I don't normally hand stitch on cards but I had a coffee with my textile buddy & I stitched as we chatted. I'm enjoying this new found relaxing embroidery time, either while having a chat or watching East Enders...as long as I don't get in a tangle, can find my scissors, can see properly & the dog doesn't lay on my threads. Work is still progressing on the actual hangings......so much easier to do the smaller functional things. There, finished!

Still on the terrracotta & blue theme

 Ok, it's still just a pile of unfinished work, but I'm moving on....slowly. The 3 small pieces at the top of the pile if you can see them are a sample for the sketchbook, behind that a 'spare' piece & behind that a smaller piece, that will become 2 brooches. Underneath those is a book cover, a purse & cuff sized piece & below those are 2 hangings to be, one with a half moon, heron & trees to be thought about the other, well, without ;) I should have looked up in Thesaurus for an alternative to 'piece'. I do hate repeating one word 4 times in a paragraph.

The most exciting achievement this week is that i have finally got my very own 'hand dyed' cloth! see above Oh, my, I've joined the big boys! How I've longed to be a dyer, I've managed a bit of rusting here & there, but the word 'procion' fills me with horror. But, I found myself thinking, 'I don't have enough of the right blue in my collection of recycled fabrics' & I answered myself, well I can use silk/fabric paint. OK so I know it's not real dyeing but it's close, using what I have ;)

I brought it painted & dripping  into the house to drape over the Aga & horror of horrors thought I'd either made a mess on the (very clean) oven door (it is a turquoise Aga tho, ...of course) or burnt it, as it stuck to the door. I didn't realize if you 'applied heat directly to 'dyed' cloth it drew the color to that spot so, while he wasn't looking I roughly folded the cloth & put it on the warm plate under the weight of an oven glove & left it.....he didn't notice. & the above happened. Nobody anywhere has said you could use an Aga for resist dyeing!  Half of it, a piece of cloth about 5 x 12 has gone into my 'pieces' & I've just noticed the look of a stand of birch trees..... Can you tell I'm excited?

 Anyway, here are a few pic that were drying from my class last week. Do just scroll thru quickly!

 Chine Colle

 I'm not normally one for 'seeing things' but there's definitely an otter swimming in my clean up print!

 More turps

 using up ink

 cleaning rollers

 more ink cleaning

 more turps. Some wonderful makrks

one of the other students lino cuts, wish I'd done a tree!

 We did  lithographs in perspex this week. Boy, I thought I'd found a new career, with perspex being accessible & no acid involved, & just a sharp tool but apart from the teeth itching noise I could barely scratch the surface without wanting to wearing wrist, elbow & hand supports! It is my very first time, scratching - I couldn't call it sketching - for a lithograph, but still, my 'sampler'  which is laying on it's side with exhaustion, looks like it's been done by a 5 yr old, very naiive ;(

These above are by 2 other students, lovely, the nude was traced directly onto the perspex from a book, but still! As the DH said, 'very different' to mine. It was fun, tho. Right, off to stitch into those pieces!

Another week gone by

After the relative success of last week I don't seem to have completed much this week. Tempus Fugit & all that.

I did get another mono printed birthday card out on time, amazing! I drew into it a little, quite pleased. Blurred, sorry - why did I miss the sunshine we've had all week & leave taking pics till the winter dark set back in?

Had a fabulous session  at college, tho, some printing at last (it was only week 3) But so exciting, you really feel you've achieved something.

I didn't take my camera but I brought these 3 home as they were dry but must have left 15 plus prints drying pinned to the wall. They are all from just cleaning the block, the middle one removing the last traces of ink & the top in black & the bottom in blue ink after adding turps all over, ok & patting it about a bit ;)

 These 3 pics are sitting on my registration sheet, I've got to bring a new one in as I got carried away & was rolling ink on the block on it by mistake.... Some nice marks I can use tho.

 I was asked to show teach my sketch book from the first class so I got the  bits together which have been floating about within the cover for 2 yrs & stitched it all up quite neatly. I'd written the date as 2011 of course, so I found an 'E' from a practice plate print from last time, turned it upside down, hinged it for some reason (?) & it became a 3

I also drew my fish out in the section for this course - see the pretty tab? - semi traced from the tracing.....going backwards, I know

& paper clipped in my tracing & rubbing - closed neatly, above

 un clipped & pulled out, above

I was asked to show the Chine Colle practice from last time to the class - I love show(ing off) & tell!

I added a Valentine heart card to my Etsy Shop - I really must make some more. I started a landscape drawing but didn't get very far & I started a small stripped fabric hanging but got overwhelmed with finding anything in my now messy second studio.... Maybe I'll have better luck next week!

Finally a heron!

  It's been a struggle, plenty of procrastination going on, but I finally got a couple of herons out.

2 slightly different variations. They both use mono printed  & painted papers. The top one has a paper 'reverse applique' half moon, a cut out heron & a double swipe with my tree branch screen ordered & kindly made by Linda Stokes. I've hopefully 'repaired' the smudges made when I 'squashed' the 1st swipe with the 2nd swipe - you live & learn. I used printing medium to drop the Brusho powders into which keeps the ink 'open', but then it takes an age to dry.... I love the jumble of branches, which is what I saw, of course, but I kept the 2nd one to a single swipe.

The 2nd version has a full moon - that's called artistic license, isn't it? made from some packaging & a paper 'reverse applique' heron. I've drawn in highlighting the heron & the edges of things & had to add a bit of gold wax stick here & there. Then I stitched around, just a little. They're both about 5/6" x 12" or so.

 When I washed my screen the 1st time I was gutted to watch a beautiful indigo run down the sink. I was ready the 2nd time with a bit of paper, just to catch the color. The white seems to have gone pink.

 I took a pic of the background before going further - I liked the paint over glue resist - only because I'm a messy gluer & the 'prints' you can get from the remains on the pallet.

Additions to the sketchbook page - I'll stitch the sample soon as it was still wet - I'd dried the 'real' pieces over the heater. I tried out a few different moons & used them to illustrate my observations of looking up at the half moon at every opportunity - the daytime half moon tilts forward, the evening one is straight up & down & the night moon rests back a bit. I must look out for the morning one.

A visit from 18 Greylags right in front of the house - i feel a goose coming on ;)

Beach combing in bitter winds but quite exhiliarating. Above is the back (I've decided) of a lid of some kind -  I'll take a proper pic for a background.

 The front - see the beady 'eye' in the 1st one? I'd have to turn it round as above. Don't do eyes.

This wonderful piece is about 1 foot by nearly 3, lovely.

There's a lot of activity with the Great Tits & Coal Tits in the garden, I think I saw a Blue Tit a while ago so I asked the DH would he kindly empty the box of the old nest - no maggots this time! Delighted to see the use of lime green & blood red fibers, along with sheep's wool; birds after my own heart.

No snow pics for me, I'm so jealous! Wrap up warm & enjoy your snow days if you have them.