A NEW TOY

Thursday 28th May will go down in our household as the day Sue got her spot-welder!

This useful piece of kit came from Westermans in Leicestershire and will allow me to neatly join my steel moths together.

The electrician came in this morning to put a stonking plug in the shed and off I went. Now like any new bit of kit it takes a bit of experimenting to get it right.

As you can see it took me a couple of goes before I got the power right.

I have stopped melting the metal, it was all very exciting.This neat little join is strong,

tidy and

enamels smoothly. One layer of grip coat,

a layer or ivory,

finishing off with a transfer.

I am now ready to embark on a new body of moth lights and new swarms.

 

 

PLAY DAYS (DAZE)

Every now and then I need to learn a new process...as if my head was not full enough! The best way to do this is to ask a chum round to play. My lovely friend Lesley (Printed Material) travelled all the way from Wales to spend time in my shed to work out how to do Kitchen Litho.

It all seemed fairly simple, foil, cola, oil, sponges and greasy drawing materials

Lesley and I followed several instructions. We even sat down and watched a Utube video together, it all looked very simple.

We are practical women, use to process led ways of working.

And we did eventually manage one print, which I could then not repeat!! Ooooh!!

Better foil, fresh cola, do folk who tell us how to do this miss out that crucial bit of info that makes it work? Have you got the secret? Or is it a hit and miss process? I will have another go when I have time, but so I could end the day on a practical high...sharing the day with Lesley was my emotional boost,

I had a go at this. Fresh photo copy, acetone and an iron. This resist method I got from one of my favourite books, Semiprecious Salvage: Creating Found Art Jewellery, Stephanie Lee. It will allow me to make photographic looking images etched into metal. Here I have used ferric chloride to etch the copper. It will be an alternative to a method of resist I learnt on the Guild of Enamellers Conference workshop a few weeks ago where I had a go at electro etch.

On that workshop we used PNP ironed onto steel, similar method, different stuff.

Backed with tape and an electrode taped into the back of the steel.

Then attached to a car battery recharger and sat in salty water.

The results are spectacular. So I am going to try the iron and acetone photocopy method to resist the etch as it is cheaper than PNP and not quite so fiddly. Watch this space!

 

 

There are lots of books and Utube videos about all these methods, the resist methods will be useful to my work, but I have to admit, for me life is too short for litho. With all these lovely processes out there my only advice to you is before embarking on hours of experimentation, think how you would incorporate this method into your work. But don't stop experimenting.

PICA PICA

Setting myself the challenge of making a collagraph a month and then telling everyone that is what I will do is very motivating. The more you make the more you want to make. So here is this months piece ready for finishing touches when it is dry. 

PICA PICA

I am still working on my challenge of a print a month and for sometime I have had it in my mind to work on another corvid cousin, the magpie.

I spent a happy morning wandering around Cheltenham hunting these urban birds.

Another couple of days drawing and I am now ready to start making a collagraph plate.

Using grey board and Skim and Repair.

Carborundum to create the dense black and wood glue to create the white.

Exterior wood glue is by far the best adhesive to secure the carborundum to the surface of the grey board.

I let it sit on the glue for a few minutes to get maximum stick then shake it off like glitter.

This white glue will dry clear and the ink will wipe off it but ink will remain in the drawn lines.

The plate is beginning to come together and the story is developing. The plate needs to dry out thoroughly and then with a coat of shellac it will be ready to print next week.

Magpie and his little friend Robin, oh now there's an idea for another piece, but I don't do fur??

PERIOD LIVING

This is just a taster photograph taken by Jeremy Phillips who together with Rachel Crow came to my studio in March. They stayed for 4 hours putting together an article for the June issue of Period Living Magazine. I know it is still April, but the June issue is now out on the shelves. Rachel has done a brilliant job in getting my creative story across, there are beautiful photos of the shed and tantalising snippets about my working process. Frank features too (cat not husband) although I feel his contribution has been exaggerated.

 

Thankyou Period Living, I am thrilled. 

JUST A THOUGHT

I have at last found some time to get back in the studio to experiment.

I have a cunning plan for this glass ware,

and  once again have hit my sketch books with a few ideas.

Still obsessed with natural history and museum collections.

Starting off with etched copper and

digital transfers

This copper fits nicely into some of the jars and bottles.

 

I am gradually building up enamelled objects and playing with 3 dimensional placement in this small cupboard. I am looking forward to the arrival of my new digital transfers for this project, thankyou for your help Jane getting that sorted out.

I will keep you posted on the progress of this Natural History project. 

 

SPRING IN THE SHED

At last the weather is warming up and the seeds are coming up in veg pot city which is taking advantage of a sunny corner in my walled garden.

You might have spotted what I am using for plant labels. Determined not to

forget what I have planted this year I have enamelled the names on bits of cutlery.

The orange bucket is the Gardening Clubs potatoe in a bucket competition. Who can grow the most for the August show, I am consistent and always come in the last 2.

I am also very smug about my spring bulbs this year.

I am still on target for doing a print a month, even though I am cheating and appear to be doing 2 a month. Will this mean I can have a holiday here and there? I suspect not...momentum is everything.

These are both collagraphs called Singing the Blues. The winter plump blackbirds were in the garden during December. I love the blackbirds song, always cheery at dawn and twilight, hence the labels with gum arabic transfer. I am running a one day Transfer workshop at Hampen Factory on June 21st if you want to learn more about the technique.

 

BREAKING NEWS:- I will be featured in the Artisan section of Period Living in June. Very exciting, several pages of my work, shed and Frank the cat. I believe the magazine comes out in May so watch out for it in your local News Agents.