WEDNESDAY - POSITIVE RESULTS

I got into Nature in Art this morning and was pleasantly surprised to find that although the sheep drawings from the day before were not amazing, they would do the job as the start for 2 new sheep collagraphs.
So I set too and traced both drawings, modifying the images as I went along.

I then proceeded to make both sheep using card, wood glue and wall paper.

Adding detail by carving into the card with a sharp blade.

To get really black blacks for the faces and legs I am using carborundum.

Tomorrow I will seal the carborundum with Klear floor varnish and shellac both plates.

In between waiting for glue to dry I wandered around the grounds and

came across this wonderful water feature, I love this bird which is hiding under neath the piece,

and this frog nestling among the reeds reminds me of the frogs the cats are bringing into the house from our pond.

TUESDAY - GETTING STARTED

Day 1 in the studio, I had lots of plans and good intentions, but I had forgotten how hard it is to work in the public eye.
I had examples of sketch books and collagraph prints to illustrate any explanations I had to give about my activities.

I also spent the whole day doing a number of prep drawings in my A3 sketch book...not feeling positive about these I have to say, it has been a while since I have worked like this and I feel very rusty. I feel a little under pressure as Nature in Art has today opened a prestigious exhibition of Gary Hodges work www.garyhodges.org.uk a very different style.

But when it all gets too gloomy in the studio I do have the opportunity to immerse myself in the quirky sculpture of Alan Jacks.

I met Alan several years ago, he use to visit me when I was here, we would talk art and inspiration.

Sadly he died in 2006

I miss his visits and encouragement. Tomorrow is another day, I will lick these sheep into shape and make a collagraph plate that always bucks me up.

MONDAY - SETTING UP

This week I am artist in residence at Nature in Art, near Tewkesbury, www.nature-in-art.org.uk and I thought I would give you a taste of my week day by day, the highs and the lows. This residency was booked up at the end of 2009 and I can't believe how quickly it has come round. It gives me the opportunity to communicate to the public about artists original prints and get a solid weeks worth of drawing and plate making done.
The museum is home to an extrordinary collection of art inspired by the natural world. A beautiful building in a glorious rural setting it holds a diverse collection from paintings by Sir Peter Scott and David Shepherd to Picasso. This is my home for the week.

Around the grounds is a collection of art sheep.

I believe this is their last week on display, well worth a visit.

Inspired by these creatures and some sheep I encountered on my Dorset holiday I plan to make a sheep collagraph plate among other things while I am here.

My residencey starts on Tuesday 7th September and contiues to Sunday 12th, from 10am to 5pm.

FROM SKETCH BOOK TO ENAMEL

I was lucky enough this summer to be asked by Brewery Arts in Cirencester to teach a 3 day workshop on mixed media techniques for sketch books. Now we never allow ourselves enough time to just play with techniques without worrying about having an end result, the 3 days allowed 8 artists , myself and my daughter (who came along for 1 day to get some sketch book pages done) to do exactly that...just play!
In return for coming for the day my daughter shared with us all an interesting transfer technique. Apply a thin layer of acrylic paint, we used emulsion, on to a surface, lay a glossy magazine picture face down onto the wet paint and massage the back. As the paint gets tacky it peels the first photographic layer off the magazine. The above image is an example with the brush marks of the paint picking up bits of image. Now it is a great technique for starting off a blank sketch book page and I spent 2 of the 3 days filling my small book.

This was a very figurative image that I drew into, a bit obvious, but I wanted to see if I could make the transfer work clearly.

This was a more random transfer that I worked on much later, the transfers can act as automatic drawing to spark off ideas or reinforce existing inspirations.

I really like to use the transfer as random texture and backgrounds. From this little drawing I thought it would be interesting to make an enamel piece.

On steel I have worked in exactly the same way as I would in my sketch book, I have collaged enamel transfers for texture and background, scratched through white enamel to black to create the drawing, collaged gold leaf and sifted brown using stencils. I like the scruffy look to the drawing, is my sketch book work escaping...?

I am looking forward to a week long opportunity to draw and make collagraph plates as I am artist in residence from September 7th to 12th at Nature in Art, Twigworth. If you are in sunny Gloucestershire at all do come along for a chat...the cafe does great cake. For further details about this gem of a museum, www.nature-in-art.org.uk

GARDEN OF DELIGHTS

I love this time of year, not quite the end of Summer or the beginning of Autumn. All sorts of plants are flowering and fruiting.
I have a small town garden, but big countryside garden ideas.

I am thrilled with what the garden has produced this year, although I am now sick of runner beans.

The great thing about gardening is that it is so forgiving, if it does not workout this year

there is always next year to have another go.

As usual this time of year I am planning what to plant for next year.

Winter salad has been sown and is sprouting already and I am looking out for garlic to plant soon.

This is the first year I have successfully grown tomatoes.

As I only have 2 artichokes I think I will leave these to flower and just eat the Jerusalem artichokes from another part of the garden.

And this year I will be taking these into the studio to keep them safe from the frost.

EYES RIGHT

This is one of my life size collagraphs, the title is a homage to my eldest son who has an army scholarship and spent 3 weeks of his summer holiday doing officer training at Sandhurst.
Why am I telling you all this?
This morning I heard that it has been chosen for the Society of Wildlife Artists Exhibition on the 22 September to 2 October 2010, at the Mall Gallery, London.
Please don't think I am blowing a trumpet here, it is just that I enter these open exhibitions every now and then and more often than not I fail to get in...a similar image failed to get into Originals 09 at the Mall Gallery, also the RA Summer Show, is it luck...I think so, but if at first you don't succeed and all that. So get out your copy of AN or hit Google with Open Exhibitions and see what is out there to enter. Judges can't see our work when it's under the bed.

ESCALATING ENAMELLING

I know, I can't seem to stop myself at the moment. I can fit these label shaped pieces of copper or steel, 4cm x 8.5cm into my kiln. It is a bit like working pages of my sketch book.
Layering, scraping back adding silver and gold leaf and then reworking.

These were directly inspired by my holiday in fossil filled Dorset.

The piece on the left started out as the piece of copper at the top of this post.

I am beginning to amass a body of enamelled work but I am still struggling with the one off nature of each piece. I can't quite shake off the printmaker in me. I think it is safe to say I am stirred by this technique...sorry!!