MORE GOINGS ON AT the yard:ARTspace

So I have had a quiet week really here at the yard:ARTspace.

But at the weekend I was delighted to have a group making and printing collagraphs made with carborundum.

Saturday was frenetic, I asked them to make several small plates, dry and seal them so we could print before lunch.

And look at them go, this is just a small example of what was produced.

In the afternoon I 'made' them double the size of their plate making.

Allowing for over night drying, Sunday morning found us

using chine collee adding

colour to the work.

Once chine collee

had been mastered it was

onto viscosity inking.

This process was the cause of several oohs and ahhs.

I have to admit looking back at the weekend I did pack lots of content in, I suggest a high protein diet and an early night before my weekend workshops. But I was delighted with everyone's energetic, spontaneous images and how quickly everyone got the hang of inking. Thank you for a lovely weekend.

BACK WITH A BANG!

So this is a round up of the last 3 weeks and looking at it like this makes me think, phew, how do I fit it all in.

At last the lovely Mr Brown and I got a holiday, a beautiful week in gorgeous Dorset.

Lucky with the weather, we even had a dip in the sea, yes, I am saving you from a view of me in my costume. What it meant was that I had some down time to fiddle...and I love to fiddle.

Then back to the shed. Here is a sneaky peak of a lamp shade I am making for the Museum in the Park, Stroud, for their Night in the Museum event at the end of October.

Enthusiastically supported by Frank of course. 

I was also able to convert a holiday drawing into

a collagraph plate which I intend to print this week,

Term at the yard:ARTspace started the week beginning the 19 September.

The Space In-between is festooned with fowl collagraphs. A chance to see my early work.

These sunflowers were a cheery welcome for the start of the 10 week collagraph course. I have folk signing up for next January already.

Wednesday was full on with the morning, afternoon and evening class happening.

They were made to work hard with making, inking and 

printing with chine collee a dry point plate, a little activity just to get them warmed up!!

But everyone rose to the challenge

and lovely prints were

produced by everyone!

Then just to top my busy week off nicely I spent Saturday delivering a mono print workshop for Twenty Twenty Gallery  in Much Wenlock.

A fabulous time was had by all. Lunch was delicious, thank you Claire.

And after some foraging on the way back from lunch, natural material was added to the complex mono prints

made in the morning.

Everyone took home lots of work and ideas. The next Viscosity Mono print workshop is at the yard:ARTspace in December.

So that is me in a month and to be honest I haven't mentioned the paper work, gallery visits, re editioning collagraphs and the family stuff. I know I am not alone hurtling through life, but I am lucky to be doing something I love.

DRAWING, DRAWING...

Having a few weeks off teaching means that I have been able to catch up on a little me time.

This means opening up my sketch books and trying out a few ideas

These are all rough ideas that I might like to develop into collagraphs.

From the usual birdie subject to  

 a combination of angels and

 corvids.

The angels are a blast from the past

and images that I explored years ago.

Can't wait to start the collagraph plate making.

MAKERS PLAY DAY AT THE YARD

So I am meant to be having a rest. After a very busy few months I feel becalmed and I don't know about you, but that makes me feel panicky. I know I don't have to make, make, make....but the alternative is house work!!!

So I opened up the doors to the yard:ARTspace  and invited a bunch of creatives to come and play.

The monkey on my shoulder said, relax Sue, we are playing...I think everyone else felt the same. I offered gum arabic transfer, they bought marvelous stashes of fabric treasures and off we went. And we relaxed. I made them inky, they made me think textiles woooo!

Very quickly, because gum arabic as a technique is very quick, we all created some mouth watering results, surprising even ourselves as to how well the technique works on fabric.

The lovely Kathleen Murphy  delving into her stash. 

And then made this, and many other beautiful prints during the day.

Being gifted some beautiful embroidered pieces, I tried collagraph printing and then gum arabic.

Thrilled with the result.

 

The effervescent Caroline McCatty  shared her fabulous velvet because

it is a fantastic substrate to print on (yes we all learnt a new word). I can't wait to see this turn into a 3D piece.

I looks like Viv Sliwka is having fun?

And her drawings look so good printed onto these 

beautiful fabrics, very exciting to see this process being pushed to the limit.

Claire Cawte came with a project in mind and 

this looks wonderful, I can't wait to see her finished textile book.

But at the end of the day we are ladies who lunch, put a bunch of creatives together, say, bring food to share and colour plus taste is the result.

A well deserved break. 

The day has got me thinking, I love fabric and I am well out of my comfort zone here, thank you ladies for the inspiration and a day of laughs.

I will be running a Gum Arabic Transfer on Fabric workshop on 20 May, 2017 at the yard:ARTspace