FURTHER ADVENTURES IN SILK AQUA TINT

The class at Hampen have been very excited about the results of silk aqua tint plates this term.

Allsorts of things have been painted and dribbled onto chiffon plates to create tonal variations, from Hammerite to Bostike. Inking them up in one colour has shown the variety of marks that can be achieved.

But this week the plates have been inked up using simultaneous colour printing.

This was a method of inking intaglio plates developed by Stanley William Hayter. Also known as viscosity inking.

The process gives a rich exciting look to the work.

 

From simple intaglio inking,

to the addition of simultaneous colour printing.

The difference from one method

to the other is amazing, making work rich and three dimensional.

Simple yet effective. I can't wait to see what the group will develop next.

 

I am running a 2 day silk aqua tint workshop 9-10 November, there are now 2 places left.

FURTHER INSTALLMENTS OF SILK AQUA TINT

I missed to post about Hampens Silk Aqua tint class last week because I forgot my camera, so I am making up for it this week.

I have been encouraging everyone to try chine collee when printing their experiments.

This is the addition of coloured tissue or handmade paper at the printing stage.

We have also been printing with viscosity inks...but more of that next week.

This week everyone has been adding skim and repair filler to the chiffon base using masking tape to control the shapes.

Skim and repair is very sensitive to textures which retains ink in great detail.

Wall paper, lace and leaves were pressed into the filler.

Then glue is added to create tonal variations. I can not wait to see these plates printed next week.

CONTEMPORARY VITROUS ENAMEL

What a busy time it is, there must be makers all over the country, painting, sticking, framing and assembling ready for 'Seasonal' exhibitions coming up in a month or so?

I dropped these two off this morning and they will be appearing soon in an exhibition at the School of Jewellery, Birmingham. The British Society of Enamel and the Guild of Enamellers are organising the exhibition, Heart of Heat. This will show case enamellers from all over the country and should prove to be a must see show for all of you who are intrigued by the craft.

11 Nov - 13 Dec, School of Jewellery, Birmingham. 

When not whizzing around the countryside in the 2CV, I am getting work ready for

those season shows.

This is a new batch of festive lost relatives.

The background? Why wallpaper from B&Q. And yes reader I bought a roll!

 

A CLASS OF THEIR OWN.

This week the weather at Hampen Factory is a bit different.

Mists and mellow fruitfulness come to mind.

I love that at this time of year, the hedgerows adorned with lace

and encrusted with fruity gems.

Back in the studio everyone inked up and printed their silk aquatint experiments. Ink it like an etching plate and use damp paper and an etching press. There were lots of very nice results, I feel that everyone produce some lovely prints and embraced the technique. This image shows a print on the right with the plate on the left.

This is a print of thick wood glue just dribbled onto the chiffon surface.

This demonstrates taking a proof then reworking the plate showing how it is possible to lighten areas dramatically.

Cleaning the plate well and degreasing it  makes it possible to add more glue or acrylic gel to lighten areas and add detail...spot the differences here.

The technique produces images that look very painterly and atmospheric, not typical of a collagraph plate at all.

Same plate, different approach to inking. What a transformation.

 

These are just a few examples from yesterdays class, I have not picked favourites as everyone produced such interesting results and I will share them as the weeks go on. I am very excited at how everyone has got stuck in and really experimented with this technically tricky plate making technique.

 

I think I ought to do a weekend workshop for those who can't come on a Wednesday?

 

A CLASS ACT

The Autumn term started yesterday at Hampen Factory.

The sun shone lighting up the reds and oranges that herald the start of the season.

Set in the Cotswold countryside Hampen Factory is a fantastic place to hold a creative course.

I have been blogging about Hampen since 2009 and have run printmaking and sketchbook courses from there for several years more. So I though it was about time I showed you what we get up to.

This term my morning group will be experimenting with the sophisticated collagraph process, silk aqua tint. Week 1 introduces the group to this method, with biscuits to keep the creative flow sustained.

Silk aqua tint is a collagraph plate making method using chiffon attached to a card substrate as the base plate. The plate for this example is on the right.

This collagraph plate produces an image that would be mistaken for a mezzotint or an etching using tradition aqua tint resin, the latter being a toxic plate making method. When printed you get what you see on the plate ( plate on the left)

By painting on to the chiffon and card plate acrylic mediums, wood glue and even emulsion a set of tonal ranges can be achieved.

Everyone spent a happy 2 hours experimenting on sample plates with different liquids and of course writing on the back of the plates what was used where...!

Next Wednesday when these samples are dry we will print them and see what we get.

 

The pitfalls with this process is putting enough glue on ( you need several thin layers allowing them to dry in-between) to achieve white. Acrylic paint (the yellow) makes a mark, but will not produce light tones, good for gentle shadows, a bit counter intuitive. Trying out different acrylic gels and mediums found on the shelves of art shops is worth a go.

 

Over the next few weeks you will see this technique develop, I think silk aqua tint is one of the most exciting of processes as it gives such unexpected results and the print has a very different quality to a traditional collagraph....if there is such a thing?

 

For more information about Hampen Factory, http://www.hampenfactory.co.uk/ or contact me for details about 2013/14 weekend workshops and the 10 week printmaking course, 2014.

QUARTZ ARTS FESTIVAL 2013

I have been invite to exhibit at the Quartz Arts Festival at Queens College, Taunton.

These are 2 new moth domes

made for the show.

These along with several spoons and ladles will be delivered on Friday. The exhibition will start  

25^th September – 5^th October 2013

 www.quartzfestival.org.uk for more details.

VITREOUS ENAMEL

Back from my week in the Isle of Skye it is now full steam ahead on the making front.

I have made a set of festive Lost Relatives for Crafted at Christmas for New Brewery Arts, Cirencester.

Some of these pieces have a touch of twinkle in the way of gold leaf fired into the surface.

This one is called , 'Off Duty', couldn't resist really.

I know it's early, but this one says it all.