Monoprint

I have had some fun with monoprinting some of the images from my rabbit bones.

If you follow the blog you probably know that I am a fan of monoprinting which can be done in a number of different ways and with varied media In fact my workshop on ‘Stitched’                            (Click here to visit Alma Stoller.) is   based  on monoprint and stitch.

                                                                   
A couple of weeks ago DMTV showed a slightly new version to me and I have been trying that out on some hand dyed fabric.

The results vary depending on how much paint is used. I think I may prefer the slightly squashy look to the
clearer line. I used acrylic with a medium rather than fabric paint as used on DMTV..

You will note that so far I am sticking with colour. I start my course tomorrow so I do plan to be more monochrome.

Bones

 I have been trying to do a little sketching from my ‘bones’, as however difficult this is it does mean that you look more at the source. So here I, quite bravely, share some of my sketchbook work so far.

I couldn't resist making a printing block even though I was all set to keep to sketching.

I am lucky to have a new computer which is presenting something of a learning curve, but it is so fast and I at last agree with my sons, who have been telling me for a long time that I needed to get rid of the old one.

Lace

Marianne de Wit from the Netherlands was kind enough to comment on some of my work on Flickr. She also asked me about a possible swap. I am not involved in any swap groups at the moment and have no plan to be, but I was pleased to offer her a swap as she had been so pleasant on Flickr.

We both put up photos of items we were prepared to swap and  I chose a piece of lace, as other than being a self taught tatter years ago I have never made lace other than a needlelace bag for a City and Guilds piece years ago.

Marianne was kind enough to include these three pieces of very delicate and intricate lace.

In exchange she chose a really chunky and shaggy felted bag. The main body of the bag being merino wool and the outside wool being some I collected washed etc. from the fields on the cliff tops on the Dingle Peninsula in Ireland. I was told by an experienced spinner that it was poor quality wool, only fit for rugs. But it was special as I gathered it from a special place, near the derelict schoolhouse where the film ‘Ryan’s’ Daughter’ was made.

Here is a link to Moira, a lady who made my day by having enjoyed the STITCHED workshop and producing some really imaginative work. Take a look.

'STITCHED'

In the first month an amazing 117 people have joined STITCHED. With 20 plus video workshops to watch, a wide variety of techniques are covered. So far I have had time to watch only a few. I think because it is the first video venture for many of the tutors they are really generous with the amount of time and detail they have included in the workshops.

I have found a number of good tips and ideas already.

My contribution is Make Your Mark with Stitch (Lets Play Noughts and Crosses) and I had some fun showing a simple monoprint method and adding stitch to make a stitched panel which could be used in a number of ways. Here I show it used as a bag front.
I realised part way into organizing the workshop that in some parts of the world they don't have any idea what the game of 'noughts and crosses' is, and not only that X's are not called crosses and 'noughts' is so old fashioned its like a foreign language; so as people have joined from all over the world its probably a mystery to them. Thank goodness for Wikipedia.

A number of firms have become involved and are offering prizes for the  regular draws which Alma is organizing.

The registration is open until May and the workshops available until June.
Click here to visit Alma Stoller.

Some burning will be involved.

 Its interesting reading peoples’ New Year resolutions and aims.  Most of us seem to start with the idea of a clean slate and some excitement at what we can achieve, lots of talk about getting those creative muscles working again. The trouble is that the internet, with all its great attributes, is such a distraction and consumer of time. Time I can usually justify as being well spent. It comes so much easier to flip through other people’s work, sometimes baffled, often in awe, rather than sit down and get myself to draw - even though this is usually where the real inspiration will come from.

These are my vague plans for the start of 2012, although I expect to get nicely sidetracked at some point. I received gift vouchers for the City Lit in London and have booked a short course, three Saturdays with Louise Baldwin. The theme is Transform/Change/Disintegrate. On a recent walk I was excited, yes its true, to find a partly decomposed rabbit skeleton. Wrapping the remains gently in dry grass I brought it home and gave it a good dose of disinfectant, I’m sure you are pleased about that.The ligaments contracted and were a bit eerie, and mostly I cut them off.

It really is almost painfully beautiful.These are some of the pictures I have taken so far.

I have a top of the range wood burning tool regifted by my son, who bought it for himself and thought I would make better use of it. So some burning will be involved.

I am inspired by Dorothy Caldwell’s work. I bought a Surface Design magazine recently in the hope that it would really feature her work, but there was not much about her. That is something that the internet is excellent for, as I can search through images of her work.

So, mark making, batik, encaustic and bleach.


I plan to keep to a neutral colour scheme, but as I am so drawn to using colour that will be really difficult.

 

So now I've put it in writing, some sort of commitment - we shall see.

'Memories are made of this.'

A little bit of tidying for the New Year. Feels better.