Solitary Snowdrops

Solitary Snowdrops,

Snuggled in a sudden snowdrift,

As fine as sifted icing sugar.

Cople churchyard is beautiful at the moment with a smattering of celedines, voilets and tiny Blue star like flowers. However it is solitary huddles of snowdrops which inspire me the most because they appear in harsh weather and bring us hope of spring. We are about to get snow here in the UK at the weekend, I have to say it is very pretty but we need the warmth of the sunshine. For those of you deep in a cold winter, I hope you’re keeping cosy.

The snowdrop scribble was inspired by my walk in the churchyard, hopefully I’ll be able to get in the Studio soon to have a play with designs, do a watercolour or maybe a screenprint.

My creative time is very precious because I have an elderly dog recovering from a Stroke and a puppy who is delightful and full of fun, requiring lots of attention, training and walks. Life is full on!

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Chinese lanterns, toadstools and more…

These prints were very simple to produce. I used a foam material like ain apizza base to cut the design of the Chinese lanterns

Next you draw your design into the foam using a biro or pencil.  Mix your coloured ink and roll on to your plate thinly. Put cartridge paper over the plate then with your print roller,  roll up and down.Lift your paper gently off your printing plate and your image appears printed! Great fun, easy and can be done with children.

Hopefully here’s the link to my Brown hare cottage wp site where you can see my ‘Fox in a wood on a wintry night’ linocut print. 

https://lavendermoongirlsbrownharecottage/wordpress.com

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This watercolour sketch of a toadstool from the Agaric family , I found in an old sketchbook. It’s at least 10 year’s old but surprisingly it has held its vibrant autumnal colours. 

Dahlia Lino cut print

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Time for me to stop playing and retreat to the Art Studio. I’ve done a few dahlia sketches, so time to cut my lino. This time I’ll do a single colour, burnt Umber relief printing ink. Here’s one I selected, printed on cartridge paper. I hope you like it! 

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Autumnal Drypoint Printmaking

I had a lovely time at the Westbury Arts Centre in Milton Keynes on Saturday.The Drypoint workshop was tutored by Susan Erskine- Jones. We began with a sketching and photography exercise in preparation for our Drypoint work. Here are a selection of photos I took out in the rambling garden of the farmhouse.

Here are the results: two plates and four prints. Enjoy!

The test piece.

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Printmaking indulgence

Yesterday I indulged myself ccompletely.  My inner creative child just loved inking up the two collagraph plates that I designed and made a couple of week ago. At this time of year there are lots of summer blooms to enjoy so I couldn’t resist making a collograph print. The plate was made from mounting board. I used wallpaper samples to get texture, netting, twine untwisted and teased out for the stem and lots of pva glue for subtle highlights to suggest the frailty of the petals of the Peony. Next I mixed vintage coloured inks. The photo above shows the plate after it had been inked and through the press.

Here’s the first result. The colours and detail came out well. I was pleased with the result (always difficult to show on a photo). My print was hand pressed on A3 Watercolour paper.

My next post will show my next collagraph. I hope you enjoy It.

Love in the mist

Nigella waits wistfully for their
Lover’s tryst,  sky blue eyes
Filled with tears.
Suddenly she sees him gallantly
Galloping and cloaked in sapphire sateen;
Her fears abating,
He appears out of the mist.

I adore the beautiful Nigella or the popular name for the flower ‘Love in the mist’. The flower not only inspired my photograph and my poem but also a simple potato print fabric design. I loved mixing ultramarine full bodied acrylic with white and fabric medium together to create a fresh ‘Love in the mist blue’. Potatoes aren’t the easiest veg to carve so I chose a primitive flower shape to give the essence of my Nigella. I printed it freehand on cotton fnabric and let it dry in the sun. It was just a test piece but great fun to do! I hope you like it. 🙂

Flower magic solar printing

Solar print of teasel drawing.

To get a solar print, I drew my lovely seed heads from my garden, onto acetate with permanent black ink. The drawing is then transferred onto a light sensitive plate which is then exposed to UV light and then developed through tap water. It is very experimental as you try different exposures to get different effects. Once the plate has been dried in sunlight then it can be run through the press.

Ghost of stocks solar print

This one is my favourite. Can you find the fairy? This is my Arthur Rackham style ‘ghost’ solar print. The first print was much bolder so I decided to run the plate through the press again and I just love the antique effect.

Both of these prints were done at Susan Erskine- Jones’ s workshop. Thanks to Susan for sharing her skills and experience,  it was a most enjoyable day.