Woodblock Wednesday - layer 2 of Waders

10am. Ready to roll - paper damp, paint mixed, nori at the ready - and block reduced somewhat to get the second layer overprinted -

Three hours later, layer 2 (payne's grey) lies on top of the davy's grey of layer 1 - in some prints, the layers lie beside each other. Bad registration -

Nor does the wateriness of the reflection come through - perhaps the area, thumbnail size for the small birds. In the original photo it was more like thumb-size -

the original photo (detail)

Here's what I printed this time -

the prints

the postcards

The postcards are some pages from a Pink Pig sketchbook (white) and heavy cartridge (135 gsm; cream) from a large sketchpad. There is show-through on the pink-pig pages but very little on the cartridge -

I'm not sure either are thick enough to function as a postcard.

The group's whatsapp discussion during the session included the matter of colour gradation and "which sumi ink", solid block or liquid?

Katsutoshi Yuasa used those gradations of colour from sumi ink to print this -

It's a metre square; here he shows how to register and print large work.

Once my little birds are done, what will be the next project? Either the bigger birds, which are drawn out ready to cut

24 x 16 cm

or some travel lines, like these, which were drawn on a smooth train journey and a bumpy bus journey -

screenprints, 2011

with a view to using them with stencils ... just a hazy project at the moment, but based on my daily walks.

Advent Fair, north London, 30 November

On my table will be textile collages, travel-lines bags, tool rolls (aka Binders Keepers and Sewing Companions), and other smaller items, such as pairs of microwaveable hand warmers.

A few of the abstract landscapes, A4 size, mounted on A3 -

A selection of Travel Lines tote bags -

Microwaveable hand warmers -

 Little books -

There will also be Very Little Books, and needlebooks.

Studio Saturday - in the sewing studio (and elsewhere)

A commission to make a travel bag (Central line) has got as far as the handles and a bit of a dither over the lining fabric -

None of these were quite right for my "vision", but I've found something that feels right.  It will probably take an hour to finish, once I sit down at the sewing machine.

There's also this dress, which has been hanging around (literally) for about 4 years. It's been even longer than that since I put in a zip. Time for a refresher (via youtube etc) and some quiet time at the machine -

 The dress is now somewhat too large so my aim in finishing it is to be done with it and to get it off my back, and conscience - and onto Freecycle.

While searching high and low for my secateurs I discovered these pots carefully wrapped up in a drawer -

 Some are a bit chipped and might be faux-repaired with my slapdash version of kintsugi, which uses (real) gold leaf to highlight the broken edges -

One or two, the simply-stitched ones that got a bit slumpy in the kiln, are very much to my liking and might be the start of a series, or grouping. Ideas are knocking into each other and as soon as the weather gets warmer I'll be back in Studio 6, dipping and firing. Oh, and as soon as the series/grouping is stitched in fabric - there do seem to be a number of other things going on.... For instance, there never seems to be enough cuddle-time with the grandbaby -

and the gardens-over-the-hill needs a bit of TLC, but up close they're looking pretty good (imho) -

And there's my own little garden, with geum, tulips, forget-me-not, that grey plant that grows so well but whose name I've forgotten, the huge rosemary bush, and at the top of the steps, the pot with the luminous pelargonium and the euphorbia, which needs watering daily...

A Letter in Mind

The 2018 show of works on envelopes is up, at Oxo Gallery, but only till 30 September (open 11-6). All works in this fifth annual National Brain Appeal fundraiser are priced at £85 and the proceeds benefit the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery at Queen's Square. 

You can also see the works in the online gallery and buy via the website. 

Glowing colour for the felted sheep

A 3D, knitted, portrait of portrait painter Elizabeth Vigee-Lebrun

More variety

More 3D - the red thread of connection

Some of the artists were definitely thinking "out of the envelope"

Red dots have started appearing

Click on the images for a better view

My contribution is number 183, displayed to reveal its contents - 

(centre of top shelf)

but the joke is that, for the theme of A Way With Colour, the envelope is black and white, with the word "green" (as in Green Park) among the travel lines. (Can't believe I didn't photograph that little detail!)

Last year's contribution (theme: a sense of place) also used travel lines, but freshly written on deadline day.

Productive laziness

It being Monday, I found myself with no reason, or motivation, to leave the house - and a backache brought on, surely, by walking in the mud yesterday. The temptation was to spend the entire day on the sofa with a diverting book, but certain things do need doing. That studio sort-out is top of the list...

So the plan was:  set the timer for 15 minutes and plunge into one or other of the bags in the studio, racing the clock to get it sorted before the timer's PING sounds the blessed release from the task. It starts when the Fitbit's reminder-buzz at 10 minutes to the hour (reminder to take 250 steps and "be active") is the signal to get up from the sofa, jog on the Invisible Treadmill till the Fitbit sends its "good stuff, you've done it" buzz. Then, set the timer and Just Do It. PING - and the rest of the hour can be spent on the sofa with the book.

The plan has been working well, given a head start with the departure of some old French paperbacks -

and also paper and pens gathered and posted on Freecycle, to be collected in the evening -

Adding to the collection of papers has provided an opportunity for a sort-out of the paper shelves - not the thing that's most urgent, but "every little helps". I discovered some lovely papers, including a big sheet of hand marbling ... makes me want to get back to making books -

The middle shelves now look quite spacious (whereas the recycling bin is almost full of the rejects) -

 This lovely print surfaced -

as did lots of "old work" - from the Art Foundation and then the MA course -

 and abandoned works like this double-sided excursion into drawing+stitching -

 Sonnets, stitched in syllables, then turned into rubbings - then abandoned -

 Experiments from the National Gallery's Friday lunchtime "talk and draw" sessions -

 Leftover painted papers that could so quickly be folded into concertina or "secret" books (large marks usually look good on small pages) -

Work from a short, intense course about stitching and monoprinting - I made various little books based on maps of Islington -

 Leftover fabrics from the course -

 ,,, they went into the big drawer of my own printed fabrics (ah the travel lines - screen printed at Camberwell!), can't get rid of those -

Serendipitous melted plastic found in a stack of papers -

 "What was I thinking" dept - concert and theatre tickets from 1989/90 glued onto thin japanese paper ....

The most important is the pink one, a community play in which my son, aged 10, had a part - "Full House" at The Old Bingo Hall, now Rowans bowling alley -

From 1994 or so, some marbling with inks, cut into the shape of an envelope (I'll use it soon) -

"Projects for 2006" is the title of this little "secret" book -

They included: learn how to use my serger; sew a shirt for Thomas; make "japanese" quilt for Thomas (done!!) and Fissures for CQ (done!); regular computer backups; organise photos. In the middle, more - decide whether to continue learning Chinese; fix up flat (bathroom); "leave fulltime work?" and "keep up & not be boring" - hah, aren't we all constantly working on that one!

Yet again this little booklet shows the magical powers of writing things down. Sometimes, writing down an anxiety helps to get it out of your mind; often, writing down a wish (however impossible it seems) makes it more real, or possible, as you start to consider how it might be achieved - and quite often, it is.

The next thing I found in that folder was a big, empty envelope with faint writing -

A message from Tony that I'm very grateful for, did he but know. 

It's a big help with the "redistributing my creative resources" project. 

Another help would be to take a few moments to write down what might be looked for, when looking forward.