Sunday 17 August 2014

is rust a must?

Rust prints moving forward...


These small plates also start to explore essential marks in my larger prints.


The print, below, is done on paper which was pressed against a strong fresh rust stain - rust as monoprint? I like the subtle transfer of colour.


These two final images show rust on the more complex print - the control of the rust marks needs to be carefully done - it just doesn't work as well if its too random.

 

Sunday 10 August 2014

Rusty techniques

A fever of rusting has afflicted some creative friends recently. The shapes and marks they have achieved have been both fascinating and intriguing but the colour is the thing that piqued my interest - maybe this is the way to introduce some natural colour to my prints.


First rust print- washers, screw heads and alan keys all found in an old tin in the garage.


Leaving things sat on the paper overnight made shapes too strong to over print.


Randomly placed pieces, lifted before the rust print is too strong and then re-placed to create overlaps has better potential for me.
I found that spraying a much recommended tea solution added too much colour to the paper, but a very salty solution sprayed from a plant mister released the rust print in a controllable way.


Delicious marks in close up.


A large washer, found appropriately in the print co-op car park, produced rust that was too strong for the final image, but shows there could be potential.
Next step is to print on the testers shown above.

Wednesday 6 August 2014

Revisiting Tremenheere, Cornwall

We had a glorious week in Cornwall last week and eagerly whizzed back to Tremenheere Gardens (previous post 2 years ago), near Penzance. There is a wonderful new cafe, shop, and new sculptures including an understated line of grasses by Richard Long, beautifully positioned overlooking St Michaels Mount. This piece provides a deft take on his early work "a line made by walking".


The James Turrell skyspace has had an interior refit which enhances the experience wonderfully well.




I loved the camera obscura, the colours were beautiful, reminding me of faded photographs.



Another good tip if you are heading to Cornwall - Tate St Ives is open late on a Thursday evening. The idea hasn't properly taken off yet so the gallery is a calm quiet oasis after 6pm; its a great exhibition and so nice to look at great pieces in a peaceful environment.