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.

 

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.

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.

Lucky escape

Last week almost saw the demise of the print co-op due to a massive chemical factory fire next door to where we are housed.

Griffin Mill and the Nu-Pro factory remains

The red brick mill building houses not only the print co-op but many artists studios, arts businesses and Pegasus Art suppliers.

Gloucestershire Fire Service did the most amazing job cooling the mill with water while foam was used to suppress the fire. No one was injured in the fire. There has been some water damage which has affected a few people, and for them it has been a traumatic week, but we are all thankful that it wasn't much, much worse.

The fire ravaged factory

The factory now looks like the remains of a large boat. The walls have curved inwards and the front area, which looks like like it has been cut open with a tin opener, now looks like the bows. The power of fire is awe inspiring. A lucky escape indeed.

Inspirational books

I have come across some lovely books recently, all connected to nature and the great outdoors. All three books celebrate the authors own particular piece of England.

left to right: 'Gone to Earth' by Mary Webb,
 'Red Sky at Sunrise' - Laurie Lee's autobiographical trilogy
and 'Four Hedges' by Claire Leighton

Mary Webb is from Shropshire and her book is essentially a novel, however her nature writing must be autobiographical because of its sparkling clarity. It is a very romantic tale but also a tragic one; the anti fox hunting imagery throughout the book is particularly powerful.

The Laurie Lee trilogy comprises his three glorious works, 'Cider with Rosie', 'As I Walked out one Midsummer Morning' and 'A Moment of War'. The cover is wonderfully illustrated by printmaker Mark Hearld and the book is a lovely object to have as well as to read; it made it irresistible to buy. Its been lovely to read 'Cider with Rosie' while living close by to all the places mentioned.

The third book 'Four Hedges' is my new greatest find. I'd love to lend it to friends but I don't think I can give it up just now! Claire Leighton is a brilliant wood engraver and the illustrations are quite sumptuous, there are more than 80 of them in this book.

A very proud blackbird

 The book takes the reader through the creation of a garden in the Chilterns, month by month. What I particularly liked was how so many of the problems, joys and preoccupations of a garden are the same today as when the book was written in 1935.

The movement  and strain in the men as they plant this tree is so well captured

You'll see your garden in a new way and fall in love with it all over again.

Sketchbook mark making - responsive marks

I am indebted to Beth Heaney for inspiring this post, if you pop over to her blog you'll find the post for 30 May, 'archeology of a mark', and you'll see what got me thinking.

I am fascinated by the individual marks made in drawing, particularly the marks that are made as a direct, felt response rather than the ones made very carefully in the name of accuracy. So often the 'felt' marks are more accurate in the long run!

All these marks were excavated from my plein air sketchbooks, small sections shown larger than the drawing and taken out of context.

Beth Heaney asked "What is contained in a mark?", and provided a lovely list, I liked her inclusion of the word 'damage' - it makes you think.  Here's my list:
Feeling, tension, expectation, description, surface, depth, layer, time, experience and I would also like to add an essence or trace of the maker of the mark.

I can see this list growing,

Thank you Beth.

Sketchbook practice - What should I be drawing?

Drawing progress, en plein air, is always a challenge and a surprise, and the recent weather has proved kindly in allowing me to push forward with some ideas. Even in drizzle I've found trees heavy with leaves which keep the rain off.
Recently I've been thinking about what it is I really want to draw in each scene - where my focal point  is and then trying to make sure all marks support that idea. However its amazing how the pencil keeps running away with itself, and then before you know it the drawing has a life of its own. The thing then is to not let it get away from you too much.

A sketch like this one below kept its focus and didn't become cluttered by too much foreground detail:

...and here the foreground leads into the page:

Good intentions can be harder to control when faced with a view which is less familiar, like this one:

Two things happened with the above drawing which led to it getting away from me completely -Firstly, I was feeling my way around the view, recording too much, not deciding what was important. Secondly, this was compounded by the fact that it was a beautiful day, so I sat and doodled around. My thoughts were clouded by being too relaxed!

The drawing below proves the point:

I didn't have too much time on this one, I needed to get back home. I had to stand and the long grass played host to lots of insects. I could also hear voices in the field next to me and I didn't want to still be drawing when the people came past me. The sense of urgency kept me focused - I just wanted the darkness under the trees to dominate, leading the eye to the path. The negative space became as interesting as the path - I liked the shapes, and I succeeded better in keeping the drawing under control.