RWA 163 Annual Open Exhbition

I was delighted to see my print 'Weathered and worn' on the walls of the 163 Annual Open Exhibition at the RWA in Bristol.

Its a treat to be part of this prestigious exhibition and to be hung in the print and drawing room, so beautifully put together by artist and writer Fiona Robinson.
I was felt very proud to be shown on the same wall space as the intriguing drawing machine work by Debbie Locke, below:

Debbie's piece is called 'Retracing steps', and my piece was set in Steps Lane, the selectors didn't kow this from my title but its a delicious co-incidence.

RWA 163 Annual Open Exhbition Opens October 4th - November 29th.

Royal West of England Academy, Queens Road, Bristol, BS81PX 
www.rwa.org.uk

Etching process - Weathered effects

Here we go... my biggest plate yet! From sketches made on the spot to the final print..

Some of the sketches used as reference -
sketches provide the feel and the memory as well as a record of details such as the pitch and tilt of this lane.

Photographic reference shows the location but was not very helpful in seeing the undulations of the weathered, worn away surface. My amateur photography can flatten a view and disguise the original interest in a place.

Proof stage 4

Successive layers of open bite sugar lift and stop out resist provide structure and shape.

Its good to see I could go bigger than this plate!

The following close-ups show details - the plate has had a few more dips in the ferric. Further stop out washes and some combination aquatint and spit bite aquatint dips. All in the name of definition. Aquatints have been kept to a minimum to maintain a crispness in the final image.

Layers of open bite textures give the ground its worn, trampled and rain channeled surface. The multiple layers aim to hint at years of exposure and time worn impact on the lane.

Proof stage 6 - the plate looks much richer

Weathered and worn etching 66 x 44 cm

The final print achieves much of what I was hoping for, I'm really pleased that the layers of sugar lift allow each mark to survive each bite, and build up a sense of time having passed on this lane's surface. The print is now on show at 'Alchemy', Museum in The Park, Stroud.

Notes for an exhibition

Recently I've been spending quite a lot of time on my biggest print to date, getting it ready for the Wotton Gallery show.
The print I was about to make was to be 66cm x 44cm - the preparation needed to be thorough to make sure I wasn't going to spoil the wonderful expanse of copper and it all started with drawing.
I find it useful to make notes when I am out and about making preparation drawings. I've turned my most recent jottings into a bit of creative writing (I call them word walks) that will be shown beside the big print. Here are my notes shown with the sketch created at the time. It helped me remember what I saw and felt when I was in the place that inspired me and I hope it gives an insight into the creative process for the viewer.

top of the lane, clear blue skies

   hard ground; quite a frost

     ice on the puddles

      dog claws scratching on the surface of the earth

          what am I going to be looking for today?

             process - surface rather than the view

           the way place is made / making the surface of the plate

                                  surface more worn as winter moves on

                              rain washed gravel - channel of gravel

                      I’ve decided to stop and draw here  

                          hands are starting to get cold, nose is freezing

        hat and glove day

                               surface damage - ankles twisting against the lane

                                                         surface shapes stretch across

                                                        a drawn swoosh where water drains

                                                           drawing following tyre tracks

                                            descriptive marks - quicker, and looser

                                           slope up or down or across, tilts, falls away

                                             dark across the middle, working the graphite

                                               sharp little points - precise detail and distance

                                                       pencil is quicker than my brain

                                        dog reminds me of the time - give him a biscuit

               dark - with the direction of winter sun, making a deep mark

                                                         snakes down

                                        line drawing now – mostly tonal before

                                   contouring the channels that the water has cut

   gouge into the paper - stone and harder edges, frozen frosted earth

                                                    water damage, weather and wear

                                                  - ends of fingers starting to ache

                                                                        time to go home

                                    let’s call this sketch ‘water damage/frosted’

The final print and words are shown together at Wotton Gallery, exhibition open for one more week.