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.

A mini peek at Mini-print

Gloucestershire Print Co-operative Mini Print show is open!

 

 

 

 The Printmakers Gallery looks fresh and bright, and the prints make a colourful splash.

 

Beth, Danuta and Barry's work made the most of their materials; rich colour and textural depth.

 

Open, weekends only, until the first weekend in June.

Griffin Mill

Thrupp, Near Stroud,

Gloucestershire, GL5 2AZ

 

PS: Stroud Open Studios are on at the same time,
and there are some studios open to

 look around in the same building as the Mini print show.

Colour trials

I've bitten the bullet and continued my mini adventure into colour for the Gloucestershire Printmaking Co-operative Mini print exhibition.

These two plates were top rolled with a colour I hoped would be reminiscent of fading leaves and filtered light.

The plate, below, was viscosity inked, a process whereby a loose consistency of ink is rolled over the plate followed by a stiffer consistency. The results can be unpredictable but often provide surprisingly interesting results.

...and here are two more variations on the one plate. Its fascinating to see how different inking and colouring techniques can make such a difference to an image. Everyone will have their own favourite, mine was the viscosity inked version above... I think...



Gloucestershire Printmaking Co-operative Mini Print exhibition runs from 3rd May - 1st June, weekends only.

Chine colle - natural dyes

This must be a bit of shock for those of you used to looking in on my blog... Colour!!, really...??
Its given me a few wobbles I can tell you, but nothing ventured and all that...
The reason for this sudden change of tack is Gloucestershire Print Co-op' Mini print show is coming up and last year it struck me that small prints often benefit from a splash of colour.
Chine colle seemed to a viable solution for me, I can't muck up the colour too much that way.

I tried painting tissue paper with watercolour, but that involved too many colour decisions. After a quick re-think I decided that as I was making images of the natural landscape I should really use natural dyes. The selection of papers above are beetroot, paprika, tea and turmeric.

 

The beetroot proved to be very strong, but when combined with other colours a bit of red added strength.

Controlling the density of the red became my prime focus. Turmeric proved to be a lovely sunny yellow tone, paprika was very weak.

  

This image with a strong wedge of earthy tea paper drew very positive comments.

 

 

Always good to see a multiple of mini prints.

 

 

Gloucestershire Print Co-operative Mini Print at

the Printmakers Gallery, 3rd May - 1st June, weekends only.