Piece by piece ... community cloth comes together

Piecing the community cloth from this year's Open Studio has been a both exciting and humbling - that so many people were prepared to contribute a little bit of themselves to the project makes me smile on the inside. It was interesting to watch - as with all groups, some were so keen they didn't worry about instructions and simply dived into the mark making experience. Others sought really specific guidance while some looked on from the sidelines - laying claim to not being possessed of a drop of creative juice. For some, we offered to do a print if they would simply like to put a name or initials on a square of cloth. We encouraged people to use stamps and prints made by those who had printed before, so there is repetition of some prints. Other stamps have been changed, added to or otherwise repurposed. Some people got carried away and made many, beautiful impressions - and these were shared with those who were not able to make a print. Some even asked to take their piece home with them - so we requested a second print - one for us to keep for the cloth.  In all the busy-ness and frantic moments, jostling around the table, rollers, brayers and spoonfuls of paint everywhere - it is fascinating to observe the sometimes  unobservable - everyone getting back to a state of playfulness and abandonment. It makes me smile on the inside.

Early days of linoprints and wood cuts

I've been over in the studio for a few full days of just being in the studio. Precious and rare.  It's been a time of starting with naked lino and progressing to a final print through about 10+ stages of cutting - it's about challenging the comfortable way I work by having a set of rules (every time a bird flies past the window, every 35 minutes, every 46 cuts ...) and not when I'm necessarily ready to print.  Then a day with a piece of ply provided by WMBM - and a grevillea leaf saved from a fabric printing session. Can't wait to try these out on some PFD!

 

 

 

Lots of experimentation - burnishing in different ways. Then waiting for them to dry. Sigh. I've always said I'm a patient goddess.

 

 

Quilting, printing and Suzy Buhle

Quilting time - the last few days of the holidays are being spent catching up on some unfinished  machine quilting projects, planning another and more printmaking in the shed. Hand burnishing is the new sport for toning arms. Who needs a gym? Later, a visit to Suzy Buhle's art studio in Aratula - always good for the soul and I came back fully recharged and ready for ... tomorrow.

 

 

 



Wood block print - a recycled game

This piece of pink silky oak got repurposed into a printing block. Before launching onto fabric, it is being tested on cartridge paper.  Gentle rubbing, a brayer and then the third was burnished with a soup spoon. The ghost print in the top left corner was a pleasant surprise. Then it was time to empty the brayer across the cutting board, add some depth and shadows and create the final print. And last but not least, the splash of red ... just because. 

Printmaking journal

Printmaking is occupying my thoughts for the next 10 weeks or so and for starters, I needed to make a visual diary. Found some tough board and covered it in the fabrics I made in Sue Dennis' Leaf it Alone workshop earlier in the year - printed weed leaf, coriander and wattle seed pods. Then came the drilling of the holes and screwing in of the posts - and voila - one A3 sized record of my printmaking fun.  Can't wait to work on more textiles ... so many ideas, so many years required to do it all.