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Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Monday, October 8, 2012
Books Glorious Books
Handmade books - what better way to display my monoprints than just framing them on a wall or chopping them into little pieces for gifts.... when I was at Woodgate last month I did lots of printing to make my prints into artist books. what fun!
Here are the photos are promised.
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These 3 photos above are of a concertina book, with a smaller concertina panel inserted into the folds (no glue!). I used 2 different monoprints, with similar imagery.
For the covers, I used mulberry paper and ribbon closure.
The 3 photos above are of a book with a concertina spine with folded pages sewn onto the spine using pamphlet stitch. I also added another print onto the spine when I was sewing it together; this really 'sings' against the black colour of the spine.
I really like this book due to its 3 dimensional structure; the loose concertina spine allows it to stand and be expanded out so the viewer can see lots of the print details. Many of my monoprints have subtle marks and lines that can only be appreciated by close viewing, hence they are really suited to the book format. Its much more intimate than a framed print on the wall.
The 4 photos above are of another concertina spine book, with folded pages glued to the concertina. On some of the pages, I cut out sections and glued printed paper sewing patterns behind them, so they act as little 'windows' to another image. I saw an example of this structure at the workshop I did at SLQ in May, so had to try it using some of my monoprints. It works well in this instance using casuarina needles and Cotton Tree leaves.
And yes, the Cotton Tree again! I was rather excited to see the trees at Woodgate, and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to print with their leaves. I just adore their vein structures, they print beautifully.
Here are the photos are promised.
.JPG)
These 3 photos above are of a concertina book, with a smaller concertina panel inserted into the folds (no glue!). I used 2 different monoprints, with similar imagery.
For the covers, I used mulberry paper and ribbon closure.
The 3 photos above are of a book with a concertina spine with folded pages sewn onto the spine using pamphlet stitch. I also added another print onto the spine when I was sewing it together; this really 'sings' against the black colour of the spine.
I really like this book due to its 3 dimensional structure; the loose concertina spine allows it to stand and be expanded out so the viewer can see lots of the print details. Many of my monoprints have subtle marks and lines that can only be appreciated by close viewing, hence they are really suited to the book format. Its much more intimate than a framed print on the wall.
The 4 photos above are of another concertina spine book, with folded pages glued to the concertina. On some of the pages, I cut out sections and glued printed paper sewing patterns behind them, so they act as little 'windows' to another image. I saw an example of this structure at the workshop I did at SLQ in May, so had to try it using some of my monoprints. It works well in this instance using casuarina needles and Cotton Tree leaves.
And yes, the Cotton Tree again! I was rather excited to see the trees at Woodgate, and I couldn't pass up an opportunity to print with their leaves. I just adore their vein structures, they print beautifully.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Solar Etching @ Home
I recently acquired a new toy - a UV Vacuum unit which will allow me to expose my solar etching plates at home, with a high success rate.
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I bought it from a company in China, it cost just under $500AUD including freight.
I set it up in a temporary darkroom in our main bathroom, I chose the bathroom as it only has one small window and I could use the bathtub as a washout area.
Note the black cloth over the window, stuck on with velcro and bluetac. Unfortunately it had a bad habit of falling down but I didn't want anything permanent up there. Might rethink that for next time though!
To use the solar unit, I also purchased a dot screen, the most expensive bit of plastic I have ever bought - $65 for an A3 sheet, but a necessary part of successful etching plates.
Based on timing advice from fellow printmaker, Liz Burton, I firstly did a test plate, which was hugely successful. 15 seconds vacuum which seals the plate etc against the glass, then 50 seconds for the exposure, for both the screen and transparency.
This is a print from my test plate (part of a drawing of various seed pots).....
I then exposed an A4 sized plate for a series of works for Impress Printmaker's Vie de Pacifique exhibition. I will post some photos of the completed works soon.
I guess the only problem with a new toy is finding a spot in the studio for it!
.JPG)
I bought it from a company in China, it cost just under $500AUD including freight.
I set it up in a temporary darkroom in our main bathroom, I chose the bathroom as it only has one small window and I could use the bathtub as a washout area.
Note the black cloth over the window, stuck on with velcro and bluetac. Unfortunately it had a bad habit of falling down but I didn't want anything permanent up there. Might rethink that for next time though!
To use the solar unit, I also purchased a dot screen, the most expensive bit of plastic I have ever bought - $65 for an A3 sheet, but a necessary part of successful etching plates.
Based on timing advice from fellow printmaker, Liz Burton, I firstly did a test plate, which was hugely successful. 15 seconds vacuum which seals the plate etc against the glass, then 50 seconds for the exposure, for both the screen and transparency.
This is a print from my test plate (part of a drawing of various seed pots).....
I then exposed an A4 sized plate for a series of works for Impress Printmaker's Vie de Pacifique exhibition. I will post some photos of the completed works soon.
I guess the only problem with a new toy is finding a spot in the studio for it!