Dragonflies, Beetles and Bugs - freeform printing to create Artists Books

Its amazing how much good stuff I have tucked away in drawers and boxes in my studio.

In the past in my art practice I have used solar techniques to create etching plates starting with metal plates with a photo emulsion layer.  I printed copyright free images from my computer onto overhead transparencies and then exposed them on the plate to UV light to create the etching plates.  The plates are expensive to buy and the process can be fraught with risks - a lot can go wrong - exposure timing, washout etc etc.
So recently I remembered how much work went into creating those plates, so I dug through my stash to see what I could find.  Insects!  One of my favourite themes at the moment.  It was meant to be!

I inked up the plates and did some random printing on some lovely toned Stonehenge paper, not worrying too much about accuracy and print perfection.  Even the ghost prints (printing without re-inking) looked effective, with strong prints as a contrast.

I then overprinted a coloured background using acrylic paints and my gelatine plate.  Not too strong, just wanted some colours and impressions of grasses.

The resulting prints have been turned into 2 small concertina books. The covers are made from leather look papers, I think the scaly pattern of the paper suits the insect theme.

The books were a lot of fun to create with no expectations or pre-conceived ideas.  And I'm happy with the result, so I hope you enjoy my photos below.  At the end of this post there's also a quick video I took of the dragonfly prints before I folded it into the book.

So whats in your stash that you could re-use or repurpose into another artwork????

The solar plates.  Between uses I smother them in vege oil and wrap
them in plastic so they don't dry out. 

The ' Beetles and Bugs' book

The 'Dragonflies over the Pond' Book

Collaboration and Exchange

In late October, I attended a workshop at Noosa Regional Gallery, facilitated by artists Susan Bowers and Fiona Dempster in conjuction with their exhibition 'pas de deux'.  Their exhibition featured a series of artists books that they had created in a collaborative partnership.  I traveled up to the gallery to attend their very inspiring artist talk and workshop, making a full day of 'me time'.....a bit of luxury.

The project for the workshop was to 'collaborate' with either Susan or Fiona to make an artist book - they provided some of their own precious artwork plus some blank papers, and we were given permission to use their work in our books.  They also supplied inks, graphite, glue, thread etc for us to play with. Heaven!  I also took along some of my own prints so I could include them if needed.

There wasn't enough time to fully complete my book on the day, so I took my 'work-in-progress'  with me on holidays to Kangaroo Island a couple of weeks ago to continue working on it.

I did some drawing, stitching, and of course, gelli plate printing.  I discovered some wonderful bird netting at a local handware store on Kangaroo Island, bought 90c worth, and had a ball printing with it.  Definitely my new favourite toy!

The book is now finished, many thanks to Susan for allowing me to work with her etchings.  Her blog is here http://trace-marks.blogspot.com.au/, she creates beautiful, sensitive work.

I very much enjoyed being on the receiving end of a workshop where I could play freely with someone else's materials and work.  It has opened my mind to other possibilities.

The restricted colour pallet was definitely a deviation from my normal choices so it was a challenge for me to keep it muted and earthy.  Hmmmm, I suddenly feel the need for some bright aqua blue and olive green!  I'd better get back to the studio  :-)

Printing using the gelli plate and bird netting

Printing in my 'studio' in our motorhome

Loose drawing to echo Susan's markmaking on her etchings

Some of the book pages - stitching, layering, printing, painting

Susan's work on the left, mine on the right

A piece of Susan's work stitched to mine

I stitched a couple of pieces of Susan's work
with crosses to echo the crosshatching of her etched lines

One of my favourite pages - gelli print with watercolour and pen

This page opens up to Susan's work

I used the gelli plate to echo Susan's lines

The finished book

I added some 'bling' on the coptic binding

Etching over Monoprints

Today I have been printing some small etchings over monoprints.  This works best when the monoprints I use as background are indistinct and are in need of 'something' to create a focal point. And of course there's no shortage of monoprints that fall short of my expectations in any session of printing that I do.

For a change, I used water soluble ink - Caligo Safe Wash Etching Ink.  It was so easy to clean up - just water and detergent.  The downside was that I accidentally stained my press blanket.  I suspect that I overdampened the paper and during printing the ink mixed with the surplus moisture and leaked through onto the blanket.  I immediately washed the blanket in wool-wash but I was unable to use friction to remove the stain as I was wary of any rubbing action which might have caused the wool blanket to start felting. 

So now my blanket is permanently stained.  I guess its not really that bad considering I've used the same blanket without mishap for the past 2 years.  It sort of looks like a tatoo, a 'right-of-passage' perhaps?

One my prints - note how the ink has run,
creating some nice effects but staining my press blanket!

One of the prints used for a book cover

An Etching Experience

Last weekend I attended a beginners etching 1day workshop at the Impress Studio. 

This was my first experience etching zinc with acid.  Printmaking wasn't available where I did my TAFE studies and I have only since learnt some aspects of printmaking at various short workshops at BIA and Impress.

I found the drawing of the image somewhat challenging - the knowledge that I couldn't erase my lines like I could with pencil was somewhat off-putting.  I was helped by first tracing an outline of my pre-prepared image onto the plate.

The workshop was for me an introduction to the process of etching; its quite technical and lengthy compared to monoprinting.  I didn't particularly like having to keep track of the sequence and timing for the acid baths to create the aquatinting effects - knowing that if I made a mistake, my plate could potentially be ruined.  I'm also rather impatient with the inking of the plate - applying the ink then wiping it off just seems so.... pointless!  It took me the whole day to create one plate for a few prints - I now have a new appreciation of the process of etching.  Below are photos of my print from the etching workshop - my 'magpie'.

And now that I've had my big whinge about etching, I'm keen to explore more of aluminium etching.  I was introduced to this low toxic process by Judith Rosenberg several years ago and am keen to develop my skills.  I plan to use etchings over the top of my monoprints.  But I can assure you that monoprinting for me is my first love!

Magpie etching - 1st proof, line only

Magpie etching - with aquatint