Introducing 'Art from the Urban Wilderness'

Its been longer than usual between my blogs, but with good reason....I've been busy setting up my new studio 'Art from the Urban Wilderness'.  

My local Brisbane City Council has a Pop-Up Shop Grant Program, which matches empty shopfronts with creatives and home business wanting to try a shop experience.  I put my name down on the list last year, and I very gratefully received an offer of a small space (5m x 7m) in February.

It was an opportunity too good to miss, so I took the plunge and signed a short-term occupancy lease, with Brisbane City Council paying the rent for 2 months.  Council also gave me some funds for fitout expenses, which covered paint, flooring, benches, tables, insurance, etc.

I've been in the space now for 5 weeks, which of course has sped by.  I've been busy running mini-workshops of 3-4 people, the small size of the space limits numbers of participants but it creates a more personalised experience.

My new studio functions as a print studio and pop-up art gallery, a gathering space for like-minded art friends, and a place where I can spend some time to make work or contemplate my way forward.  To stay and pay rent or not......

The studio is located at 44 Latham Street, Chermside.  My studio website is www.artfromtheurbanwilderness.com.au

The space prior to fit out - concrete and besser blocks,
but plenty of potential!

Sliding doors at the front bring in the light
and breezes

Opening night, with my artwork on display.
It was really exciting to see my prints up on the wall -
it revealed my obsession with birds 
and monoprint!

The studio - on the right my bench seat, cushions
and curtains creates a cozy seated space.
My etching press 'Thumper' is in the foreground.

Open for business!

Watercolour Leaf Printing

I knew there was a reason I'm a facebook user..... I ignore all of the depressing news stuff and follow some very interesting art related groups.  These groups bring together like-minded people who post all sorts of photos and information about what they doing in their art studios.  Sometimes I find some particularly tempting techniques, such as leaf printing using watercolours.

I give my acknowledgements and thanks to Karen Rush who posted in Craft Press Printmakers facebook group, where she introduced this technique that she learned from Rebecca Chamlee of Pie in the Sky Press.  

Its a straightforward process.  You paint dry leaves with watercolours, let dry, then print onto damp watercolour paper.  Its wonderful that something so simple can produce lovely results, without all the mess and fuss of the usual monoprinting processes.

I've shared this technique a couple of times with friends, and we've had a great time sitting around a table (social distanced of course!) painting, printing, chatting..... and then laughing over the ones that don't quite work.  

I'm grateful that at the moment we can gather together with friends to make art, but if you can't, please try it yourself.  Its a great dining table activity with children or if you have a spare hour or two.

To print the leaves, I used my Xcut diecut machine, but you could use any craft press or manual pasta maker.  You could try hand printing, but you may not get the detail of the veins or it might move around a bit.  Of course you can always 'tweak' the less successful ones with a fine marker pen and more watercolour when it drys.  Nothing is ever wasted!

Two colours on a grevillia leaf.
Leaves with interesting silhouettes and veins are best.

Two or more colours works best.
I put a layer of pink, let it dry a bit, then
added the paynes grey.

Yes this is a print, not the actual leaf!
I've found that the colour improves
after a few prints and re-inkings.
This one started with orange, then a mix of yellow ochre,
sepia then other colours I can't remember....
That's the magic of monoprinting,
it keeps it secrets well!

Beautiful colours and a bit of embossing too.

Applying watercolour, but
keeping water to a minimum because you
need the pigment to be strong.
Let dry before printing.

Another beautiful leaf! 
I think its the one I'm painting in the photo above.
These will make beautiful cards - I use double
sided tape to mount the print onto coloured card.

Collagraphs with Plants and Friends

This week my art friends and I did some playing with simple collagraphs.  We made printing plates where we stuck leaves and other found objects to thin card (mat board) and then sealed the plates with shellac.

We spent a fun day printing the plates intaglio style using my Akua inks and my Xcut machine.

We did some printing with 2 colours, but when dry, the prints can also be handcoloured.

Some of Wendy's plates, ready to print with.

Ngaire printing using the Xcut.
We had to keep adjusting the pressure for the different
thicknesses of the plates, depending on how
much material had been glued to the plate.

Ngaire's plate, revealing her print.

Ngaire's print on eco-dyed paper.
The subtle background colour looked beautiful with the blue ink.
2 of the leaves were glued to the plate vein side up
so their vein patterns were captured in the printing process.

 

Karin's print using a finely woven doily
glued to cardboard and sealed.
It was tricky for her to get the ink even,
but produced an interesting print.

Wendy's banksia collagraph on rusted text paper.

Wendy's 2 colour banksia print.
She inked up the background in blue,
then inked the leaf in black,
carefully wiping back without mixing the
colours too much.