Rubber bands and Cottonwood leaves

For the past couple of months I've been working on some monoprints for a Queensland - Quebec print exchange which opens in Quebec Canada in October this year, then travels back to Brisbane for exhibition in 2012. 

The theme of this exhibition is Water Portraits and my work is drawn from my experiences at Coochiemudlo Island last year.

I printed the first layer of monoprints in early May but have only just revisited them to experiment with a few ideas I've been developing.  I wanted to express the notion of  'out of sight, out of mind'.  Its what we don't see that matters, in this case, what lies beneath the surface of the oceans, bays, rivers.  What damage is there that we ordinary people don't see?  I was pleased recently to hear that biologists were checking on Moreton Bay's dugong population to see how their seagrass beds were affected by the January floods.   But what about the rest of the ecosystems in the bay?  Do most people really care as long as the trawlers bring in the prawns and fish for us to consume?  I spent my childhood fishing in Moreton Bay so I feel a real personal connection to it.

The link to Coochimudlo Island is in the cottonwood leaves that I used.  I love them!  I have also used fishing line which created beautiful curly lines, like the swirling of the tide around mangrove roots.....

In my prints I also have experimented with embossing, something I haven't done a lot of, and required a fair bit of playing with objects and paper to get the right texture and look. 

I initially printed about a dozen prints, and will end up with only about 4 that I consider suitable for exhibition.  I'm really glad that I have given myself plenty of time to meet the submission deadlines, you can never 100% predict a monoprint.

I'll be revisiting my prints in the coming weeks, after having a break from them so I can see what needs to be done, lets hope I am still happy with them and can consider them complete.

one of the prints, in progress

...and yet another use for rubber bands.....embossing!

Coominya Ghost Train

Today Craig and I went mountain biking on the Brisbane Valley Rail Trail, the 15km section north of Coominya (meaning 'where is water').

This railway line was established in the 1880's but has been disused for many years.  In recent times the track structure has been removed to make a cross-country trail for horse riders, mountain bikers and walkers.

I hear you ask - what has this got to do with art?  Everything!  Scattered along the trail are discarded rail spikes that were used to secure the train line to the underlying timber sleepers.  These iron spikes fit nicely into my eco-dyeing pot to create a wonderful dark, rich brew.  They are also useful for rusting on cloth.

So, with pockets laden with rusty goodies (and a few interesting leaves too!), we rode the rail trail under a beautiful blue sky and cool winter temperatures.  A bit of art in the outdoors - to me, a perfect combination!

Traversing the disused railway bridge

The railway bridge with rails going nowhere

discarded rail spikes - just waiting for an artist like me!

a rail spike still in place on the bridge

A discovery

In my previous posts you will recall that I created eco-dyed books with monoprints of ferns.  I had thought at the time that I should call this series of books 'Fossil' as they appeared to reveal the remnants of some ancient flora caught between layers of rock.

Well, I was out mountain biking at Emu Creek, near Benarkin last week and was riding over some tracks that had been disturbed during the heavy rains over summer.  As usual I was in more of an 'art' zone than a 'riding' one and came across pieces of fossilised fern imprinted into rock.  This of course had me stopping and off the bike within seconds, with Craig 50 metres ahead of me wondering what on earth I was doing!  He really should know me by now......

Anyway I was most excited as these pieces of rock gave me the same feeling as the books I had created only weeks earlier.  Its almost as though the inspiration was back-to-front.  I was awestruck at the beauty of the fossil imprints and immediately felt that these could lead me further in more explorations in eco-dyeing and monoprinting.

Dyeing for the Results.....

Below are photos of my completed Eco-Dyed books that I was working on last week.  I had a rather hectic weekend and this week has been busy with my day job (excuses, excuses!).

The patterns from the eco-dyeing are just beautiful, enhanced by the crispness of the fern monoprints.  It gives a rather 'fossil' like feel to the books.  As you open up each book, its like exploring something very primeval and organic.  Yum!

Snake Book with fern monoprints

Accordian Book with pockets,
with fern monoprints on cards

A brew worth bottling!

Yesterday I introduced members of the Queensland Papermakers to the exquisite exploration of eco-dyeing on paper.  Although time was short, enthusiasm spurred them on to create some wonderful examples of dyeing on paper with onion skins, leaves, berries, and metal (amongst other things!).  I'm sure everyone has gone home to try some more dyeing in their own art practice.  That's the wonderful thing about eco-dyeing - it doesn't require any special equipment or expensive materials.

And one of the perks of keeping the 'brew' from yesterday is that the colour of the dye bath is well developed.  A beautiful dark inky brew smelling strongly of eucalypt.....yum!

So today I indulged in my own eco-dyeing frenzy and produced some great pieces.  Thanks to my friends I have an overwhelming supply of onion skins, so I packed my paper bundle solidly with onion skins.  This produced very intense prints.  I also let the brew simmer gently for an hour, usually only half an hour.

I used full sheets of Raines paper, folded concertina style.  I intend to make these into books, enhanced with some monoprinting (especially in one section where I forgot to put onion skins!). 

I will post more photos when the resulting books are completed later this week.  I'm waiting for the paper to dry before cutting it up.  Its been raining all afternoon, so they unfortunately they won't dry overnight.

Below are some photos to wet your appetite for yummy textures and colours!

Packing the folds with onion skins etc

 

After cooking but before the objects have been removed,
looks a mess but lots of interesting marks



A close up of the paper after dyeing

A delicate leaf print

Monotypes at Primrose Park

This weekend I flew to Sydney to run a 2-day monotype workshop with members of the Primrose Park Arts Group.

The idea behind the workshop was to use monoprinting to extend their creativity and art practice.  We started out by playing around with small plates and simple designs using plants, onion bags etc just to give everyone an idea of how collage monotypes are created, and to introduce them to the wonderful ghost prints.

The remainder of the weekend was spent with each participant working on their own projects.  Some used the large plates I provided, others explored hand-printing and water-based oil paints.  I was extremely pleased that they were able to work within their own art practice using the collage monoprinting process. 

This is the first time I have had an opportunity to share the techniques that I have developed over the past 2 years.  Usually there isn't enough time.

I returned to Brisbane last night after a most enjoyable weekend.  I stayed at the Cremorne Point Manor and enjoyed walks along the harbour foreshore with views of the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge. 

Thanks very much to Jean for her very efficient organisation and tasty lunches, and most of all thank you to the girls who joined me in the workshop - you were very friendly and approachable but most importantly, willing to try new ideas and push yourselves to new creative heights.

Inside Primrose Park Art Centre - home to papermakers,
calligraphers, and photographers

The Primrose participants with some monotypes
completed at the workshop



Water Portraits

Today I went to the beach.  In the name of 'art', of course!

I've been selected for a joint exhibition of Queensland and Quebec (Canadian) artists, the theme is 'Water Portraits'.  The work that I'm creating is based on my previous experiences at Coochiemudlo Island.  I plan to use monoprinting to express my personal connection to Moreton Bay and its estuaries.

So today as part of my research I visited an old childhood haunt of mine, Nudgee Beach, and wandered along the shoreline amongst the mangroves and driftwood.  And to my delight, I found the biggest stand of Cottonwood Trees ever, a great source of one of my favourite monoprinting leaves.  I was like a kid in a candy shop!

This afternoon I prepared my registration sheet in anticipation of starting some prints in the coming weeks.
I'll keep you posted on my progress.

Cottonwood Trees along the shoreline

Looking across the mudflat - I love the earthy smell

My registration sheet and plates, ready to go

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

Tasmanian Basketry Gathering

I've just returned from 3 weeks in Tasmania, the first 10 days cycling with 6 others from Hobart to Launceston, then travelling with my Mum to the biennial national Basketry Gathering at Port Sorell, north Tasmania.

For a week, we joined 120 other artists from Australia and overseas in exciting weaving and dyeing projects.  We learnt new techniques, worked with new fibres such as willow and made friends with other like-minded creative souls.  The setting was Camp Banksia at Port Sorell, a fantastic facility right by the beach, so we often went for afternoon beach walks where we picked blackberries and apples growing wild - a real novelty for us Queenslanders!

Picking wild blackberries to use in eco-dyeing

Blackberries - one for the pot, one for me (yum!)

With my fellow BasketCases from Brisbane -
Jenny, Angela, Floss, myself, Jan (my Mum) and Therese.

Bliss - happily creating a 'skelontised leaf'
using wire and raffia