Understorey

My latest artist book project features NaturePrint Paper I bought in the USA on my recent rip. This specially prepared paper is coated with light-sensitive chemicals, creating a white on blue print of whatever object is placed on it, aka cyanotypes.

For my project, I selected a range of different fern fronds.  I'm obsessed about ferns, and use them a lot in my monoprints, so it seemed fitting to try them out with this sunprinting process.  Previously I have used ferns and the sun to do prints on t-shirts, see my blog post here.

I exposed the ferns onto the paper with my solar etching frame for about 2 minutes in the sun, then rinsed in water for a minute.

Exposing in the sun

After sun exposure, you can see where the fern was on
the paper.  Rinsing in water causes the colour to develop.

I then used a re-purposed box to house the book, which is in a simple concertina format on blue card. I also included a poem that I wrote in haiku style:

understorey light

pattern stippled into shade

twilight silhouettes

I've photographed the book insitu - a rainforest floor, complete with maidenhair fern, mossy logs and leaf litter.  Appropriate I thought, given the title of the book 'Understorey'.  

Creating the book allowed me to explore a variety of fern imagery, concentrating on shape and pattern, with a simple non-messy process.

Moving on....a new eco-dyed artist book

At my recent exhibition 'Insight + Onsite', I sold a couple of my artist books.  One of them, 'Fern Gully' was quite dear to my heart, so in order to cope with my 'loss' (a good loss!), I had to make another book to replace it.

Using the same concertina structure of sewn double sided pages, I needed to find some double sided prints in my collection.  I found a concertina book, in the form of a 'snake' book, of eco-dyed backgrounds with monoprinted leaves.  Perfect!

The Eco-dyed snake book being deconstructed with a stanley knife!

I cut up the book (gasp!) then sewed the pages into a concertina strip of card, and attached little wooden beads and hard covers.  As a decorative element for the outside of the spine, I attached a small piece of handmade paper featuring gelatine prints.

Sewing the pages onto the spine using pamphlet stitch
and waxed linen thread

The finished spine

View of the book with covers on.
The covers are box board covered in mulberry paper.

 And to finish, I made a band out of card and a monoprint to slip on when the book is closed.

The finished book, with slip on band.

Sigh... now I feel better!  I named this book 'Underfoot' - it gives me a feeling of dragging my feet through leaf litter in a rainforest.  The purple colour of the spine and the earthy orange colour of the covers remind me of colourful fungi on rotting mossy logs.  Those colours are also reflected in the eco-dyed prints.

I think this book will be a new favourite of mine....until I make the next one (which I'm working on at the moment!).

Insight + Onsite

From Tuesday 18th August to Thursday 27th August, I'll be working onsite at the Maroochy Bushland Botanic Gardens with artist Catherine Money.  Please pop in and say hello and see our latest works.  You'll also have the opportunity to contribute to our 'hanging sketchbook' collaborative work, with us guiding you through various art techniques like drypoint and relief printing or whatever you like.  Be inspired by our work, the extensive gardens and the reference books we'll have on hand.  There's plenty of walks through the gardens as well as lots of spots for picnics to enjoy our beautiful August weather.

Further information about the exhibition is on our invitation below.

All welcome, anytime between 10am and 3pm.  Open every day except Monday 24th August.

I'll be posting to my blog during the exhibition, for those of you who are unable to visit us and see what we get up to!

Monoprinting in Blackall

My final few days of my trip to the Central West of Queensland was a 2 day monoprinting workshop at Blackall.

My first trip to Blackall was 2 years ago when I did an artist in residence in association with Flying Arts and Blackall Cultural Association.

Jo and I travelled south from Barcaldine, and set up Maggie the etching press, and I shared my passion for monoprinting with 6 keen ladies.

I had a great time, and due to the small class size, I was able to print as well.

The photos speak for themselves......

Lorelei enjoying her printing.

Some of Lorelei's prints - an outback theme.

Jo printing - a big plate!

Ros positioning leaves on her plate, ready for printing.

One of Ros's prints from the plate she's working on
 in the previous photo.

Sally with her underwater themed prints.

Group shot with Maggie the press.
I'm holding one of Ros's prints as she was absent for
the photo.

Exploring the Central West

As part of my week with Barcaldine artist Jo Taylor, we travelled around her local area, including a day trip a couple of hours north.

My time spent in the Barcaldine community with Jo has been a very enlightening one for a city girl like me.  I've now seen the effects of the drought first hand, from the dry brown landscape to the never-ending line up of dead kangaroos killed on the roadside.

The rich red colour of the dirt and dust is amazing, particularly juxtaposed against the blue of the cloudless sky.  Its been a little warmer than usual and of course, no rain.

Our road trip took us up to an area not often visited by tourists - Gray Rock and Horsetailer's Gorge. The day was one of wildlife viewing, with Jo's knowledge of local plants and animals giving me an insight into the areas we visited.

Bushman's Clothes Pegs (grevillea glauca).  These
amazing seed pots were up to 5cm across and really hard.
The name refers to its historical use.

Black cockatoos feeding on the ground.

The dry landscape on the road to Aramac.

This is Jo after digging around in ochre powder - she's not doing
a mime impression!

Australian Bustard - one of my favourite birds I saw here.

Aramac selfie!

During the week we also worked in Jo's art studio on the verandah of her house in Barcaldine.  I taught her how to process solar etching plates, using her bathroom as a darkroom and the sun for exposures.  I worked on a series of monoprints using wren imagery and local plants, including leaves from a Black Iron Box tree.

Embossing on the reverse side of a monoprint.

Print in progress.  I'm lifting off grass from
a finished print.

Me printing using Jo's press 'Maggie'.
Happy days!

Jo and I in her studio.
p.s. I printed my apron using eco-dyeing and
solar dyes.

Here I'm lifting the print off the plate after printing.

Drypoint at Barcaldine

I've travelled up to Barcaldine in Central West Queensland this week to work with artist Joanne Taylor and to run some community workshops.  

My first workshop was Drypoint and Mixed Media.  I had a group of 6 keen local artists and we explored drypoint techniques using thin acrylic sheet and simple drypoint etching tools.  Drypoint is an inexpensive and non toxic method of intaglio printing.

I've now got a week of exploring the local area with Joanne as well as setting up her etching press and of course doing some printing.  I've got another workshop at Blackall next weekend.

Black Wallaby

Brolgas - very elegant large birds

A large flock of Galahs at Sunset

Drypoint scratching in progress

Student work - Drypoint print
on a tetra pack (foil inside of a milk carton)

Student work - pelican drypoint with Chine Colle

My wren drypoint with colour applied using
ala poupee methods

Works on Paper - Collages and Prints at Hanasho

This month my collaborative partner Catherine Money and I have our first exhibition together at Hanasho, a japanese-inspired florist at West End Brisbane.

Opening drinks are this Thursday night at 6.30pm, everyone is welcome.  Below is a copy of the invitation, plus a selection of images of works from the exhibition.

The exhibition continues until the end of July.

'Looking Back' - Collage - Sandra Pearce and Catherine Money

'Songs in the Sand Dunes' - Collage - Catherine Money & Sandra Pearce

'Trust' - Mixed Media Collage - Catherine Money

On holiday and still printing.....

I'm back from a 3-week holiday in British Columbia, Canada (in case you noticed I hadn't blogged recently....).  We hired an RV campervan for 2 weeks, then spent another week in Vancouver.

And of course I took my art kit with me - papers, gelli plate, roller, acrylic paints, watercolours, washi tape, brads, glue, double sided sticky tape and my book making equipment including needles. My project during my trip was to complete my usual travel diary, with a focus on nature.

At the end of each day, I recorded the day's events.  I set up my 'art studio' on the RV dining table for an hour or two each evening - writing, printing, drawing, painting and assembling my book.

Early in my trip, I joined the Whistler Public Library as a temporary non-resident member, so I could borrow some books on local plants and animals.  I find that taking the time to identify local flora and fauna gives me a stronger connection to the place I'm visiting, and provides me with a snapshot of the biodiversity of the area.   And its a great pleasure to know what I'm looking at, and the books provided some additional information about habitat and how that animal or plant fit into the local environment.  It provides a much richer experience.

I sewed up my book using a coptic stitch on the last few days of my holiday, and then when I got home, I printed photographs and inserted them into the blank pages that I had purposely left in between my writings.

I've been doing travel diaries for many years, and its exciting to feel them developing more into visual diaries with a nature focus.

Below are a few photos of my RV art studio and the resulting journal.

RV Art Studio in action

Prints onto a postcard to send home, using
the Gelli Plate and Paper Birch leaves.
Due to Australian quarantine laws I can't bring natural
materials like leaves back with me, so printing them
with my gelli plate gives me a permanent record
for my journal.

During my trip I used my travelling watercolour set to record local flora
for my journal, my library reference books are on the left.
I'm no watercolour expert but I enjoyed myself anyway!

I'm 'hard at work' printing in the RV...note the smile on my face!

I'm relaxing  at our camp at Nairn Falls doing some sketching
of a local plant I collected.
My view from here was a beautiful boulder-strewn river
and snow capped mountains.  Heaven!

The RV we hired, our home on wheels for 2 weeks,
plus we had mountain bicycles to get out into the forest.

My finished journal, a couple of inches thick,
with the coptic binding on the spine.  The covers
are gelli prints of local flora, including my
favourite bracken fern and maple leaves.

A sample from my journal, showing a photograph,
gelli prints on vellum and paper,
then my daily diary writings on the left.

This journal spread features a gelli print on a postcard,
a brochure, and a page with a photograph and sticker (just for a bit
of bling!)

This journal spread features photos and a watercolour painting,
supplemented by photocopies from my library books
giving information on birds and plants I identified during
my trip.