Five go mad, chapter two.

Breakfast eaten, dishes washed we jumped in Merlyns Berlingo to head down to the beach laden with large sheets of paper, brushes and ink.
It was very windy so we looked for a spot sheltered enough to get some drawing done.

Rod Nelson looking for the right spot

We finally settled on a rocky spot with a good view through a large arch with plenty of white foaming sea action and got drawing. All of us chucking ink around on the same piece of paper, in the bracing wind, was very liberating. Especially refreshingly so for Rod who had to make a trouserless wade into the sea to recapture a floating sheet of water liberated by the wind.

Then it was back to the studio to do something creative with all this fresh air inspiration that five print makers would be happy with. No pressure then. We started by trimming the ply to size and then decided to draw out an image, but how could we all work on the same piece? Simple, divide it up and each have a bit to work on.

Merlyn by our blocks

Rod and Judith working together on the 'cliffs'

Julia working on her bit of the jigsaw

It all looks quite simple and tranquil, and it was very relaxed but wasn't simple. There was a lot of wandering from block to block, quizzing each other about various sections we were working on, what happens when this bit meets that, how much of this to cut and so on for most of the day. 

The big worry that five separate artists working on their own bits would have their own signature and when it was put together it would look like a dogs dinner. Once we had assembled the pieces there was a collective sigh of relief at the rather nice looking inked blocks. It looked pretty good.

Time to try a proof print. The first part to proof was the under block that Merlyn had been working on. This, as the name suggests, goes under all the other sections of the print and hopefully pins it all together.

We pulled a couple and then went for the assembled over blocks on top.

I think its obvious to see from the grins and excitement on the faces of all involved that we're rather relieved and quite happy at the appearance of the very first print. If it looks like this, we thought, on first proof imagine how it will look after we have obsessed and tweaked over it for another couple of days.

The printmaking Five go mad in Devon. Chapter one.

Your not still expecting any sort of linear based time accurate listing of my adventures in print? Good so forget about my sixth birthday, I'll get to Art in Action and Geneva later, now we need to talk about Pine.

Though this does in fact refer back to AIA in July, where I met the most excellent printmakers Merlyn Chesterman, who had the stand next to mine, and Julie Manning who had come down to see Merlyn. We had a bit of a chat about meeting up to 'do' something. They'd come up to do one of my courses, I'd come down to see them, we'd work together or sommat. We got another print friend of mine interested, Laura Boswell, also at AiA and the idea of meeting up to create began to germinate.

Unfortunately for us Laura couldn't make the proposed dates, good for her though as she was off for the Masters version of a Japanese woodblock course in Japan.

Merlyn soldiered on finding recruits and 'print camp' materialised with five printmakers, Merlyn and myself, Julia Manning, Judith Westcott and Rod Nelson. The furious, fantastic and of course famous five.

AKA Pine Feroda

The who was organised, the where was set, Merlyns studio in Hartland Devon, the when decided on, early October, which meant Print camp I was on. I arrived at glass of wine time on the Thursday evening to meet up with the gang  and we spent the evening trying to decide what were we actually going to do over the weekend. Not much was decided other than we better get down the beach first thing and seek some inspiration.

Tractors to lighthouse's

It all went mad busy again so as usual I'm months behind, but as promised, a long time ago, here is a picture of a tractor with some birdies and a lighthouse.

The rooks wait patiently

The lighthouse print is of Happisburgh. One of those places in Norfolk that has pretty much lost it battle with the sea and every storm marks a new front in the seas advance. It's a slightly eerie place with gardens ending at cliff edges and the beach below littered with bits of house. I'd done the start of the print before I went to Oz, but wasn't sure what to do with the field in the foreground. A large empty area lined with tractor tyre marks. It became a transition piece, a before and after, the upper part being pre-oz and then I stuck a bit of post-oz pattern in the foreground to get me started.

Back to these shores

I moved on from this to the Waterfall print in the previous post. What? you weren't expecting chronological integrity were you?
Next, my sixth birthday party.
After that Art in Action and six people sweating over lino in a seventh floor apartment in Geneva. Oh and an annoying trip back to old school registration.

Plas Glynn Y Weddw

After the dire warnings of snow and ice, a lovely cold but bright day for a drive up to the Llyn. I had a meeting today with Mari at Plas Glynn Y Weddw, Llanbedrog about a post Australia exhibition.
I showed at the Plas years ago with my Llyn Coastal Path series but haven't really been back properly until now. Which is a shame as it's a beautiful old house set in lovely grounds with simply stunning views across Cardigan Bay.

Plas Glynn Y Weddw

The interior is all deep reds and carved woodwork, black and white beams and large ceiling bosses. It even has a huge stained glass window above the central staircase. What a perfect location to start the  exhibitions featuring my new project. This project will take the patterning inspiration from Australia and apply it to the birds and animals of Wales. It will also explore their place in Welsh folklore and mythic history and throw in a good dollop of medieval illustration for good measure. The result? A Modern Welsh Bestiary. ( Sort of)

Just magnificent. The main hall at Plas Glynn y Weddw

I very much enjoyed the birds and animals I drew in Australia and was of course hugely inspired by the  animals, and their place in indigenous life and culture, printed by the Torres Strait Islanders. Artists  Like Billy Missi, Brian Robinson and Joel Sam whom I met and worked with at the Djumbunji Press workshop.

My initial attempt to begin integrating pattern into picture began with a little sketch I had of the Ibis. In which the pattern is within the bird.

The Ibis of Ideas

In the next birdie attempt I experimented with the pattern as informative decoration and background to the birds. The patterns come from the local plants and animals: palm tree fronds, green ants and mangrove tree roots, etc. 

The three Ibis: Idea, Introspection & Doubt.

I got very involved when working on these prints and very excited to be doing something different, so when thinking about a new show it seemed straightforward to take this part of my Australian trip and apply it back home.

I am working on some outstanding prints at the moment but in the background the sketches are gathering for the Bestiary project. I'm getting a bit twitchy about starting this, which is always a very good sign.....

Next the tractor and birds I promised before, oh and a lighthouse..

The first post antipodean Post.

Well, finally feel that I am getting back up to speed and getting on top of things after returning from Australia. It's only taken me about three months but the fact that I am actually managing to write in the blog must mean that:
a. I can ignore no longer the gaping hole that is my 'blog-o-presence and,
b. I've finally done some stuff so I have something to stick up here.

Australia was a wonderful and very inspirational experience and I shall be posting various excerpts, pictures and ideas from the sketchbook I religiously scribbled in while there. Modestly called 'the bible' I looked after it more obsessively than I did my young family.
As well as a diary of events, and a general sketchbook of the landscape, it contains over 60 new sketches, the bible also has loads of great new ideas and ways for me to produce prints. Loads and loads of new exciting stuff that should start making it's way into my work soon...

The five prints I produced while at Djumbunji, in which I tried to gain an understanding of the patterning used by the Torres Strait islands, will be posted soon with more explanation.

I have also produced my first prints post Australia, mainly to get some new work into the galleries as they seem to have sold everything while I was away, darn them! Also to start the process of integrating the ideas from the bible into my artistic practice. Gently at first, a little pattern here, brighter colour there, warming up to a big new project.

This first picture of 2013 is a waterfall sketch I have wanted to print for a while;

First colour layer

I remember for this sketch I took my boots off, rolled my trousers up above the knee and waded into the water to get to the right spot to draw. It was very cold and I got some strange looks from hikers walking past but I love doing stuff like that.  (Standing barefoot in cold mountain streams drawing, not standing semi-clothed being stared at by strangers. ) The main focus is the movement of the water coming down the hillside towards you, surrounding you with it's noise and pattern. I want to put the viewer right into the action, into the waterfall. Get them splashed artistically speaking.

I had in mind a colour scheme of cold blue for the water contrasting with quite a bright yellow for the vegetation. The blue was is so strong though that it needed quite a strong second layer to cover and not pick up the first layers colour too much. As is the way with water based inks.

Second colour layer

Not quite the light delicate yellow I had in mind though. I would usually pick out other areas of detail with the first colour. Other than a bit of 'sky' though I wanted the only blue to be the water to really concentrate attention onto the waterfall.

third colour layer

This was where it got interesting. Keep the boulders and background hillside dark to focus attention down the waterfall, tonal shadows in the water, what to do with the surrounding plants?
I got an urge. Try something new. One of the few 'rules' I have in my printing is that if I get an urge, an idea of something new, I have to try it out. This urge, more of a compulsion actually was to start using some of the bold patterning I had been working with in Australia straight away. Always give in to an urge I say. Here the curling leaf pattern represents the plants by the waters edge but also the rising forms suggest to me the sound of the water. The splashing, burbling and gurgling lifting up like natural music from the surface of the waterfall as it rushes between the stones.

Final print

Final layer, dark but not black, to separate out some of the stones and suggest texture and pattern as well as form. It also adds more patterning to the background to suggest brash and branches tangled together as you look upstream, up the hill and deeper into the forest. This final cutting also has the first hesitant steps on developing my own Welsh form of patterning, in this instance partly based on pine cones as well as the free form decorative stuff. Sounds interesting doesn't it?

Finally, I can't resist, here is a picture of some Welsh hills. The weather here has been so good after a cold dark winter that everyone has rushed out in the sunny cold to make the most of it. Me? I went mountain biking up Tarren Hendre with my good friend Shem and my dog.

Next. A picture of some birds following a tractor....

D.Day 19 Green Ants and Mangrove

Friday 19th

Day before yesterday on the walk from the bus stop to Djumbunji I saw the Mangrove trees in the lake by the side of the road. Quick sketch then and I realised this morning, looking though my sketchbook, I had the next part of the Three Ibis puzzle.

Mangrove drawn and cut, water patterned, small turtle I had sketched out the night before dropped. I'm on fire, now what?

Smaller version of the mangrove pattern to represent the grass bank the Ibis are standing in. Just need something to finish it off along the bottom.

Everywhere you go outside here are large feisty Green Ants. Every time I'm drawing I'll suddenly notice them running around. So I wanted to have them in this print.

I made a linear pattern of Green ants nose to nose, or antenna to antenna, and abdomen to abdomen. Cut them running along the top of the grass.

Cutting finished, time for a proof print.

D.Day 16. Granite Gorge.

Tuesday the 9th.

The sketching trip went so well yesterday, apart from the small matter of the bee sting. So thought I would get out to the outback today as a contrast to the tropical jungle.

Drove for an hour or so west to a place called Granite Gorge I had seen on a flyer.

Starts of cute enough, small Wallaby's coming up for food, then a couple of huge boulders over a small creek are quite interesting. Got a couple of good sketches.

Then you wander over another creek, come out of the trees and are suddenly in Star Trek land! Or to those of us a certain age and persuasion, Blakes 7. The bit in any episode when they had to go down to the 'Alien planet' and it always looked a bit like a quarry near Worksop.

Well they should have come here instead. Though with 70's TV budgets probably Worksop was more do-able.

It was an amazing landscape of huge, massive smooth slabs of granite. On top of which were piled vast boulders and pillars of stone. The scale of the water which must flow over these rocks is astounding.

I wandered down the course of the river buried under the stones with sketchbook in hand and didn't draw a thing. The scale was simply to big. Too smooth.

On the return journey the track takes you out of the gorge and into the bush.

This was more like it. The temp rose a couple of degrees into the upper thirties and the landscape became old and dry and intimidating. Huge erratic boulders lurked amongst the spindly burnt trees. Everywhere I looked I could see a picture and, thanks to both Elizabeth and Brian's obsession, a lot of the big boulders seemed to suggest human skulls.

Got a lot of photo's and a lot of sketches before the heat started getting to me. Back in the nice air conditioned car for the drive back to Cairns.

Oh did I mention the Wallaby's?

D.Day 15 Crystal Cascades.

Monday the 8th.

Brain a bit full now of patterns, concepts and artness. Need to get out and stretch my legs and my drawing muscles to get some primary research.
I.e go for a walk and draw stuff. 14 km west of Cairns into the hills are the Crystal Cascades. A series of small, in the dry season, waterfalls linking swimming holes I have visited with the kids.

They are great. Huge boulders tumbled around small deep pools. Waterfalls rushing over dark rocks against a rainforest backdrop.

As usual the best place to sketch tended to be perched precariously on a rock or knee deep in the middle of the creek.
Managed nearly ten good sketches in a couple of hours.
Though wandering around the bank in bare feet, after wading around, proved a mistake in the rainforest. Got stung by a bee on the foot. Luckily I saw it was a bee and managed to pull the sting out before I started panicking it was something more serious.

Best cure for bee sting. A refreshing swim in a freshwater creek with electric blue Ulysses butterflies floating overhead.

D.Day 20 Djumbunji Workshop

Saturday October 12th.

A full house at Djumbunji press today for a Lino colour reduction workshop.

Was a real luxury to be working in a fully equipped studio with back up. I had help cutting the paper and Lino to size, preparing the tables etc. Well when I say had help I mean I wandered about while other people did all the work getting everything ready for me.

There were 10 people all together and having three sheets of glass to mix on, spare rollers and huge drying racks made a real difference to the flow of the workshop.

As usual there was a great range of work produced and everyone seemed happy with their final print.

D.Day 18 testing the 'Three Ibis'

Thursday 11th

Spent most of the day cutting the pattern on the Three Ibis.

Once finished the upper part of the picture I did a test print to see how it looked. Interesting and better than the first Stoney Creek picture.

Thanks to Brian's influence I have done the unthinkable. Started cutting out part of the print before I know what I am doing with the rest of the print.

Better start thinking!

D.Day 12 Finishing the Creek

Wednesday the 3rd.

Just got on with printing up the Creek today. Happy with some bits not so with others areas.

Like my 'foliage pattern' as a starting point. Though it looks a bit too much like actual palm fronds rather than general foliage. Also prefer the two colour pattern rather than the final black.

Water works okay and did have some registration issues as the press actually stretched either the paper or the Lino itself. This meant just the bottom section was out of registration but the rest of the print was fine.

The white stuff on one of the finished prints in the photo's below is talcum powder. Another suggestion of Elizabeth. Sprinkled on sections of the print after inking it prevents the ink in the sprinkled areas printing. So you see the underlying layer. Gives a nice effect but was a bit of an afterthought on this print. Think it will work better if it is planned in from the beginning.

Need to get back down to Stoney Creek get some more drawing done. Elizabeth tells me there are more swimming holes further up the track.

D.Day 11 A quiet day at the press

Tuesday the 2nd ,

Pretty quiet day at Djumbunji, no one else in, so I'm just getting on with cutting the Stoney Creek to print the next colour.

After a while Billy Missy comes in to have another go at a reduction print. This time I'm going to demonstrate with the first print and Billy will do the rest of the edition himself.

It's a lovely little print of a Torres Strait Pigeon sitting in a fruit bush.

It didn't go completely to plan, registration issues, but still had a lot of character.

I also managed to finish cutting the creek picture so can print that tomorrow.

D.Day 10 Cutting the Creek

Another day chatting with Brian and watching him work. He has such an infectious enthusiasm for his work. Like a child playing he has a constant philosophy of "What happens if I do this, what about this, could I cut this out and..."

It's very educational in that you start thinking along similar lines. What if I did this, why Don't I try that.
My sketchbook is filling up with things to work on when I come back.

Finished cutting the white on Stoney Creek and printed the first colour. It's the biggest print I've done so far, twice the size of any previous print. I got to play with a true whopper of a roller though which cut the printing time down considerably.
Did the first layer a lot darker than usual so we'll see what happens with the second colour.

D.Day 9. Drawing up the Creek

Thursday the 27th. Kacey the Studio Manager finally got control of the wayward computer. This allowed me to scan my Stoney Creek sketch, enlarge and print out the sheets. I then had a pleasant morning chatting with Brian about pattern, identity and sponge bob square pants.
Had some great ideas for the future.

Once Brian left I had the studio to myself to draw up the sketch and work out what I was going to do with it.

D.Day 6. Waiting for Billy

Monday the 24th. I am supposed to be working with Billy Missy today. He has some ideas for a reduction print he wants to work through with me.

Unfortunately it turns put he is ill so won't be coming in, means I get the day to finish off my 'Ibis of Ideas' before he comes in tomorrow.

I changed my mind while printing the ibis about using the embossing. I just used the colour layers to give some visual depth.

It's what we call a Variable Edition. I.e there is quite a lot of variety in the edition. In some I printed white feathers on the back but the others I did varying strengths of blue or brown, as well as a black and white version.
Spot the difference!

D.Day 8 Finally Billy Missy

Wednesday September 26th After all the waiting I had a day working with the Torres Strait Islander Billy Missy today.

He'd got an image he's had on Lino for a while and as we doing a reduction test print thought he would finally get a use from it.

The idea was that I would teach Billy reduction and then he would be able to do it himself! I think having worked with editioning printmakers like Elizabeth, who do all the printing work, Billy saw me as the guy who printed.

So we chatted about his ideas, I advised, he cut and I mixed colours, inked up and printed.

Together we came up with a lovely little print and I tried out some colours I had been thinking of for my Stoney Creek print.
The first proof, to check the pressure of the press, was printed on the back of an old print of Billy's. The old design slightly showing through the new proof gave me a couple of ideas.

I think he was happy. He's talking about some bigger prints next time.

D.Day 7 Stoney Creek

Tuesday the 25th. I'm expecting Billy again today if he is not ill. Unlike yesterday though I've nothing to do in the studio if I have to wait all day to find out if he is coming in or not. I finished the Ibis yesterday and haven't been out drawing yet. At about 10.00 we phone Billy. He'd forgotten he has a teachers conference today. In tomorrow. I print up the Yarrabah shark for Elizabeth then go to pick up the family for a trip to Stoney Creek swimming holes.
While the kids play in the shallow water I explore up river. It's a hot prehistoric landscape of trickling streams amidst huge boulders.
It's Immediately apparent that in the wet season there must be a really dramatic torrent through here to pile stones this huge into such random collections. I got off a little sketch that has some potential.

D.Day 3 Yarrabah

Had a really interesting trip up to Yarrabah, an aboriginal community situated on the headland across the bay from Cairns.

Really good drive down the coast south for about half an hour then it's across the bottom of the bay and back up for another half an hour.

Pretty ramshackle area and pretty ramshackle school. We were followed in by a police can. Turned out it was CSI as there had been a break in. Wire cut glass smashed, blood everywhere. All to steal some condoms they give away free anyway.

One child arrived then left. Elizabeth, senior printer at Djumbunji, went and got a teacher who rounded up some more. Four kids arrived and reluctantly wandered in to the classroom. Then wandered out again. Sat down, got up, cut a bit of lino. Elizabeth did very well trying to get them to stay but it was like herding cats.

Thing was when they actual gave us a piece of vinyl to print it was usually something really interesting. As soon as it was printed they lost interest. "do you want to cut some more?"
"no"
"You finished"
"yep"

The picture belongs to one of the school children. We took the vinyl back to Djumbunji to print up on the proper press. Elizabeth was busy so I printed it up this Monday the 24th.

Looks pretty good. The drive back was equally spectacular. Snatched glimpses through the trees of yellow sandy beaches fringed by palm trees. Stripes of turquoise sea. Views across the bay to Cairns. Starting to get a bit if an itch to get out drawing.

Tomorrow, Thursday my first meeting with Brian Robinson.

Djumbunji Day 2.

Got a lift in this morning from Elizabeth the senior printer. I think they were worried I would go walkabout again and wanted to make sure I turned up this time. As I was waiting for Billy Missy to arrive I wanted to start doing something. I had a nice little itty bitty sketch of an Ibis from my Monday morning walk through the Botanical Gardens which face Djumbunji. That will do.

Managed to scan in, enlarge and print out my Ibis while all the Kickarts staff had a meeting discussing the forthcoming budget cuts to the arts. It sounded horribly familiar.

I was surprisingly nervous waiting for Billy to arrive. I felt he wanted me to turn out a perfect exhibition ready print first time with strange inks on a huge press while showing him how to do a reduction print with cross graduation. Probably made worse the anticipation of not knowing exactly when he was arriving. I spent the whole day watching the door and the clock while playing with my Ibis. As it was he didn't show up at all and I had a great idea for the Ibis.

It is a black and white bird which I though would work well as a print. Where the black parts are I'm going to do a bit of a repeat pattern of my own. Based on the thorns running along the edge of palm tree fronds. A bit of a pale blue/brown shadow along the belly and then the white back something special. A little bit of embossing. I'll cut a delicate feather pattern, offset print it onto a zinc plate, stop it out with tar, bite the plate then pass the Lino through the press with the zinc plate in position. It should then emboss the pattern into the paper to give a delicate white on white feathered look to the bird. Exciting.

Billy is coming back on Monday. I think I walk before I can run. We'll do an experimental hand printed picture first before we get onto the big boys prints and the big boy press.

Tomorrow a trip to an Aboriginal community school at Yarrabah for some Lino.