Arguing for artists: Axis responds to cuts in arts funding

Arguing for artists: Axis responds to cuts in arts funding

YESTERDAY AND TODAY!

Time flies, days wing past

moments wet, sodden, closed

swing, change, pass by

white clouds sail, green breeze, sunlight

Mono printing FUN!

I was intrigued by the mono printing process which I previously remember as finger and hand printing as a child - oh to be a child again! And why not I thought and Cathy Cullis whose work I admire just gave me the excuse (why do I need an excuse?) the other day when I read her wonderful post on how she creates her mono prints - Cathy really has found her inner child - thank you Cathy - here are some of my first attempts - I had much too much ink on the plate of course and it turned out quite a spotchy mess - yes there was meant to be an image!then I had to put the plate away for a few days while more grown up things took over my time - I came back to an almost dry but still tacky plate which had lost the ink in places - even the prints from the cling film were quite interesting! I had a lovely time rubbing it in the ink free spots and getting mucky - so that's why baby wipes were invented!!

Then I drew a couple of trees, the left hand one with a large needle and the right hand one with a fine tipped pen which was much easier as I could see what I was drawing - but it felt more predictable and I like the abstract quality of the one on the left much more.... I am using a water soluble oil paint but am going to get some printing ink to see the difference..... meantime I seem to still be obsessing about trees and rocks!
Last week I rolled some ink over my reduction lino cut of the gorse which I showed in a previous post and printed it under the press - there was not much lino left but this is the result which I think I will use as the basis of a drawing.....

Do go and have a look at Cathy's work if you don't know her already! She is a very prolific artist.

Now I have my new camera I hope to get back to posting more often - I have the next 10 days free of any commitments so I hope to get some time to catch up with all my blogging friends too!

I LOVE my new camera!!

I finally made my choice of camera and bought a CANON G11 in Bristol on my way to a visit to friends in Brynamman, South Wales - one of our trips was to the National Botanic Garden of Wales where I took these images - this is what the camera does on auto so I can't wait to explore the manual functions! The weather was unpredictable with rain showers but we managed to stay dry! The gardens really needed the rain after the dry spell we have had over the last couple of months and the positive side was that everywhere looked so lush and green!



there was even dancing in the cafe area and we stopped for tea while the Morris dancers kept us entertained - even the rain stopped for a while!

so these are just a small selection of what I took - if you are in South Wales then I recommend a visit - it's a beautiful place