Walking bliss

2 days on the coastal path at Zennor in Cornwall - a magical little hamlet with the myth of mermaids, a fascinating museum, good pub and hostel accomodation in an old chapel - and the sun shone!

I stopped here to listen for seals 

Look at the colour of the sea - you'd think you were in the mediterranean!

 And I'm still photographing stones 

the carved mermaid chair in St Senara's Church, Zennor 

Crossing Paths - PREVIEW of artist book

Page 1

I have been asked by Liz Davidson for a few more images from my collaborative book - Crossing Paths - so here we are - I do hope it will encourage you to order a copy from my Etsy shop HERE - It is a limited edition so there are only another 17 available!

Crosssing Paths - Page 29

Crossing Paths - Page 35 

Monday's job - restoration

A friend recently offered me this old guillotine which he was about to take to the tip.......

it was  very dirty and  rusted and needed a good clean but  the blade is still very sharp - I used soap and water then steel wool and finally a metal cleaner - all I need now is to buy some penetrating oil (I've done my research) in order to get the bolt off - then I can clean the underside of the blade

I shall cut up some old paper/card and non precious stuff for a bit before I put through anything that matters!
there is a great deal of satisfaction in making a 'throw out' serviceable again! And it is perfect for my bookmaking

Transformations

I don't very often post about household jobs but I've taken a few days out of the studio to catch up on some creative house projects which I've been meaning to do for ages - firstly the final stages to my garden design which was to replace the turf in my small garden with gravel - it really was too small for a lawn - I've been digging the turf up a bit at a time as it's heavy work and gives me back ache after a while but at long last I've dug up the remaining bit and put the gravel down - I'm pleased with the result - now there's more planting to be done to soften the edges (any excuse to buy plants!)

I bought this second hand coffee table for just a few pounds last year with the intention of painting it red as that is the dominant colour of my living room. It looked a bit tatty but was generally in good condition - I love Annie Sloan  chalk paint - I've used her red/pink colour and then rubbed in her dark wax which gives it a darker look with a sheen! I think it looks quite smart! 

Now all I've got to do is some shelving in a downstairs room which I want to turn into a darkroom as it has no window and tidy up and make room in my shed! In between I will get back into the studio as I have a couple of books to make! 

Crossing Paths - a walking collaboration and artist's book

Sometime ago I promised to post an image of the final book I made for the walking collaboration with painter friend Judith Cockram .

Finished book - Crossing Paths

I finished making one book for Judith's degree show in June and am now busy making another 2. One for myself and another for Mandy Beall who has inspired me by ordering a copy. Thank you so much Mandy for your support and encouragement.

page of book - collagraph Rosie Kearton

We have (Judith and myself) now decided to make it a limited edition of 20. I have put the details on my Etsy shop and there is a link on the sidebar to the right if you'd like to know more or even buy a copy!

End pages of book 

I am really going to make a concerted effort to promote my work more. I sometimes lack confidence in what I do so when other artists and bloggers comment positively about my work it makes such a big difference! Love getting all your comments!

Day 4 - Design school

The final day was with Sofia Stevi who makes amazing book structures like this these 

We divided into pairs and on the theme of Plymouth we researched an image for a section of the book - I worked with Anne-Marie Culhane and we each drew a section of Drakes Circus 

It is a pretty hideous shopping centre but iconic in the region! 

It was then cut into 7 sections each side (14 in total) for each inner spine - I think it will work really well but unfortunately we weren't able to complete the mock up and must wait to see the final book in a few weeks time - frustrating..... 

So that is the end of the summer school - it was very different to what I expected, much more fun and playfulness and virtually no technology! It was fantastic and I have lots of ideas I want to develop - every day was different and exciting - thank you to all involved, the tutors, L.I.E. and Plymouth Arts Centre 

Day 3 - Design School

Another playful and challenging day with Ken Kirton who set us the task of cooking a meal based on plums (his research on Plymouth and the old English meaning 'plum mouth').

We started with a shared breakfast of bread with Ken's home made plum jam - ken is on the right 

Then we got down to work placing all the utensils we had brought in, on a very large sheet of paper 

This was the final result - you could really tell that the majority of the group came from a design background! I thought it looked like something out of a Sunday magazine glossy supplement! We then drew around them all, leaving a simple graphic outline! 

We were divided into pairs and allocated tasks for the lunch - me and Emily got this sheet of paper and had to decide what to do with it - I suggested drawing around all the food ingredients as they arrived (the prawns were fun as they started to melt) and each person writing there name around the border - we would then use it as a table cloth and see the design spoilt as food was dropped on it! I always embrace the chance element whenever I can!

We took all the food and drink up to Plymouth Hoe and had a barbecue - plum and shrimp kebabs with feta cheese salad followed by plum, peach and pineapple kebabs with creme fraiche - washed down with plum sangria!

P

It was a PLUM day

Day 2 at Design School

another full day at Plymouth Arts Centre - we focused on typography. Harry Blackett from An Endless Supply led the day and gave us lots of tips about fonts etc. We started off by designing our own font for our initials 

First attempt

then it started walking - perfect!

In the afternoon we played Bananagrams - a bit like scrabble without the board - it comes in a banana shaped bag which I don't have a picture of but you can see one HERE

 then we designed a page for a joint book - I used rubbings from the tiles I'd been playing with and some of the words that I'd made up

I haven't got an image of the finished book but will post one soon. I am beginning to feel very tired after 2 very full on days - and there's still another 2 to go - I have so many ideas buzzing around in my head for future projects as well.....

L.I.E. - Library of Independent Exchange workshop

An inspiring first day (of 4 days) on the design school workshop at Plymouth Arts Centre run by L.I.E.

We spent the morning playing visual games like the one below where one person was shown an image for 5 secs and then drawing it by memory for 2 mins - this image was then shown to the next person etc. a visual chinese whispers! 

We also did quick drawings from moving images - I used water color paint and really enjoyed myself - the painting led on to the afternoon exercise - we were each given a topic - mine was 'Above the stars' and were asked to produce 8 drawings which formed a narrative - these were then photocopied and folded into A4 booklets - the final task was to make a rubber stamp (something I've been meaning to do for ages!) for the front cover

Finished booklets with rubber stamped covers 

Some open pages 

One of my pages 'Above the stars'

The session leaders Holly Wales and Stephen Smith 

It was a splendid day and I've come away with lots of ideas for my bookmaking - many thanks to Holly Wales and Stephen Smith for making it a full, creative and fun day.

I'm now looking forward to tomorrow's session - more to follow about this!

Collaborative project

I have been making a book based on 10 walks on Dartmoor with a painter friend Judith Cockram - we've had really bleak cold weather and the book reflects this quite well although it was unintentional. The design and printing has given me headaches and was a steep learning curve but worth it in the end. It is A4 landscape with 4 signatures double sided - and it took me ages to figure out how to print this on my very basic inkjet printer but perseverance wins out 

I have sewn the signatures together and all I have to do now is the cover - I'm going to use an old Dartmoor map

I will post a photo of the finished book - hopefully at the weekend! 

Then I have to make another one for me as this one is for Judith and will be displayed at her degree show at Plymouth University mid June 

Thursday's walk on the Rame

the best day of the week!