I have had two wonderful days printing in the Print Studio. I am feeling very grateful the Nepean Creative Art Centre was allowed to reopen. Before lockdown I was working on an etching and had only proofed it before everything closed. So I pulled it out of my map drawer and started playing. Even before Covid -19, I needed my artwork to be of a light hearted subject matter. And so here is “All In A Days Work”. But first my Muse 🙂
This is Perpetua, I call her Pet. She is not my cat. But I get to cat sit when my daughter goes away for a few days.
Below are photos of my etched plate and Print States. I love the process, got too in order to love printmaking. (Just my Opinion )
A close up of the plate before it was etched in the Edinburgh Etch solution. I put a watered down wash of Black Graphic Chemical W/S Block Print Ink on the copper plate. Let it dry and painted on the plate with Speedball Screen Filler, Golden Stop-out Varnish for intaglio Printmakers and drizzled some Graphic Chemical Peacock Blue water based ink on the plate too. Just because I had the can out 🙂 It also works as a great hardground, but I like the black best for washes.
Inked PlatePrint ready for the ball of YarnThis is the Stencil I made with yarn coated in Screen Filler“All In A Days Work”
I am still playing with possible ideas for printing this plate. More color, maybe add some texture…….FUN
The original image had a cat face in a big moon. It looked sinister, so I turned it into a ball of yarn. Love the image now:)
My interpretation/intent to visually express for this image is about being a Mom and doing a good job bringing up my children by setting a good example. It is scary performing on stage musically and much more publicly through our children. *Mothers and children are all about dreams for the Future. Songs of Peace warm the heart and help set the stage for the future. Printed 2010.
I love tinkering with playing the guitar and penny-whistle & Celtic flute, but have never had the nerve to play in front of anyone but family and a kind Slow Jam group. In many ways this image has a special spot in my heart because maybe someday I will get braver 🙂
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“Seasons At Play”
There are so many wonderful memories of childhood in this image. The memories are a mixture of my early childhood and my kids. The figures were sketches of a walking doll I got for Christmas when I was 6 or 7 years old. The bird was from a children’s book I read to my kids before bedtime. And of course the leaves are a symbol of changing seasons. It is an image about good times remembered.
The medium is Zinc etching and in 1992 – I was into deep bitten lines. The colours were inked separately and then blended.
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“I Can Do This”
This is my got to be strong print. Sometimes we all need a little encouragement to make it through the day. I created this image in 2003, the year my husband did his cancer treatment. The kids, Terry and I …… all made it through the year, one day at a time.
The original image was created on an aluminum plate, coated with future floor polish for a hard-ground. The image was scratched into the plate and then etched really deep. The original print “I Can Do This” is 6 inches x 12 inches.
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“Spirit Rising”
There was a period in my printmaking career that it was all about how much ink I could layer on a sheet of paper. This image is what I refer to as a Printmaker’s painting on paper. “Spirit Rising” was created in 1999 and has 4 wood blocks, mono print background printed on the press, lots of ink added with a roller and some hand painting. This is truly a mixed media image.
The original image paper size is 30×22 inches
The 90′s were a fantastic period of my life juggling being Mommy and an artist. I had some wonderful folks visit my studio (who bought lots of artwork) and they told me that they saw my artwork at a gallery and the only thing the person at the gallery could tell them was “she has a lot of kids” disdainfully! Bless them, that just made them more curious to meet me and buy my art directly. At the time I was a little upset with the gallery, but now I love the memory. I am very, very proud of my 3 kids.
I am a Happy Printmaker.
***************************** “Who’s Guarding the Shore”
OK, it is hot today and I am dreaming of about the beach. I was looking through my files of old artwork trying to decide on which image to play with. This old photo collage just made me smile. I never made this image into a Intaglio Type print when I was working on the project “An Islander’s Perspective”. I loved it too much as a photo image.
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“Life’s A Puzzle”
Life’s A Puzzle at the best of times, but when you are a kid trying to figure it all out, Wow!
This image is a personal favorite of my images. It is a symbol of how life is never figured out. The young person in the image has worked themselves up the steps of life into the light.
The original print on canvas is 15 x 25 inches
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“Tattletale”
This image was created in 2002 and it is a story about my childhood. When I was younger the kids in our neighborhood ran around pretty freely. We just had to say whose yard you were heading over too. There was always a parent at home, so in a way the neighborhood took care of us. The annoying thing was that you could never get away with anything! My Mom had a saying “A little bird told me”. Which meant some grown up tattletaled on you.
The image is 5×7 inches and the print is an Intaglio Type print. I love using ImagOn for layered color work. All the images were drawn on paper and cut out, except the paper doilies. I laminated the ImagOn onto my copper plates and exposed the paper cutouts. So much fun.
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“Hug Me”
This image is sentimental and special to me. My daughter when she was much younger would do all kinds of hand modeling for me. This is Little Eliza Jane hugging a tree. And I really love trees a lot too! The original image was created using the printmaking mediums Intaglio Type, Mono-print and Linocut. The hand-pulled print “Hug Me” was created in 2005.
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“Always There”
I created “Always There” back in 1998. If I ever said I painted a landscape this would be it. The blue bird (above the walking dolls playing with a ball) wings make a mountain. The face in the pool below the children(dolls) playing is the representation of ripples in water. The yellow wheat in the foreground is grass that needs to be cut in the backyard. Smiles! My art is not realistic and is meant to represent a mood, a moment in time, or an abstract feeling. The printmaking medium silk screen is wonderful for layering of lots of color. When I work in silk screen I us all nontoxic supplies. Sometimes I cook up my own flour paste on the stove and add pigment. Or I buy wall paper paste (that is marked non-toxic) and add my color to it. **Just remember while working – to not let your screens dry!
This image is 22 x 18 inches
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“Little Eliza Jane”
My children in 1994 were young and into paper dolls, crafts of all sorts and of course fantasy. It was such a fun time. This is a silk screen print, printed with water based inks and a flour paste I cooked up on the stove. Silk screen was one of the first mediums I explored in non-toxic printmaking. The paper dolls were real paper dolls donated by my daughter Eliza Jane. She also donated the tulips in the print. The tulips stencils were made of construction paper she cut out for a spring window display.
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“To Be Female”
Look closely at this print and you can see an old cloth doily inked up in the background. The face was drawn from one of my daughter’s dolls and the rest of the patterns were just for the love of pattern. I created this image in 1991. I have never lost the love of excessive ink and layering of images.
“To Be Female” is a puzzle woodcut print with the background plywood with the circles carved out of the plywood. Then the circles that were inserted were inserted by hand because they were carved pine board.
Printmaking can have lots of different textures depending on the materials and amount of ink used. It is fun.
The plywood carved for the background was 18 x 24 inches and the paper printed was 30 x 22 inches.
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“Play On Life”
Wow, this image was hard to photograph. I have a hard time getting squares in squares! Then there was the problem of all the gorgeous layers of multiple printings. I had to settle for this representation of “Play On Life” because I was driving myself nuts. The original image is 22 x 30 inches and is a not so traditional zinc etching with a mono-print back ground. I etched the image in the plate really deep. The plate was almost like when you draw in sand with a stick. The background was a cardboard plate with yarn stitched into it in the shape of a sort of spider web. The original print was created in 1993.
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“Tortured Soul”
This print dates back to the early 90″s. I still love the wood block that I carved for this figure. The image was printed on Rives BFK Arches paper. I did not need a press for this image; I just had a lot of fun with lots of ink and tools I used for seam filling drywall. The back ground was all mono printing and the shapes and figure were printed on with wood blocks. Honestly Printmaking is a lot of fun.
The subject matter for the image is not fun. If you ever loved someone tortured with a mental illness you will recognize this figure. Or felt like this figure watching helplessly. Everyone suffers!
The original image is 27.5 x 22 inches
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“The Life Must Go ON”
Printmaking can be like painting with shapes and objects instead of a paint brush. I created “The Life Must Go On” in 2001 and the original is 22×30 inches. The print is mixed media with a mono printing background and the shapes are a combination of wood block and lino block.
Life has all kinds of ups and downs: meaning not everything in life can go smoothly! The old saying in the theater when something goes wrong “The Show Must Go On” is very true of ordinary life.
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“The Golden Child”
“The Golden Child” is a copper etching on woven paper. The original size is 6×4 inches.
I made two woven paper prints of this image. One was sent to an art show asking female artists to send small art not meant for sale. I liked the not for sale/commercial aspect of creating art.
About the art: Parents love to protect, hold on to, and shield their children form everyday struggles and hurts. But we can’t! The old saying cut the apron strings some-days for both children and parents feels more like taking a saw to chain.
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“Behind the Curtains Over the Years”
“Behind the Curtains Over the Years” is an image I printed on paper in 2002. It is a mixed media printmakers delight. It is a combination of copper etching, wood block printing, stenciling, and mono printing. The paper is 22×30 inches.
I love to look in windows as I walk or drive by homes in the evening. A quick glimpse is like a slide in a slide show telling a story. Lots of emotion, moods, parties, happenings, and events take place behind window curtains, and it all adds up to lots of story material. Put all the slides together and tell a story about what is happening behind the window curtain.
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The print studio is reopening this week !!!!
I am planning to go in this week and dust my plates off 🙂
I have been back in the studio finishing “Purrr” and doing some test plates in the Edinburgh Etch.
Today at home signing the rest of my 2019 prints.
So here we go finishing off 2019 prints, except for “Purrr” it needs to be flattened and signed.
“Light a Candle for Me” This is a 5×7 inch copper etching with a Mono-Print background. There are 7 in the edition.“Butterfly Effect” This image is 10×12 inches and I printed the background for the birds on my little Book Press a few years ago. Never really felt finished, but this year I added the birds and I really like it now. This is the whole edition of 4.“Rest A Bit” Mono-Print, 18×24 inchesThere are four varied “Rest A Bit” prints, this image is 12×18 inches “ABC Lunch” Aluminum etching I etched a few years ago and finally printed in 2019. image size is 12×17 inches
Now for a sneak peak of a few finished “Purrr”. I got a bit carried away playing with “Purrr”, there are 18 prints. All may not be in the edition when I go to sign the prints. But I will make that decision when everything is flattened.
Spent some time in the Studio. I am only half way in the printing process of finishing my Collagragh plate. I have not printed a Collagraph plate since the late 90’s. I forgot how much fun it is to print them. AND I forgot about my own advice “less is best” . I am talking about INK 🙂
Not all the prints will make the edition. But I like to play with everything until I am finished.
Here are some photos of what the prints look like at this stage of printing,
InkingThe topper came off.This is “Purrrr” so far, be back soon. Happy Printmaking
Rainy Day work 🙂 I think this is all of the Teapot Series. I have a lot of prints of other subjects left to sign in a pile. I will do another signing day soon.
“Fall Picnic” teapot series 22×30 inches full sheet“Raining :)” Full sheet“Opps” Full sheet size“Picnic In the Woods” Each are half a sheet size.“Picnic Love” full sheet size“Why am I Sitting on Myself” 18×24 inches“Garden Picnic” half sheet size print“Midnight Tea” Copper etching on a sheet of paper 18×24 inches“Raining Again” Printed on a full sheet of paper.“Gossip Line” Aluminum etching and Stencil Each print is a half sheet of paper.
A lot of the Teapot Series was printed on old inked paper from many years ago. Prints “Picnic Love” and “Opps” where printed on the backgrounds left over from an edition in 1996.
I am finished working on “Purrrr:)” Next week it will be fun printing it. Anything goes for ways of printing a Collagraph plate: Intaglio, relief and painting are my favorites. A look at some of the materials I used. Floor linoleum, string, elastics, woven plastic, cheese cloth, and a piece of plastic litho plate for the fish..Just adding this plate for interest. – It is woven Stonehenge paper and coated with 3 coats of screen filler and one on the back to help with clean up. I printed 9 prints inked like an intaglio and the plate is still in good condition for more printing.Have lots of fun playing with possibles 🙂 Here is a link to the Studio I print at: https://www.ottawagatineauprintmakers.ca/print-studio/
My shape is cut from an old piece of linoleum. If I was teaching, I would tell you to put 3 light coats of screen filler on. The heaver the coats the longer it takes to dry. And I would say 10 minutes or dry to the touch between coats. Also, you can play with paintbrush strokes -because when you ink up the plate like an Intaglio, they are a nice effect. Play 🙂 My plastic woven material does not want to stick and it wants to fall apart. But I really want to use it.Sometimes I get impatient and the good news – I got away with it. I put plastic wrap on the plate and a stack of books to flatten my cat. Be careful not to leave it too long. And peel the plastic wrap off slowly.I love draping cheesecloth. To help with a little less mess, you can put your fabric of choose in a bag and pour some medium into the bag and squish it around till coated. Nope, I just do not like the plastic fern stuff enough to fuss trying to make it stick. Glad it did not work right away. This is how the plate is right now. Maybe I will cut the top off the vase, or perhaps play with it. Just going to let it be today and come back to it another day. Meanwhile, I would like you to check out this lovely sharing site. The Curious Printmaker : https://www.thecuriousprintmaker.co.uk/ Happy Printmaking!
I have an idea now and a name for the future collagraph print “Purrrrr :)”
Not everything in the pile shown in the above picture will be used in the making of the Collagraph plate. But I am chuckling to myself because – just above the computer that I am typing on is an image I printed in 2004, using some of the same materials in a mixed media and copper etching. Laughing – because I have moved twice (downsizing) from a house to a townhouse to an apartment. I know what is important to keep! I need that plastic woven fabric for this callagraph.
I use a lot of Speedball Screen Filler when I put my Collagraph plates together. There are lots of other mediums a printmaker can use. But my favorite is Screen Filler. I will photo demonstrate with photos when I blog again.
And here is the Print I mentioned:
Copper Etching and Mixed Media “Just Resting”
And an old Collagraph:
Collagraph “Bubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble” 2006 Collagraph “Need a Pair of Scissors” 2001
