↑ part deux (onwards & upwards) ↑

It has been the busiest week...I have been having a b-a-l-l

I think the sunshine brings out the best in me and everyone around me. I popped to London in the week and I could have sworn I was in a village, all good-natured banter and helpfulness. Chatty bus drivers? Whatever next?

I saw some brilliant work at my old college/uni/place of divine learning

The degree shows are here again and I love going back to my old London and checking out the action.

BA Photography at LCC at The University of the Arts was very visionary.

BA Book Arts in the same venue was, as always, thought provoking and I have seen the future of books!

{I'm not sure I understood it all but I got a momentary glimpse & a couple of Eureka moments}

BA Sound Arts debuted this year and I was blown off my plimsoles with it.

W.O.W

Kinetic sculptures & noise at unbelievable frightening, disturbing levels.

Freaking Amazing.

I was almost speechless if I could have heard myself think.
Head down to the Elephant & Castle for the action.

I'm almost pretty certain that the introduction of the odd French fried word in my vocab these days is down to the visitations of a certain Frencharian to my blog. Go see hers ici  It must really suck to live in France on croissants and romantic breathy films whilst being drunk on joie de vivre. 

Meanwhile back in lino cutting heaven, back to the ranch and we are debuting too. 
With the cutting.

The first cut is the deepest and all that

Bon Chance Mes Lovelies Bon Chance

Guiding your blades around your outline is a good way to establish the boundaries of your design. Think of it as carving a little moat. You'll revisit and add details later. Maybe even after a test print. You can always cut more away later but not add to it so take it easy with the process. It's so easy to carry on cutting because of the therapeutic and meditative qualities this process invokes. Reign it in mes enfants. Reign it in.

Cut and carve with your blades {a scalpel can be very useful at this stage} Some of the more fiddly details can 

be drawn with the blade and then lifted out with anything 'pokey'. I love my etching needle for this.

Remember the flat part of lino that you take away from your design will not print. 

I want all the 'holes' in my cakestand to be holes so I have very carefully and painstakingly removed them.

And I am still here. I didn't swear.

I made like a yogi printmaker and adored the fact that I was alive doing this.

Next time, which will be a lot sooner then this time I shall show you the inking and printing process.
Any questions? Post them as comments so everyone can see. 

♒℉ishy business♒

Don't take to the smelling salts just because I am back within the week. I meant it you know. I'm a woman of my word. Which works against me sometimes but that's another looooooonnngggggg story.
It's been a productive week, lots of coming and going, toing and froing, huffing and puffing.
A quick peek-a-boo at some of my moments...

I gathered all my rubber stamps together and made this as a promotional piece. It's all the rubber stamps I have carved recently for various projects. Using my quite ridiculously large collection of inks. (it's one of my cheaper habits)
When I was a porous, diligent art student at The London College of Printing or the LCC as it is known by these days and I extended my printmaking skills, I felt as though I had come home. The thoughtful, meditative quality that comes with printmaking was a great soother to me in those (when I look back on it) quite troubled times. But printmaking is a process requiring equipment and it means making a mess and although I can quite easily manage both of those; the simplicity and ease with which I can quickly carve a stamp is increasingly seductive.
A block of rubber, my trusty lino cutting tools and a selection of ink pads and almost instant results. I teach the basic techniques of this at The Make Lounge.  Everybody can do it once they know how. A few points in the right direction from an experienced maker saves so much time and wasted materials ;-) And we achieve quietness and concentration in class there. Printmaking weaves a spell of contemplation. A yogic focus. If I had a bit more time on my hands I would take a few of the other classes there myself. They all look amazing. 


Here's a few cards I made earlier with some offcuts from book projects, painted watercolour circles and fish and seaweed stamps. I haven't got around to folding them yet, will come back and pop them in the press later when they are dry. It's coming up to lots of birthdays and I love sending cards, HATE buying them.

And in my quieter moments I wander field and woods trying to walk off excess rhubarb cake and keeping the dog happy. It's Spring you know!