Testing, testing…

 

First – the collagraph plates,

 

 

 

 

 

extensively tested,

 

 

quite successfully, I think, if you like imperfect prints. Fortunately I do.

For the ones on fabric, I used [and recommend] Heidi Miracle-McMahill’s method from Quilting Arts No 41- although any imperfections are entirely my own. I used foam brushes to paint different sections in different colours, but found it quite difficult to get the amount of paint right – not so little it dried out before I could make the print, not so much it made blobs – and not so much water I lost the texture.  But several of then have possibilities for stitch, and inclusion in the ranks of the 100 drawings.

So I’m still in love with collagraphs.

I also decided it was time to test the various chemicals I’ve bought to facilitate printing on fabric. Most some of which I’ve had for years  a very long time, without using. 

Here the fabrics are drying – I haven’t actually got round to printing on any of them yet – but I did remember to mark them so I know which is which.

Of course, Quality Control had to join in. Here she is testing my box of old newspapers for me.

They seemed to need a lot of testing, she was hard at work all day…

Books, books and

some collagraph plates.

I finally got round to doing something with a little slot book I made out of paste papers. I didn’t really intend to do anything with it, but it kept telling me it wanted to be drawn in, so yesterday I sat down with some metallic pens and pencils and doodled.

Mostly I just drew the shapes I saw in the paint – which is why the book ended up being called ‘Leaf’ – but I did make some holes as well.

 

So that’s another 8 drawings, which brings the total to 91, and it’s not September yet.

 

 

 

I decided I was suffering from a lack of embroidery in my life – so I had a little play with some Colour Catchers, left over bits of soldered sheers and hand-dyed thread. [To be honest, this one has been hanging around for a while – I finally got round to finishing it.]

The Colour Catchers were Bondawebbed together in pairs, which gave a firm base, then the sheers were appliquéd down and a bit of running stitch added.

Closed book bottom left, with different page views above.  Not very much embroidery but I enjoyed doing it and I like the result. But Wensleydale says they're not drawings so I can’t count them. :>( [I’m sure he’s right!]

 

And to finish off a typical pre-Bank Holiday Sunday [i.e. wet and windy] I collected a pile of junk.  

 

 

 

I covered some of the junk with double sided sticky tape.

 

 

 

 

 

And stuck down other bits of junk to make collagraph plates.

I have no idea if these will work – some of the textured surfaces are not very textured – but I will give them all a second coat of PVA in the morning and hope they dry in time to try them out in the afternoon.

Go out on a Bank Holiday Monday? Not blooming likely! I can have much more fun at home!

We survived!

Yesterday was our first full day of Babybel-sitting [the noble Mrs. Cheddar is covering the other days] while her mum and dad were at work – and despite the day starting at a time that I had forgotten existed – we had fun. We did some dog walking and running through puddles - of which there were many – and which necessitated a complete change of clothing when we got home. [Note to self – give morning bath after dog walk if there is any likelihood of puddles on dog walking route.]

Then after lunch we did shopping in the local pet shop [very popular], followed by a bus ride to feed ducks and visit the play park. After which it was time to go back home to wait for daddy.

Just as  when I was teaching, I had massively over-prepared, so the box full of craft activities never got touched, nor did the dishwasher full of clean things and the pile of dirty dishes which her granddad [or, as she would have it, ‘Grangrad’] had saved for her – washing up and dishwashers being top favourites. [Bet that changes by the time she’s old enough to do it unsupervised …]

Then we went to bed and slept and slept and slept – although I can’t speak for Babybel.

We had a lovely time – but I think there is probably a very good reason Mother Nature prevents women of my age from having babies…

The calm before the storm …

so I’ve made another book – although I’m a bit underwhelmed by it.

The pages are sheers – one black, one off-white – glued together with painted Bondaweb and rather a lot of sprinkles – they came out in a bit of a rush. The pages, cover and holes were cut with a soldering iron.

It would probably not have appeared here except that Wensleydale likes it – he went on about galaxies and Fred Hoyle. so much so that I was tempted to call it Galaxy Quest, but in the end decided Black Hole was equally appropriate. 

I’m happier with the results of playing on the computer.

These are all GIMPed variations

 

 

of this. I turned it into a pattern and then played around with the filters. I particularly like the ‘cubist’ version, bottom right, which will become drawing number 82.

I tried printing it on black paper painted with emulsion paint – Inkaid definitely works better!

This is number 83 – done in Livebrush, which you have to try, even if you think you can’t use drawing programs. [I found this tutorial was a good introduction.]

I used two brushes – Fractal Nerves for the background and Floral Threads for the plants – and once I'd worked out how to select the colours I wanted, it was dead easy.

Then I changed it around a bit, using Irfanview and Picasa. 

And the best bit of all this is that all those programs are free, although you can spend $10 on the Pro version of Livebrush if you are feeling rich.

So, as its another ‘no telly worth watching’ night, I'll be playing again tonight.

And the storm? Babybel. Tomorrow we are going out with her and Mr and Mrs Cheddar. And on Thursday we get to look after her all day all by ourselves.

Her daddy is famous for coming into our bedroom when he was not much older than her and saying ‘Brace yourselves’.

We are braced.

Who knew?

That Louise Bourgeois had made a fabric book? - this one, which I find quite inspirational. It has a vintage feel, like fabric samples in old trade catalogues. Thanks to the Peter Blum Gallery for putting images of all the pages on line, so those of us who can only dream of owning a Bourgeois can admire. Thanks too, to Green Chair Press for posting these and other links about the books – and about this book about Bourgeois’ fabric works, which has gone on my wish list. It seems to be due to be released in the UK in October but is much cheaper from Amazon in the US, where it’s not due out till next year. Either way it will have to wait till I've saved up  - or dropped enough hints about Christmas presents …

My fabric books may not be up to Bourgeois’ standard - I’ll be able to spell her name by the time I’ve finished this post – but I’m having fun with them. I’ve been playing around with different folded books, like this one. It’s a shaped concertina with pop-ups, which reminds Wensleydale of cathedral windows. This is almost the last piece of the painted fusible interfacing fused to hand-dye [PFIFTHD] – but I like it so much I've made some more. [I should make clear it’s not the colour I like, but the feel, weight and stiffness, which work well for books. As you can see. However, there is no mark-making and its 3D, so I don’t think I can call it a drawing. :>(

However this one has marks and folds flat – so a drawing it is. It’s inspired by one in Heather Weston’s ‘Handmade Books’ [the one middle right on the cover] but made with Lutradur rather than paper, and cut with a soldering iron. I think I got the angle a bit too steep, but I like the contrast between the different sides of the Lutradur which the folding brings out.

Finally, the one I like least. This is another [and the last, thank goodness] piece of the yucky painted calico, which for some reason reminded me of a map. And as I’d reached the map-fold page in Sue Doggett’s book, I added some map-like lines of black satin stitch and a fake leather cover.  Lines – so it’s a drawing, right? Which, together with the sea book from the other day, brings the total to 81.

One thing I do like about it, is the flatness of the finished book, and the way the image gradually appears as you unfold it. It would be interesting to add holes, so that the rather nice back view was more visible – may get the scissors out tomorrow.

But tonight, as there’s nought on telly, I'm going to play with this. It looks like fun.

The goodness continues …

We had a pleasant afternoon yesterday – although I got the best of the bargain. While Wensleydale investigated the plumbing at Babybel’s new house, Babybel and I investigated the local play park, [approved of, especially the slide] the railway bridge [no trains, unfortunately] the sewing cards in Gran’s handbag [a little too challenging at the moment] and a selection of toys and books.

When we got home, I finished this – the four ‘drawings’ on Bondawebbed sheers, inserted in covers made from painted fusible interfacing, fused to some hand-dyed cotton.  The painted fusible has a slightly suedy feeling, which I like. The binding is sort-of Japanese.

However, today started badly, at 5 a.m. [Why is it that on mornings when I can lie in, I wake up stupidly early? If I had had to get up then, I'd be snoring while W. wafted coffee under my nose.] The good bit was that I did get quite a lot done. [‘Always look on the bright side of life’.]

I rejigged this by taking off the one piece cover and replacing it with separate ‘boards’ front and back, with a removable band to hold it shut – definitely an improvement, as you can now spread the pages out better.

 

 

 

To find inspiration for these books I have been consulting Sue Doggett’s ‘Handmade Books’ –and on the page following the pocketed accordion above, she mentions flutter books. I have never seen a real flutter book, or made one, but they seem to be very long accordions. So one thing led to another … 

This is made from tissue paper, which I daubed with emulsion paint a while ago, intending to paint the paper blue, and tear it up to make a collage seascape. Instead I sprayed it with dilute blue Quink, and put it into plastic pockets, sewed round and across them, cut them in half and sewed them into a long accordion.

You can see the extended accordion, top right. I think real flutter books have a one piece cover, but this has two because I wanted both sides to be visible. The ribbon slotted through the covers is to keep the slippery pages under some sort of control! I would love to say this was six – or even twelve – drawings [because they are two sided – sort of] but it was so simple to do I don’t think I can claim more than one.

I don’t have the nerve to call the last of the day’s efforts a drawing at all. For the fabric book experiments I have collected a heap of fabric which I previously dyed, painted, bleached or otherwise mistreated.  I pull out bits from the heap which I think will work for what I am trying to make. But I was so convinced this wouldn’t work that I took a yucky piece I thought was the only thing which might be stiff enough. 

It was a piece of calico which for some inexplicable reason I had painted green, yellow, orange and silver. No photos of the original to frighten you, you'll be glad to hear.

To begin with, I thought I’d see if free machining each patch of colour with another colour would improve it a bit – which it did.

So I persevered, cutting it in half, making slots in each piece and working satin stitch all round – and to my surprise it interlocked and actually stands up! Of course it’s quite small – 3” high and 10” long – and tomorrow I think I will sew down the folds to make them sharper and firm it up a bit more – but it has encouraged me to go on exploring book forms which might be made from fabric or [plastic pockets, of course] even if I think it won’t work …

It’s been a good week …

despite spending Sunday worrying that Mr & Mrs Cheese Minor's buyer from Hades would change her mind at the last minute – although, given her Scrooge-like tendencies, the prospect of losing her deposit seemed likely to encourage her to complete.

And so it proved. Babybel and her mum and dad are safely ensconced in their new home, and enjoying walking/running next to the canal, waving to train drivers, playing in their new garden, and unpacking boxes. Well, maybe not the last.

Mind you, someone was heard to complain that he couldn’t sleep because it was too quiet. No pleasing some people.

While all the moving was going on, Wensleydale and I were drawing nudes in Southampton – and, much to my surprise, I thoroughly enjoyed myself. W. did as well - so much so that we’re thinking of joining another drawing class next term.

Will I include my half dozen efforts in my 100 drawings? Well – it was the same teacher – but I think she might let me get away with it.

After the class was over, we went up to admire the new house, and deliver the champagne and Thomas the Tank Engine birthday cake. The latter was appropriated by Babybel, although she did allow the rest of us to have some. [The chocolate cola birthday cake she had helped her mum make was much nicer.]

We had a pleasant time with Mr and Mrs Cheddar, Babybel and her mum and dad, and two dogs, sitting in a darkening garden [the inside seats were still under  a pile of boxes] eating chips and cake and drinking champagne, while the birthday boy opened his presents. Tomorrow we are off there again so W. can help with plumbing and I can take Babybel out while her mum sorts the house.

I know who I think is getting the best deal…

As I expected, now the long distance worrying is over, Ms. Muse is back and has hit the ground running.

I mentioned that I had got a bit bored with the 100 drawings, and wanted to go back to making books. I’ve been re-reading ‘The Penland Book of Handmade Books’, and was struck by some comments from Dolph Smith, the US book artist. He writes about capturing ‘acts of nature’ in his book making – by which I take him to mean being aware of, and taking advantage of, the natural characteristics of the medium you are working in.

This was a ‘doh’ moment for me. One of the things I have struggled with in making fabric books, is trying to make fabric act like paper, without resorting to the dreaded craft Vilene.

But why not make books which make the most of the things you can do with fabric which you can't do with paper? The books may not be the same as paper books – but why should they be? Time for some experiments.

If you use translucent fabric, you can have see-through pages – very see-through if your definition of ‘fabric’ is broadminded – and if you layer it  you can put stuff between the layers.

This is a pocketed accordion like the green one here, crossed with this and this. [Sorry about the size of the last one, it dates from before I found out how to post sensible sized images. Wish I could remember how I did it.]

Of course plastic pockets don’t fold very well, but with ‘fabric’ you can use stitch to hold in the folds.

This one actually looked better before I added the cover, but another of Dolph Smith’s principles is that books should be ‘anatomically correct’ – i.e. have a book block, a binding and a case/cover. I was observing that principle, but the way I chose to attach the cover – which is a slice of a blue plastic pocket – restricted the opening of the book. I’m sure there’s a way to get round that - time for more experiments.

Another difference between fabric and paper is that fabric is stronger, so you can cut holes in it with less chance of tearing.  And if you remember to use your soldering iron [thanks A.] you can use it to attach your holes to other parts of the page.

I must confess that I made these earlier -they are waiting to become a Japanese bound book. They are two layers of sheers, glued together with painted Bondaweb sprinkled with glitter and stars. The stitch is double running, so it’s reversible.

Here’s another one I started earlier, before my ‘doh’ moment, so the pages are stiffened with Sizoflor. The pages are polyester, scrumpled and soaked in the last of the Setacolour from my sun printing experiments. It was free machined to the Sizoflor, following the tree-like marks in the paint, and then folded into a double sided accordion. There are more soldering iron holes, both in the pages and the cover, which is painted Lutradur from a Kim Thittichai workshop.

Quite arbitrarily, I’m counting this lot as 6 drawings – so the running total is 78, not including the nudes.