tiny prints

For some strange reason I have started drawing colourful chairs, and making some tiny mono prints. Each one has its own character as much as portraits of people do.


























They are about the size of a large stamp, because they seemed to want to be that size. Scale is important- I don't think they would work in the same way if they were huge.

























Its strange how an idea can be kicking around in my little drawing book for months, and then work its way to the front of my brain- these are sketches of chairs in unrelated pages which suddenly wanted to get out!


























I've also been making some larger experimental prints for the next art day at Birtley on Tuesday. Maybe it won't rain this time, and we can sit amongst the woods and make prints in situ. You get different results when working directly from the subject, rather than at one remove.


















































And this an occupational hazard when sharing the printing table with one of our cats! Luckily Mr B has black paws anyway, and the ink is water based and non-toxic!


























The tiny chairs are in jenny's shop now:
http://jenny-handmadehappiness.blogspot.co.uk

Looking forward to the day on Tuesday, with my enthusiastic participants!

optical illusions

Last weekend we went to a wonderful sculpture park, full of quirky artworks amongst acres of forest. Some were monumental, and some tiny, like these little people leaping through the trees- they are about 30cm tall, and at head height on their rusty plinths.

The things we liked best though were the shiny ones that made you look twice. These balls were floating in the stream and could be moved around if you could reach them.

This next picture looks as though the centre section has been pasted in but that's just how I photographed it! There were several tall narrow mirrored pyramids which reflected the surrounding trees and the other sculptures (also strange old women in pink trousers..). 

A sort of two-for-one optical illusion.

The reflected sculpture here reminded me of a dreamcatcher.


























This ghostly (or ghastly) figure was making off through the bracken on a penny farthing bicycle.

And the picture at the top? Who would guess that the inside of an old concrete mixer lorry would look so beautiful?

I'm afraid I don't have the names of the sculptors, but this is the link to the Sculpture Park:

https://www.thesculpturepark.com

windowsill wednesday

art in the woods- hot charcoal and printmaking

Yesterday's art day on the Birtley estate was a great success! As well as the beautiful woodland, there was a charcoal burn in progress, which provided plenty of inspiration for drawing, as well as some wonderful fragrant woodsmoke.

I hardly had time to demonstrate techniques before my four enthusiastic participants had taken to charcoal sketching, and later monoprinting.

There are plenty of other interesting things to draw at the barn (especially if rain drives us under the awning as it did now and then). This is a special woodsman's chopping block with knobs for holding the wood whilst working on it. I love the organic shape of it, and the legs make it look as though the whole thing is about to run away into the woods..

Marcus produced this great drawing of the charcoal kilns, using the appropriate medium of charcoal.

Prints drying in the barn. Campbell chose to use a rust red colour to show the rusty metal of the kilns, and monoprinting is excellent for giving texture.

Tea at lunchtime was provided by the alfresco stove and kettle- it has a lovely taste of smoke, rather like lapsang souchong.

Monoprinting is a versatile technique which produces unpredictable results, and as soon as they had a go, everyone had different ideas for using it.

Lindsey (left) and me at the charcoal burning kilns.  

And sometimes a photograph is all you need to record a natural work of art:          

The next art day is on Tuesday 16th August. If you're interested you can contact me on:

surprisinglines@gmail.com

windowsill wednesday

serendipity- a face from the past

I was digging in the garden when I saw this tiny face looking at me. We find a lot of old china in our garden, dating from the time when there were no such things as dustmen in the countryside, and broken things went on the midden.

I wonder whose face this is, and how he or she was broken? And why has it come to the surface now, when I've been digging that particular patch for the last twenty five years?

Domestic archaeology is fascinating. I keep digging up bits of this mug (?) and I've been trying to work out what it would have said for years.

















The other things we find a lot in the fields around here are round flints- a whole different timescale of history. That one in the middle looks as though its got a secret sign inscribed on it. 





The most interesting flints are the ones that are fossilised sea urchins, sometimes called shepherds' crowns, like the one bottom right. Once you've found one, you can't stop looking for them on every walk.

                                                                                                                       
Of course, a lot of left over household objects end up in your friendly local junkshop- this is my favourite. 




























I always think the boxes of kitchen utensils are particularly poignant, everyone's kitchen cutlery drawer says a lot about their personality, and its so sad to see them discarded. I've been known to take pity on those old ladles and slices with the painted wooden handles that my Mum used to have, and buy them to take home...

a wet art workshop day

Tuesday last week was very wet! I was hoping for lovely weather for my art workshop in the beautiful woodland on the Birtley Estate in Surrey, but it was not to be.

























So in true British spirit, we went ahead anyway and had great fun despite the effects that rain can have on charcoal drawings...





I had hoped that we could sit amongst the trees to draw, but luckily we were able to stay dry in the barn after an inspiring stroll in the woods, guided by resident woodsman Mervyn.

























The bluebells and other wild flowers were looking beautiful. I liked the dark vertical tree trunks against the blue.

























There was even a wild crab apple tree in full bloom.
























The afternoon was spent monoprinting, and it was interesting to see how each person grabbed the idea and made it their own. Suzy's prints were all about colour, Merv's were intricate and delicate and Brenda enjoyed using pastels and other elements to add to her prints.

I love the unpredictable quality of monoprinting, and this sheet which was left out in the rain ended up looking like the the rain falling into the stream.

There are three more workshops planned this summer, on Tuesdays 7th June, 12th July and 16th August. If you would like to come along, contact me at:

surprisinglines@gmail.com



























More about art workshops here:

surprising lines- come to an art day in the woods

surprising lines