Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Back to Drypoint Etching

Is anyone else amazed that we are halfway through January already? Scary!

I haven't done a collage for ages and I had two cute pen and ink birds that did not like the background I put them into one little bit. I decided to cut them out and give them one more suited to their quirkiness. I think they much prefer being on this boat and sailing off into the sunset together.

If you cannot read the text the top one says: from quiet homes and first beginning, out to the undiscovered ends, there's nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends. The banner on the boat reads: the wing of friendship never moults a feather.

I decided to pull the wraps off my etching press at long last and produce some drypoints. It is a very addictive process with some good and some not so good results. I have the same problems with inking that I have with linocuts. The actual etching is easy by comparison. The bird carrying heart is on copper and the others are on perspex. A lot of people don't like hand coloured drypoints but I really like the effect. I have lots of ideas for new drypoints so there are more to come.

The Sun At My Back Drypoint

Bird Carrying Heart drypoint etching


White Goose Etching


I found an interesting site on the internet dated from 2009 about printmaking at the Sidney Nolan Trust. A group of artists got together with the public and made some huge prints which they printed using a steamroller. You can see the gallery photos here. Below is a wonderful print by Pam Whitehead, one of the participating artists, in which she repeats the block - absolutely gorgeous work. This would be a real talking point given prime position in someone's sitting room.

Pam Whitehead - Birds In Motion


These lovely illustrative bird ceramics are by artist Emily Jones. I love her whimsical depictions and the colours she uses. You can see other work by Emily on her website here. Apparently many years ago she used to be the "Nimble" girl in the adverts about Nimble bread. I remember those...!



We had a wonderful geocaching walk last weekend. The weather was very cold but the skies brilliantly clear. Great weather for photography. The set of photos below shows our walk as we progressed through the day to the semi darkness when we completed it. It was extremely tiring as all hills and dales, the hills being higher than the dales were deep for some strange reason. No I cannot understand it either. The last photo shows the muddy fields post snow and rain. No we didn't go through those particular fields but we did manage to find ones equally claggy. My poor boots will never recover. Plenty of sheep around but none in distress this time I am relieved to say.







I found a wonderful book on Art Quilts during one of my London forays in the old year. It is compliled by Lark Books and is crammed full of the most amazing pictorial quilts. Every one of them is award worthy but the four below are among my uber favourites. The art of the quilt maker is akin to painting with fabric and often with as much detail. The only thing that would be better would be to see them in person to appreciate the textures and the stitching - gorgeous.


Gabrielle Paquin - Scarlet Ibis Quilt


Jan Swearington - The Sea Dream Quilt


Betty Busby - Silverlight


Nancy B Dickey - Windswept


I love Michael Kidd's painting for several reasons; they are exquisitely designed and detailed, they have a lovely, fresh and modern appearance and they are intensely colourful. He uses realism but with a big chunk of stylisation and it gives the appearance that the places are not quite of this world. They are too perfect to be on planet Earth. I really enjoy that effect. Michael is a British artist who was born in London and studied in the late 60s. He has turned his hand to many things but came back to painting in the early 80s. You can find more of his intriguing work on his website here and also more if you enter his name into a search engine.

Chateau Latour, Bordeaux


Garden Of Silly Hats


Autumn, Chateau Pichon


White Garden, Sissinghurst

16 comments:

sea-blue-sky & abstracts said...

It's good to see that you are having fun with printmaking Cathy - I have loved your latest photos too, the light's amazing. Such wonderful quilts - and as for Michael Kidd's paintings, the symmetry is breathtaking. Have a good week. x

deb said...

A wonderful post as usual! Loved the story about the steamroller prints. In answer to your query on my blog here is a link to wagga quilts.
http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=9595

Caroline said...

Congrats on finishing your sketchbook Cathy - I'd love to see it up close! I've just done mine and am now free to visit blogs again!! Loved the story of freeing the sheep in your last post - we did a similar thing one summer in the Lake District - such silly animals, sheep! I like your goose etching very much and look forward to seeing more of your experiements. Those quilts are quite fabulous - I especially like the Scarlet Ibis and Sea Dream. Must keep an eye out for that book.

Diane said...

Your etchings are beautiful. I really love the new blog heading. I so love tactile art, but i never seem to have the time to learn this. there is something amazing about etching, printing etc...have you ever seen the fabrics at Galbriath and Galbraith? Neat stuff.

Cathy said...

Hi Lesley. Yes, I am really getting into printmaking again. I will have to try some new linocuts too. Glad you like the photos. I am totally in love with our English countryside. Michale Kidd's art is quite exquisite, isn't it.

Cathy said...

Hi Deb. Thanks for that link. I will go and have a look.

Cathy said...

So pleased you have finished in time Caroline although they seem to be quite easy about the sending in dates. I think the original date was just so we got a move on with them...haha. The quilt book is fabulous. I am always in awe of people who create amazing quilts.

Cathy said...

Hi Me, nice of you to visit and comment. I agree with you about printmaking. I suppose it is a connection between art and craft. I love it anyway. I haven't heard of Galbraith and Galbraith but I have heard of Galbraith and Paul. Do you mean them. I know they do amazing fabric designs using block prints.

A bird in the hand said...

I love etching, and glad to see you've dusted off your press! I particularly like your new banner.

Looking forward to seeing more!

xxoo Colette

Anna Wilson-Patterson said...

I studied contemporary women quilt makers at college and love to see quilts. Thanks.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Colette. I am on a roll now..lol.

Cathy said...

Thanks very much Anna.

tammykingdon said...

You have your own press?!!? Green doesn't begin to describe the shade I've gone! I, too, love your choice of quilts- scrumptious, truly! ha ha!

Crafty Green Poet said...

what a lot of lovely things - as ever! I love your birds on the boat and all your etchings. Beautiful photos of your walk too. I love the atmosphere and stylisation in Michael Kidd's paintings.

Cathy said...

Thanks Tammy. That press is the love of my live...haha.

Cathy said...

Thanks Juliet. The great thing about photos in winter is the lovely clear light you get in the evenings, providing it isn't cloudy of course. We have had some terribly drab weather so I was fortunate to get a nice day for walking last week.