I was so delighted to all be back together on Tuesday afternoon. I've been really struggling to motivate myself or feel inspired. I'd set myself the challenge of making a mini print using my new little press. It's tricky finding the time to get ink out every day, so I compromised and left some excess ink on a piece of scrim so that it would be relatively easy to smear it on a small perspex plate and make monoprints.
I has prepared some small piece with chine collé and so spent a few minutes messing about with the ink whilst thinking about the textures of bark and undergrowth. The results were interesting:
I think these little makes have little impact individually but collectively they start to become something. They remind me of Shelley Rhodes and how much I enjoy looking at her multiples. I'm going to keep making these throughout January, I might add some stitch to some of them. This feels positive and exploratory. It's new and feels exciting and I don't know what it's going to 'be' which is scary, but also fun.
I ordered some drypoint plastic so that I could continue the work I started with Chris Orr and make use of the lithographic plate I made with him. I wasn't satisfied with the engraved plate I made, partly because the plates are such different sizes that the plate lines within the print annoyed me so I want another attempt at developing it. I cut down a little strip off the side to make some mini plates for the mini press and had a go at making different marks on one. The idea was to keep it abstract, use different tools and just see what came out.
I really like the roulette wheels, it's annoying that they're so expensive as I'd really like a couple more. I soaked the paper and added some chine collé which was slightly tricky as it didn't like sticking to the wet paper, especially the green with all those feathery edges!
I like the marks, they're somehow reminiscent of silver birch bark (or maybe I've just been looking at that a lot recently!) I think these marks could be developed, possibly over several plates which could be interesting. The chine collé might need to be more considered rather than so random, the square edges of the plate with the feathery edge of the chine collé is an interesting contrast but these feel unfinished. I think a further plate or two needs adding to make these feel more complete. Again, I feel these are working well as multiples rather than individually.
I also used an etching plate I made the previous week and chine collé. Some of the impressions from the etching plate were not very crisp. I realised I'd skipped the scrimming step when inking up, thinking I could get away with just using tissue to rub the ink in and polish the plate. Lesson learned - scrim is important! I have mixed feelings about these. The chine collé is almost overpowering the image. I tried bleeding the colour from the green tissue onto the paper (bottom right) but it didn't take it very well. I like this little plate. I used the roulette wheel in hard ground and think there are some interesting marks here. I wonder whether it would work with more subtle chine collé or a monoprint underneath. Again, more room for experimentation.
So, even though I've been feeling terribly unproductive it turns out that I've actually managed to produce a fair few makings and ideas. I think this is an important lesson for me to learn - to just do SOMETHING! Forcing myself to spend 5 minutes sticking bits of tissue paper on scraps of Somerset paper one evening has then forced me to do something with them which has led to ideas of multiples and collections and a new aesthetic which can only be a good thing. Having a new toy and making plans to use it has been really helpful.
I know a lot of my dissatisfaction is stemming from the frustration of having my materials etc spread all over the house. I'm really getting to the point where I want to be able to see my sketchbooks and recent work easily - I need a pin board or a wall to stick things on. We're moving house this year (FINALLY!) after a 3 year wait, and it's so close that the waiting is becoming intolerable.