Twist box

I have long admired the beautiful Chinese thread books made by some book artists, but the structure looked rather daunting to me.  However, on this rather miserable, damp day I decided to tackle the smallest component, the twist box, to see how I got on.

I used an offcut of painted computer paper - this was only coloured on one side, so once the folding and gluing was complete I collaged matching green papers over the white facings, with the pink paper flower petals adding a bit more interest.  

3" x 3"

Postcard collage

 Another collaged postcard - 

Lino printed tissue, paste paper, texture paste, sketch
and machine stitch (6" x 4" on Hahnemuehle postcard

I am enjoying making use some of my facial sketches in these small collages.

Revisiting eco dyeing

This is my second exploration of eco dyeing. This time I tried continus (smoke bush) leaves as they seem to be popular for this method.  There are several of these bushes in the park near me so I didn't have to trek far for my raw materials.  These leaves are very fresh and green at the moment, but turn to a bright scarlet in the autumn - will definitely have to try them again later in the year.

I used Hahnemeuhle 265 gsm mixed media bamboo paper this time, soaking it with water before laying on the leaves and a few bits of onion skin, so it would be easier to tightly roll round my piece of plastic pipe and securely tie with string.  I also added a few rusty screws to the vinegar water and set it gently boil for just over an hour.

The cooked bundle was an alarming charcoal black when it came out of the water, but once dry there are some very subtle hints of pink, purple and blue/green, plus patches of orange from the onion skin.

The paler sample is from my first dyeing effort last month -
this was on thinner drawing paper

Another sketch outing

Another sketching trip with a couple of friends to a farm cafe in the Cotswolds, complete with adjacent alpaca herd.  We had booked a table for lunch in the delightful courtyard garden and spent a pleasant few hours chatting and sketching.  

The original drawing and initial watercolour washes were done in situ, but I planned to add a bit more detail when I got home. I made a complete hash when I tried to add a background sky, then added more gouache which made it even worse!  The solution - use a strip of the same colour paper from a blank page, cut round the shapes of the umbrella and background foliage and stick it over the offending area.  Total disaster averted.

Pen, watercolour, gouache, wax pastel in
Hahnemuehle cappuccino sketchbook

Collaged postcards

Since I finished my collage journal last month I have missed the playfulness of cutting, tearing and sticking random oddments of painted papers.  I have a box of Hahnemuehle watercolour postcards which I have only used on a couple of occasions and the size of these appealed to me as a substrate for further paste and paper experiments.  I also added machine stitching for more texture and interest.

6" x 4" Hahnemeuhle watercolour postcards

Ink, acrylic, paste paper, lino print, stencilled
texture paste, gel pens and machine stitch

Ink, acrylic, gesso, lino print, foam stamps,
gel pens and machine stitch

Eco dyeing experiment

 Over the winter months I have been looking into the possibilities of eco dyeing, both paper and fabric.  I have searched the internet for information, got hold of an old saucepan and with spring's new plant growth decided it was time to jump in and have a go.  Sue Brown's recent Instagram post was also instrumental in pushing me into action (#sundaypromptswithSue).

My bundle included two strips of cartridge paper, a couple of watercolour paper offcuts and a bit of lightly tea-stained calico.  On these I arranged bluebells, muscari (grape hyacinth)*, rose leaves, dandelions and ivy leaves.  A couple of tablespoons of distilled vinegar was added to the small saucepan of water, weighted down with a couple of big stones and set to boil gently for an hour.  I had forgotten to add either onion skins or any rusted elements to my bundle, so I just put these in the water as it came to the boil.

* On one site I visited the muscari was shown as producing a beautiful blue dye - I have a plentiful supply of this flower in my garden, but unfortunately they were really past their best.  The bluebells did give a slight hint of blue, but perhaps I need to limit the different colours of plants I use in one batch to get a stronger result.

A hint of blue muscari and pink from the young rose leaves

Dandelion flowers

Bluebells and muscari

The piece of fabric (at the top of this image)
came out much darker than the papers

The completed Collage Journal

To recap, this journal was started in response to a 5 day challenge by collage artist Lydia Rink.  A set of 5 instruction videos plus a materials list were provided, starting with how to make a simple A5 journal, and making your own collage papers, plus sourcing images and letter forms from magazines, posters, etc.

I have used some pre-printed images and text, but mainly utilised my own painted and hand-printed papers together with snippets from my sketchbooks.  It took me a couple of pages to get into a way of working that suited me, but I enjoyed the process.

The Collage Journal continues ...

 I have come to the end of my collage journal, although I am tempted to re-do the first couple of pages which are very uninspiring.  However, I am glad I worked through that stage and thoroughly enjoyed the challenge - thanks to Lydia Rink for sharing her process.

Now I had better get on and start replenishing my files of painted and printed papers for future collage experiments.

Puzzle Purse

I found the instructions for this puzzle purse at the Byopia Press blog a couple of months ago and used an 11.75" square of printer paper to try it out.  I have gone back to it occasionally, adding some patterns with a sepia fine liner and gold gel pen.  The finished size is 4" square.

Hopefully this short video will give you an idea of how it works.

Paper and stitch

Recently I have been following three interesting challenges organised by TextileArtist.org.

I didn't get round to producing anything following the first two demos by Sue Stone and Merill Comeau, as inspiring as they were, but I couldn't resist having a go at Jennifer Collier's "cathedral window" quilt block made with paper.

The finished block measures 2.5" - envelope paper

with painted paper insert and flower

 A little bit fiddly as the envelope paper is reasonably sturdy, so a bit more practice needed I think.  Several of these blocks can be stitched together to form a larger work.  However, I decided this one was just the right size to attach to an A6 card. 

More "Collage up your Journal" pages

 A couple more pages from my collage journal.

I liked the colour of this magazine image of a bowl and tied it in
with a background of some of my painted papers

A couple of sliced up/re-arranged lino prints on book pages

Painted and printed collage papers

I am joining another 5 day challenge - Collage Up Your Journal  being run by Lydia Rink.  I believe she uses a lot of letters and numerals in her work and a fairly subtle palette.  I spent a couple of hours printing and painting mulberry paper sheets using my lino cuts and foam stamps - all rather colourful, but they can always be toned down with further glazes if necessary.

Sketchbook collage and stitch

Again, I have raided my numerous scrap folders to complete these two pages which started with just the nasturtium test print on the righthand side.

From the left - testing out my sewing machine on a patchwork of heavily gesso'd and painted tissue paper; a lino printed book page; a paper cast flower; some practice Chinese brushwork flowers, cut out and collaged, with handsewn stems and leaves; lino print on painted tissue with ribbon threaded through holes punched through the page.

Inktober fold book

I am not quite sure where the last couple of weeks have disappeared to - I've certainly not been very productive with my art.

A mention online about Inktober has prompted me to make a one page fold book in which to make some small sketches.  I used an A3 sheet of drawing paper which I have painted with acrylic inks on both sides just to provide a loose background.  The sheet was folded and cut to provide 32 sides measuring 4" x 6" - let's hope I can keep the momentum going and fill the book by the end of the month.

Sketch for a concertina book

Computer problems have left me attempting to add this post on my iPad mini - not ideal! 

My daughter and I were given the opportunity to spend a few days in Devon a couple of weeks ago. We took all our food supplies with us - we didn’t want to break our routine of isolating as much as possible. The weather was good, excellent walking, no tv or internet so our evenings were spent reading or playing Scrabble or card games. I decided to do a panoramic sketch of the long, narrow garden and since returning home have redrawn this on a 30” x 7”  length of watercolour paper which should result in a finished concertina book of approximately 4” x 7”.

This is an enlarged scan of my original sketches which I have taped together. Because my drawing was done in different stages as I moved along the garden there are some odd perspectives - some I have adjusted slightly, others I have not. Coloured pencil has been added as a guide for the final painted version.

Pen and watercolour

I seem to have been suffering from a bit of block on starting any watercolours lately.  I usually use cold pressed paper; however, I found a part used, small pad of hot pressed Fabriano Artistico paper in my cupboard and decided to try out a simple pen and watercolour sketch.

The sketch is from imagination so the flowers are of a rather indeterminate species, but it was good to get paint to paper at long last.

Pen and watercolour, approx 4" x 5"

Hungarian Map Fold

I'm not sure how much this differs from the Turkish map fold, but for some time I've been meaning to design an image that would fit the structure.

I had intended to do a lino cut, but in the end opted to scan my drawing and and print it on the computer, that way I hoped there would be less chance of misalignment.

Printed on cream paper with added accents of gold gel pen,
attached to a brown card blank

For the second one, I left one quadrant blank for a handwritten message.
Embellished with coloured and gold gel pens.  

I also added a close fitting cover and band utilising
one of my hand-painted papers
Closed size 3" x 4.5"

More stitched leaves

I have spent a day and a half attempting to tidy and reorganise my art room - although there's still way too much clutter and "stuff" I have saved which "might come in handy one day"!  I've found bits I'd forgotten I had and re-read cards and letters too special to throw away.

I have not finished the spring clean yet but I did snatch a few minutes to try out some more stitched leaves.  This time I used old book pages, the machining was done first, then I washed over them with acrylic ink; as I wasn't keen on the slightly plastic appearance of my first attempt, I added the Modge Podge to the reverse this time, making sure I covered the stitching as well.  I brushed a little water outside the stitching lines which made the tearing easier.

Stitch and collage

Far too many hours spent on the internet, but I did find this little snippet which I thought was interesting and had to give it a quick try.  It was from Linda Vincent's blog - she made randomly painted paper, using her sewing machine to "draw" simple motifs which she then tore out and collaged onto her creations.

My machine is quite basic and doesn't have a "free sewing" facility, so it was a bit fiddly to achieve the shapes, but I think the wonkiness is part of its charm.  I cut round some of my shapes as it is easy to tear away the stitching if you are not careful.

Diary or daily journalling

I am following Karen Abend's "Sketchbook Revival" videos - over 12 days about 25 artists share some of the ways they use their sketchbooks. I was interested in Carla Sonheim's layout for daily journaling, particularly as I had been thinking of sharing images of the diary layout I have been using since 2012.

Apart from when on holiday, I hadn't given much thought to keeping a diary, but realising I was beginning to have trouble remembering events that happened a few months previously (or even weeks previously) I considered the idea of starting a journal.  I only wanted to make very brief notes about each day, so I opted for a monthly page utilising one of my painted backgrounds to make it a bit more interesting.

I wanted to have each month in A4 format to fit in a plastic folder, but decided that was a bit small to fit in 31 days, so I now decorate an A3 sheet of 100 gsm computer paper and use it horizontally, allowing for a fold out flap to increase the available space.  Once a year is completed I make a sturdy painted card folder for the 12 pages.

A rough guide to layout.  (Several of the spare strips of decorated paper were
used for the basis of this glued spine book)

I am not concerned with precision and my writing
has to be very small, sometimes over-running its
allotted box

The fold-over flaps give room for added decoration

A few of the yearly card folders