begin end

blake helped me hang my work this morning for the final show. it is looking good. after a few hitches i think we got it to look pretty nice.

antonia (who is over from home at the moment) and i did some eco-printing and dyeing last night. we used onion skins that i had collected and leaves from a red leaved tree. (i can't remember the name), rose leaves, some yellow flowers etc. the finished results are amazing. deep golden oranges and purple with subtle yellows and greens. i think i will use them to make some new embroidery work, but now i can feel myself getting precious about them and i don't want to cut them up. i can always make more though!

now i will update my website... at least try to!

travelling along the seas of something

a bit more re working of the book and i think i am almost there. thank goodness for photoshop! such a brilliant and versatile tool. so i think the book is getting closer to the end.

you can see the progression of the right side of this section from my last post to now. it was just too heavy before and especially when it was printed... no good. what do you think of this section now?

travelling together and cycling the clouds

so i have had an unproductive day... or rather an administrative day. i guess these days need to exist to get along with your work.

the little boat people are travelling along nicely in my illustrated concertina book so i thought i would show you how things were taking shape. this page feels the most finished to me. there are still gaps but i think this weekend i could possibly knock it all over. (well it has to be that way, there is no time really).

i have made up a mock-book of the concertina book with the right stock paper to get a sense of the scale, weight and size. i highly recommend this process for anyone embarking on a similar endeavor, you can't imagine how the book will look and feel otherwise.

the cycling man is a development from the previous drawings. i like his pink clouds and the bath contraption that he stirs up the rain in. i have named him monsieur millimeter and i plan to develop him after the course is finished, until then all i can think about is my folio and the panel!

something

so after a long haul, i have finished the panels... the sewing bit, now it is time to take the photographs in the computer and come up with a concertina book of the narrative. i have mocked up the book with copier paper and i will sketch out where it will all sit.

did i mention that i have decided that the crazy journey panel 'par avion' is not going to be in the final long narrative. it is lovely on its own and does not have the strong graphic elements of the panels that came after it (like the one here of the man leaving the island being pushed by the rain). i still feel unsure about them as a whole still, but it has been a worthwhile and mad exercise.

i am now back to working on paper, watercolours and collage with paper. it feels good and fresh. i miss etching a lot too... maybe i will try to dedicate one day a week to the print studio again. a printmaker is never happy until she has ink all over her hands again.