More Feathers.

                        I think that this one is the best of the batch, in my opinion anyway.

        This is the impression of the feathers left on the plate after I removed them, I like the effect.

                         Maybe this needs a couple more layers, not much good as it is anyway.

                                    Hardly like feathers at all, definitely more like seaweed.

Feather Printing.

 Printing with the big more or less solid feathers didn't produce anything very interesting, but the Emu feathers are excellent for printing with, although they do suggest ferns rather than feathers, or even seaweed perhaps.Starting out with simple prints, these were encouraging.

    I must remember to start with the palest colours first and work forwards to the darker ones.

The marks of the Emu feathers are fascinating, and as they are so long, the visual movement is really good.

                                           These are the early experiments, more to follow..

Feathers.

 I have in mind a new piece of art work which will feature feathers in some way. The feathers above are from various birds, domestic hens, Kookaburra, parrot and probably an owl feather.

There amazing feathers are Emu feathers, some long and slender rather like fern leaves and others tough and wiry like seaweed. Some of the long slender ones are doubles, coming from a single base.
Now, to use them in some art pieces....

Dawn Light.

     Not a dying tree with brown foliage, but a Gum tree with the yellow light of dawn on the foliage.

Yarn Bombing.

                                          Yarn Bombing is alive and well in the suburbs!

All Done!

 Here is the last of the 3 pieces with the machine and hand stitching. I didn't realise until it was finished that all the appliqued spirals are exactly the same design. I had actually carved 2 different ones for this piece, but some how when printing them, this one design turned out best of all and I inadvertently selected it every time.

      This is a detail of the one above showing the single line of hand stitching on each circle.

                       Here are the 3 of them, the right hand one is up side down in this picture.

Rural Weekend.

       It was early morning and very cold as we walked across the paddocks into the rising mist.

                                                                    A fallen giant!

At the Bird bath.

               Mixed bathing at the bird bath, with a juvenile Fairy Wren and 3 little Thornbills.

             A lovely visitor, the Yellow Robin which has never appeared at the bath before.

End of the Spirals.

This is the last and final in the series of 3 pieces based on spirals and motifs from the original artwork. Here I'm auditioning the usual small circular appliqued images prior to machine stitching around them as in the previous 2 pieces.

More Printing.

 This is a run of 'final' prints done on better quality paper, now all I need are 3 more or less similar prints. I can't decide if I like the mottled ones better than the solid, but varied shades of green ones.

Trying for Texture.

 Another short printing session this afternoon, with the rain pouring down outside, what could be better?

 I'm still trying to get some texture into the green papers, which will end up as the leaves under the black lino cut print.

                                             I think these 2 are more or less what I wanted.

More Colour.

 
 

 I decided to try painting the paper with various shades of green first, before over printing with the black. Seems to work well.
I rather like the random spots of white in the green, but perhaps it would be better printed on off white paper so that the contrast isn't so stark.

Starting to get somewhere I think. ......I hope !

Playing .

 

First print run using acrylic paint rather than block printing ink. Not really successful as a lot of the papers that I tried ended up stuck to the block.

This is probably the best black and white print.

             The yellow is quite fun, but I really wanted shades of green leaves against the black.

Here I've tried painting the leaves with watercolour, but I don't like the look of it when the green goes over the black.  More experiments tomorrow.

The Next Stage.

 I've transferred the design onto the carving block here, with the size carefully measured for the required 10cm x 15 cm postcard sized print.

 Going over the design with permanent marker. I'm not sure whether to carve away the white or the black actually.

I can always make another if this version doesn't work as I hope it will. Here I've carved the outlines and some leaf veins.  Next a trial print to see what it looks like,

Drawings for a New Project.

 I just love the myriad different shapes of  leaves, and in particular the ferns and palms. Looking at fan leaf palms and related plants, I've done a series of quick drawings to get the feel of the different shapes before designing a postcard sized lino cut of my design.

            A few here like the banana tree aren't really palms, but I was interested in the shapes.

An idea for the final design, in fact it will probably do......if I can cut it out that is. Maybe using SoftCut rather than hard lino perhaps?

Great Gardening Weather.

 We're experiencing lovely sunny Autumn weather at the moment, although it is officially winter.
                                 The Broad Beans are up as is the row of carrots to the right.

 We are already picking small pea pods for salads from this crop. More carrots are sown down the middle of the bed.

                                         Broccoli and broad leaf parsley in here with celery beyond.
You may be wondering why the cages are necessary in the city. Well the birds and possums still live here, and so do the rats. The birds and possums can't get into the crops, but the rats eat holes in the  side netting and still get in. I lost 30 brassica seedlings over one weekend recently when we weren't here. They were all interesting varieties of vegetables and not only that, I had grown them from seed. I was not happy!!!!

Ooooops!

                   Someone forgot to put the yeast into the first mix...........................and it wasn't me!