More Butterflies!

Butterflies have always fascinated me, their humble beginnings as a caterpillar to their miraculous transformation into a beautiful butterfly. In these prints I have combined my carved butterfly or moth stamps with leaf prints made on a home made gelatine plate.

 Of course there are many layers to each print as you can see by the image above.Dried and pressed Hydrangea flowers on the left, a cardboard cutout of a circle and many other elements hiding in the background.

Purple!

I don't usually print with the colour purple, but for some reason that's what I used today. These prints consist of many layers of paint and texture on my handmade gelatine printing plate, with pressed leaves and my hand carved stamps as well. I also used a tiny commercial moth stamp too. I'm not sure that I actually love these prints, but they certainly are different to my usual images, and that's probably a good idea, to do something new, even if it is just printing with a colour that I don't usually print with.

    This one above lacks a focal point, but perhaps I'll add another large butterfly to it tomorrow.

Trees.

 While walking along a bush track the other day, I came across these logs that had been cut into pieces with a chain saw some time ago. I walked past them on my way up the track, thinking about the possibilities of the pattern of the cracking timber, but didn't take a photo. On the way back however I did, and of that I'm glad, as I can see distinct possibilities in that pattern. Not so useful is this photo of the tree roots from an uprooted tree still embedded in the red soil, but I just liked the image!

Stitched Prints.

 Usually my prints stay as prints, but recently I have been stitching on prints that I have transferred to fabric. When doing this, one has to really bring up the contrast and saturation to have a successful outcome. Sometimes it's possible to go too far, but the results can also be wonderful. The Kangaroo grass image that I posted previously has been printed onto cotton and I really like the brighter more vibrant colours. The background seed heads have faded to a soft blue grey which I really like too. Stitched over in many different shades, I'm quite happy with the outcome.

New Gelatine Prints.

 With the temperature in the high 30°C today, it was a good time to be inside out of the heat. The house is what is called 'double brick,' that is with walls outside of brick and also the inside walls are brick, with a cavity in between. This means that the house does not heat up quickly when it is hot outside, but equally it takes a few days to cool down after it does heat up. So with tomorrow predicted to be over 40°C, today was a day to print while the acrylic paint stays wet!

I'm happy with the colours of this one, but it seems a bit too symmetrical to me. Perhaps with the      addition of some hand carved stamps it will appear less so.

            I like this bright yellow background, and the additional grass prints are a bit less symmetrical

                   This is a very busy background, but with the stark leaf prints it works I think.

Green!

 A walk around the Botanic Gardens yesterday morning produced some lovely focal points featuring the colour green (of course) and some fascinating leaf shapes and textures.

                    I also came across one obliging Moorhen dozing in the sun on a garden bed.

Lesser Long Eared Bat.

With a recent bout of cool weather, (in the middle of Summer), we drove the 2 hours+ to the little bush house to see how it was all going. Surprisingly well actually, given the season.While out walking on the track I spotted something black and bent down to check it out. Suddenly it moved just a tiny bit and I

could see that it was a little bat. I picked up a stick to coax it off the road, not wanting to frighten it and get bitten. It clung onto the stick, but just as I lowered to the grass it took off and flew just a little way. At that point I grabbed my camera and took a few photos for identification purposes. It turned out to be a Lesser Long Eared bat, with its ears folded down. I do hope that it flew away safely!

Hot off the Gelli Plate.

 I'm continuing my exploration of the ability of the gelatine plate to produce interesting prints, and every time that I make a few prints, I find that I'm discovering a new way of producing an image. Even if I can't call the result a success most of the time, I'm learning something new or even just a new combination of colours every time. The print below has many layers of gear images as well as a few key shapes on the left side. I'm not sure if this is the final version, I suspect not!

The background in the print above has so many layers that I've forgotten exactly what I used to make it, but from a print that was destined for the rubbish bin, it now has possibilities.

I love collecting and using insect damaged leaves in prints, as in the one above. The chewed holes make the leaves so much more interesting than completely pristine ones I think.