Some Success.

 After 3 batches of eco-dyeing, I wouldn't say that they were all an unqualified success! There are some good pages, but even the ones that aren't so good are useful. I have printed some pressed weed images on the pages that don't have very distinct leaf or flower images, as shown below, following the pictures of the most successful eco-dyeing pages.

Eco Dyeing on Paper.

 Some of the vegetation prints that I have seen using the 'Eco Dyeing' technique are just beautiful, but most of mine in the past have been a bit disappointing. I was determined to have another try, so went around the garden collecting flowers and leaves, cutting paper and organising supplies for the trial. The size of the paper is always limited by the size of the pot that they have to go into, so after a couple of bundles boiled in an old aluminium pot, I found that I had an old baking dish that was conveniently already rusted in places.

I had 2 pieces of reasonably heavy perspex to use as covers for the bundle, so I thought that the boiling would not be a problem. I was wrong, they warped considerably, so that was a waste. I will have to find something else to use from now on, if I continue with the process of course.

You can see the warping in the photo above. The big reveal will be after I have left the bundle over night.

A Morning in the Botanic Gardens, the Birds on the Lake.

                                               Beautiful Black Swan amongst the vegetation.

         A Female Native Wood Duck. These ducks also roost in trees which looks quite odd!

                                         The female Wood Duck with her 3 male companions.
 

                                                     Also a juvenile Dusky Moorhen.

More Stencil Cutting.

       

 I really like the idea of arches to work with on the gelatine plate, so this is the next arch themed stencil.

 I used an old print with stamped random alphabet letters on the base layer, with another stamped layer of small print and various household items over that, with the stencil as the last layer. I feel that it still needs some sort of focal point, but not being sure exactly what, I'll leave it for now.

Hand Cut Stencils.

 I find that it's very rewarding to cut my own stencils, time consuming yes, but I'm much happier to work with stencils that I have made myself rather than using commercial stencils all the time.

This is a selection of 'twisted' leaf stencils that I cut recently. I actually started with cutting some very much bigger than these, but I quickly realised that they were far too big for the size of my home made gelatine printing plate.

This print above also uses another couple of stencils that I cut, but although I don't like the overall effect at this stage, the leaves turned out well.

This print was made over an earlier one that I wasn't happy with, it's better, but still not something that I'd keep at this stage.

This one above I was happy with and so I added my hand carved moth stamps to it. I'm really pleased with the 'twisted' leaf' stencils and will try to cut just one size smaller if I can for future use.

The Joy of the Dance.

Sometimes one can live in a particular place for many decades and still be astonished by what is just around the corner.

I have lived in my current home for over 50 years, and yet I was astonished to be made aware of a small museum only 5 minutes drive away. https://www.duldig.org.au/

To reflect on the legacy of the sculpture of Karl Duldig, an exhibition was proposed for later this year, featuring the work of artists from the local Firestation Print Studio which I have been a member of for a few years. The exhibition is called 'Collection Reflection'. There was an evening back in October last year when print makers who were interested in the idea, visited the museum and chose a sculpture or artifact that 'spoke' to them with the idea of making an artwork of some kind to reflect this interest. I loved these 3 Dancing Figures, such joy and sense of movement!

I've been having a lot of fun working on my design and have now submitted it for the exhibition. I was given the dimensions of  quite a small plinth for display, so was somewhat limited by the allowed size. My triptych fits the plinth nicely however and I'm very happy with my 3 differently coloured articulated dancers on their patterned printed backgrounds.

                 After these photos were taken I did add the word 'dance' to each face of the artwork.

       

Cards.

I've been having lots of fun over the past few years trying out various forms of print making, from lino cuts to collagraphs, from gelatine plate prints to stamp carving and from collage to digital prints. All of this has resulted in a pile of prints, not all of which are worth framing or exhibiting. Some of the prints which appear to be failures, do however have parts of them that pass muster, and so I have been creating cards from these, not from the originals, but from photos of the originals, as I may yet add to the originals.

Below are a group of photos of prints that I made into cards recently. If you look closely you can see stitching on the middle one.

               Each print uses multiple techniques, so the 'cover all' description is 'mixed media'!

The blue print below was made using pieces of a common weed called Shepherds' Purse. The little heart shaped seed capsules are ideal for making an image on a gelatine plate.

Emerging Ferns.

While on a photographic assignment in the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, I spotted these lovely emerging fern fronds deep in the Fernery. It was pouring with rain, but under the tree canopy the ferns were still dry and showing their vibrant spring greens.