Adding a Little Bit More.

I've added a bit more to this piece that I posted about a few days ago, can you spot the little patches of 6 squares to the sides of the very central motif? So far so good, but what next I wonder.

Weeds!

A local unkempt nature strip provided a wealth of weeds going to seed, so I harvested some that looked promising and pressed them good and flat. Later I glued them to a collagraph plate, sealed them with shellac and let them really dry well. You might have seen the result that I posted a couple of days ago. They made quite good printing plates, but this one I decided to paint to really show up the seed heads, which were actually green in real life, but I painted orange to provide more contrast.

Buttercup Etching.

 The next flower chosen by the group for our monthly art work was the buttercup. Up until now all the flowers chosen have been Australian natives, but the person who chose this month's flower had just spent some time in the UK and loved all the bright yellow buttercups. Above is the drawing on acetate ready to be etched at then printed.

          I made 3 different pints from the acetate, the pale one came first, then darker and darker.

                I decided to paint all 3 of the prints, and even now I'm not sure which one I like best.

From Star to Bag.

 This is what I ended up making from the abandoned patchwork star that I posted a couple of days ago. I added some fabric to the bottom of the bag which I also used for the handles, and I lined it with some pale peachy orange cotton that I also had on hand. The buttons on the handles are for decoration, but also add to the strength of the handles when the bag is used.

I'm not sure if the items made go back to the person who handed in the UFO, or whether the final makers keep the end product. Either way, it will be a useful tote bag for one of us I hope!

New Challenge.

A group of women who meet once a month decided to have a bit of fun with our Un Finished Objects, UFOs.
We each put a UFO into a paper bag on the table and chose one other than our own to take home to finish, or to make into something entirely different. This is what I found in the paper bag that I took, a beautifully made patchwork star. We aren't supposed to know whose UFOs are whose, but seeing these colours of orange and green, I can make an educated guess!

Reverse Applique.

 I was given a few pieces of highly patterned stretch velvet, although I had no idea of what to use them for. With an exhibition looming that has Art Deco in the title I thought that I might work on a design from that era. At my first attempt, the velvet and the layer underneath, also stretch velvet, just moved and stretched all over the place. Eventually I stabilised each layer and working from the back I narrow satin stitched my design.

 On the front I cut out the elements of the design, revealing the variegated layer underneath. Here I'm part way through cutting out the design, very carefully so as not to cut through all the layers.

All done, or at least the first part of the piece, although I'm not quite sure where I'm going with it next!

More Collagraph Printing.

 Using the plate that I made with local weeds in flower, I tried it out on two different types of paper.
The one above is on proper printing paper in a lovely creamy yellow colour. The dark patch in the middle is a little over inked, or under cleaned, so I'm not entirely happy with this print.

This one is on a piece of Watercolour paper that is a bright white in colour. There is more definition in the foliage, and plenty of contrast with lights and darks,  so it might be the best one. I do like the cream paper better though!

Further Collagraph Printing

 I made these plates a little while ago, but because of the time needed for setting up of the equipment, the rubbing back and actual printing, I haven't had time until today. Above is a 2 colour print which is moderately successful, given that I printed the whole plate in one go, rather than the colours separately.

                                                  The same plate printed in monochrome.

This is the better part of another larger late that definitely didn't work well. The ink was still too thick in some places and rather smudgy in others. It really is a demanding process that I haven't as yet even begun to master!