Visitors at my window

dark days…

As the days have grown colder, darker & wetter, and the urban gardens have become less hospitable places to be eking out an existence I have started putting seeds and little chunks of juicy fruit out on the tiny ‘dakterras’ outside my studio window.
There are a lot of takers for these tasty treats, so I have a steady stream of visitors at the window throughout the day.

a confabulation

a feral parakeet

possibly a coal tit (?)

c’mon down, you know you want to…

good exercise

who ate all the pies?

I’m growing very fond of these beady-eyed little guys (and gals)!

blackbirds – male & female (?)

And although my respect for wildlife photographers was in no way lacking, attempting to get even a half decent shot of these quick-winged critters has deepened my respect for them and their craft no end!

oops… too late!

Leaves & great lakes

Autumn’s last leaf collection…

… and the first puddle collection of winter

Rare blooms

Today has been a grey old day in Amsterdam, but I’ve been continuing with some colourful papercutting to keep the grey at bay.

In stark contrast to the peaceful monochromatic winteriness of the wolf and bear cards that I blogged about earlier in the week my papercutting has taken on a positively summery direction, colour bursting at every seam.

I’ve raided my paper stash – of Japanese origami and washi papers, saved gift-wrap and envelope security patterns, ticket stubs and other ephemera – collected over many years and in many different places…

i ♥ paper

envelope security patterns

… and I have been cutting and layering them to create what I’ve dubbed ‘rare blooms’ (as each papercut-thread-and-sequins-concoction is very much one-of-a-kind).

It’s a completely addictive activity and so much fun!

On the subject of fun… tonight we’ll see Scout perform at the Occii (I think its small size will make it the perfect intimate venue for her, always in my past experiences, intense & exposed performance), and tomorrow we’re off to Brussels (just a hop and a skip across the border) for more musical fun in the form of the Toutpartout festival @ Botanique (can’t wait! Although I’m gutted that The Cave Singers and Jason Molina have had to cancel due to illness – get well soon one and all!).

In between all the excellent music this weekend I’ll be participating in the Etsy Holiday Sale (I’m thankful for modern technology and the virtual ’shop’, which allows me to be in more than one place at once :). My small garden of rare blooms has taken root over there.

Whatever you’re up to this weekend, I hope it’s fun-filled and colourful!

… and a pale blue bear

Update: If you would like to buy a pack of the cards featured in the below post you can do so here. Thanks very much for looking and for all your positive comments!

~o~

Once again December is almost upon us, so I’ve been hard at work on the ol’ annual production line!

These cards are the result of last week’s screenprinting session and an extended rendezvous with a bone folder and a sharp blade (oh, to be able to hand-print a full bleed and thus make trimming superfluous!).

I find that this time of year can get a little unnecessarily frenetic so I always aim to create a ‘festive greeting card’ that is a small oasis of calm in the midst of all the busy-ness we make for ourselves or have thrust upon us. Since moving to the Netherlands I’ve noticed bare-branched winter trees have become a recurring theme for me. It’s strange, because there are plenty of bare-branched winter trees in London at this time of year… but they apparently didn’t make the same impression?

As is so often the case at this stage in the process (or any process of ‘mass-production’) I’ve become most interested in the abstraction that is the inevitable result of multiplication and repetition…

I’ve been enjoying the zigzagging chevron shapes created by the rows of cards as I trim, score, fold and stack ‘em up. Those shapes combined with the yellow/golden colours of a pale autumn sun low in the sky transform them in to something entirely ‘other’… and when given the ‘Pathological Puppy’ treatment in Photoshop a repeat pattern quite unrelated to the original design can be arrived at:

But back to the actual cards…

This year I have made a few more than we’ll use and several packs of four cards each are available in my shop, should you wish to have your festive (or any other) messages delivered by a pale blue bear…

… or a pale blue wolf.

A visual dictionary of curiosities

I’m very excited about the arrival of this new book!

It contains more than 1500 original engravings from the Webster’s dictionaries of the 19th Century (the original engravings were tracked down, sorted and meticulously cleaned and restored by the book’s creator, fine-press bookmaker John M. Carrera) and it’s a fascinating visual reference.

An excerpt from Carrera’s preface to the book:
“… while poking around my grandmother’s stone farmhouse, I found a tattered 1898 Webster’s International Dictionary under my grandfather’s favorite reading chair… a number of browned and brittle sections were falling out from the back of the book. The loose pages revealed an eighty page section devoted entirely to the illustrations of the dictionary: a stunning array of odd and wonderful animals and machines printed by categories. The fantastic variety of subjects was matched only by the detail and variety of engraving techniques… I realized a book filled with disparate images, such as those from the Webster’s, could be an artistic experiment to test my hypothesis on the origins of creativity: that new ideas arise from the recombinations of old ideas. It would also be an important and beautiful visual reference. That fall I contacted the Merriman-Webster Company and discovered that the engravings still existed… This book is the culmination of a long odyssey to put the engravings back into print and make a book designed to educate, inspire and entertain”

Thus far I’ve found it does all of that, and more. It really is very beautiful (the object itself feels good in the hands), and every page contains inspiration in the intriguing and unexpected visual juxtapositions.

Carrera has documented the origins of the project and the processes of its production on his website – well worth a look.

I’ve got plenty of things on my ‘really should do’ list for this weekend… but I’ll definitely be taking some time out to get lost in this beautiful book’s maze of crazy creatures and marvellous machines. Hope you have a good one whatever you’re up to!

A pale blue wolf…

I’ve spent the last couple of days at the printmaking studio doing a bit of screen printing.  I had a lot of fun, but I also find the screen printing process pretty mentally and physically demanding. Some creative activities can be very meditative and relaxing – for me papercutting or drawing are two such activities – but not so screen printing. I have no doubt that with more practice it will become less ‘taxing’ but as a relative novice I have to maintain 100% focus throughout the process… there seem to be so many opportunities for error! The tricky wrist tilt when coating the screen with photo emulsion, under or over exposing the film positive, the delicate balance when trying to achieve the correct ink consistency/opacity/transparency, the struggle to get the ‘snap-off’ just so, and my own personal horror… the hand through the screen mesh!

Luckily I haven’t yet put my hand, or any other object, through a screen. But I did let my guard slip yesterday while cutting card for registration strips and managed to slice deep in to the tip of my index finger with my lovely sharp NT Cutter (rather a finger than the screen!). Who would’ve thought the index finger of the left hand was such a prominent player in just about everything we do with our hands!

But I digress… The fun-factor definitely outweighs the stress-factor, and pulling a decent quality print is very satisfying. Also, I know I’ll sleep really well tonight… I’m knackered!

rackin’ ‘em and stackin’ ‘em (first colour done)

bunny on a bike, artist unknown (this little fella adorns one of the studio’s doorframes, close to the ground. i like him!)

“still life with spatula and squeegee”
(or, simply, “cleaning up” – there’s always lots of that to be done!)

multicoloured tiles, courtesy of a high pressure hose and a-million-and-one previous print projects

waiting for the homeward bound tram…

Just can’t get enough

The sun was shining when we woke up on Sunday morning and that meant an opportunity that we simply couldn’t let pass us by! We hopped on our bikes and cycled along the Amstel River (hmm, pretty) to Zorgvlied, a relatively nearby and hence favourite tree-communing spot. To think that less than a week ago I was already accepting Winter’s triumph over Autumn! Judging by Zorgvlied’s trees’ magnificent splendour, she’s still got plenty of show left in her.

I’ve been so enjoying the many and beautiful Autumn images I’ve been seeing all over the (Northern Hemisphere) interweb, and am a little overwhelmed by what an incredibly beautiful season it is. But I guess I already said that, now and in previous posts… sorry to be such a bore!

Negative is good…

I’ve been doing a bit of papercutting and, as is so often the case, cannot decide which I prefer – the intended cut shape or the ‘negative’ shape offcuts. Both have their appeal, but the negative shapes are somehow more intriguing and mysterious. No doubt because their form always comes as an unexpected surprise to me when cutting is complete (and I like the shadows they cast!).

Positive is obviously good too, and I wanted to take this opportunity to say ‘thanks’.

I was thrilled to sell all of the prints and cards I’d put into my new Etsy shop within 10 days of listing them, so if you bought one of them or you’ve left me encouraging comments and you’re reading this – thank you! Your support is much appreciated and has given me some much needed confidence to continue to pursue this art-lark and to make more stuff! (In the meantime, while I get on with making more stuff, I have listed a few more of the Curiosity Cabinet limited edition screenprints and cards on Etsy).

Now, back to those negative-positive shapes…

Thanks again, and have a fun weekend!