Stitching furiously to meet the April deadline for my submission to Liverpool Book Art's Frankenstein exhibition. I'm working on a book that will open to reveal eight embroidered vignettes of the deaths of the characters in Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. I was inspired by the recurring motif in the story of using art to remember the dead, and Victorian society's morbid fascination with death. I hope to reflect the the themes of grief, remembrance and loss in my final book. In the meantime, I'm finding it strangely enjoyable embroidering dead people. Each to their own.
Drawing more plants (and twigs)
A new year's resolution to draw more plants has got off to a slow but enjoyable start, with a slight diversion into twigs...
L is for långtifrån
Latest illustration in my Anglo-Swedish exchange of words collaboration with @eva.hejdstrom ... långtifrån, meaning ‘far from’ in Swedish.
One mouse-chewed magazine
Clearing out the garage over the festive break I came across a 1960's magazine which had been chewed by mice. As a spin-off from my recycling collage challenge, I decided to see how many different collages I could make from it. Some are in the square format as the recycling collages and others are in my sketchbook… amazing colours and typography. Very grateful to the mouse for giving me permission to chop up something I would otherwise have just filed away!
K is for Kip
K is for Kip – a short sleep or nap. The latest rubber stamp illustration in my exchange of words collaboration with swedish artist Eva Hejdström.
Collage challenge continues
A busy start to the year with work, so I'm a little behind with blog posts… I've been carrying on with making collages from paper rescued from each week's recycling box. It's turning into quite a mixed bag of a project so far...
Wrapping up for the year
Finally time for the festive holiday to start - looking forward to a couple of weeks off. Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas and all the best for 2018!
Collage challenge
The ABC (Artists' Book Club) at UWE have a group project running this year to create books on the theme of 'found'. I've set myself a challenge to make at least one collage each week using only the paper I've salvaged from that week's recycling box. I'm not quite sure what form the book will take yet, but I'm enjoying playing around with collage and I'm surprised how different each one looks. My favourite thing about collage is the element of chance - I never know how the finished piece will work when I start working on it. Very liberating for a control freak...
A miscellany of recent work
A very mixed bag of recent things I've been working on...
J is for jordnära
The latest rubber stamp illustration in my collaboration with Eva Hejdstrom, exchanging Swedish and English words. J is for jordnära, meaning close to nature.
I is for illumine
The latest rubber stamp illustration in my collaboration with Eva Hejdstrom, exchanging Swedish and English words. I is for illumine, meaning to light up. Inspired by my early evening dark dog walks now the clocks have gone back.
Serious tiling
Working on a new range of wrapping paper using rubber stamped patterns. Bit of a learning curve working out the repeat tiling, but it's amazing to see what patterns can be made with some really simple carved stamps (and the help of Photoshop!)
Book fairs coming up
My small books are packaged up ready for their very own city breaks... they can be seen at the Small Publishers Fair at Conway Hall in London on 10-11 November, and then in Berlin (artbookberlin.de) on 17-19 November. They're better travelled than me.
PaperLove – week five: mail
Sad to report that the wonderful five week PaperLove e-course with Rachel Hazell is now over. It's been a lot of fun, and a great excuse to make new things that otherwise would never have progressed beyond endless pondering. The final week's projects involved making an origami heart box (which turned into a, less romantic, bird) and a collage on a book cover using stamps, labels, books and ephemera from previous weeks. I really enjoyed working on this collage - like a jigsaw puzzle where you make your own pieces - and I'd like to make more of these in future.
PaperLove – week four: book
A bit more in my comfort zone this week with the e-course PaperLove's theme of 'book'. Starting with making single sheet 'trouser books' from envelope patterned papers (combined with last week's folded cover to make them more robust). Quite addictive once you get folding. Then moving onto a mobile of tiny map books (photographed on a particularly gloomy day)… not totally happy with the end result of this one so I may re-visit it at a later date. I like the idea, just not my execution. The larger project this week was making a multi-section book. I'd done this before so I wanted to use it as an opportunity to try a few new techniques: using deckle edged paper (cut with a clip point knife), embroidering bookcloth, leaving longer knot ties on the outside of the book, and also bringing the stitching over the top and bottom of the spine. Really pleased with how this one turned out, and I'm using it as a sketchbook already - hurray!
H is for Hovra
The latest rubber stamp illustration in my collaboration with Swedish artist Eva Hejdström: H is for Hovra (Swedish 'to float'). The orange is stamped with neon ink, but unfortunately looks very flat when photographed.
G is for Gluttony
The latest rubber stamp illustration in my collaboration with Swedish artist Eva Hejdström: G is for Gluttony (the act or habit of eating too much or being greedy).
PaperLove - week three: word
Little bit out of my comfort zone in week three of the PaperLove e-course. All about words. Pictures are really my thing, but I had fun finding patterns in letters, and also learning a new way to create a folded book cover to contain a concertina book. Really enjoying creating new work that's taking me in a different direction to my usual, well-trodden, path.
PaperLove - week two: collage
In my element with the second week of the PaperLove e-course - collage is one of my very favourite things in life. My studio is currently covered in snippets of paper, most of which I can't bear to throw away because they might just come in useful!
PaperLove - week one: paper
A very inspiring first week on Rachel Hazell's PaperLove e-course. The first theme is 'paper' - a good excuse to use up some of my hoarded stash of papers in my plan chest.