Printing at Sion Hill

It was an effort again to get everything together for a day's printing. Why?  There is no provision to leave equipment and materials on site and it is a case of taking and bringing in everything on each studio visit - it is a chore.  Added to the equation today was a lunch time break - a meeting at Dartmouth Avenue. This not only interrupted valuable, creative time in the studio,but also made the day rather disjointed.  It was frustrating having to break away and then return, I would suggest that these meetings take place early morning or late afternoon so as not to interfere with 'creative flow'..

Choice, choice, choice, Lots of options but decisions on what approach to use always remains a dilemma.  Keep it simple.  Inked up plate and lifted out a simple line to represent the flowers of the Oak tree.  Printed onto rice paper by hand which gave a subtle range of tones. Then took second print onto Japanese paper, passed through etching press. This second print, although not inked up again, gave a greater density of black, yet some areas still remained a little lighter due to my messing about with a brush on the plate .Simple composition with variety of shapes and space.
   

  

The print below was inspired by seeing the wonderful new catkins emerging in late January, one of the earliest signs, alongside snowdrops that Spring is on its way, with the day light hours becoming longer. They were situated against the background of the majestic oak tree and created a wonderful representation of the strength and fragility of nature. Some textures were lost as I accidentally used methylated spirits instead of turps to remove and create texture in various areas. 

The image below is a cropped version of the above presenting a different composition. I remain undecided as to which is the most effective!

Towards the end of the day with 10 minutes to spare before clearing up an experimental and very quickly worked monoprint had unexpected, but rather pleasing results.This was created by using several techniques of negative and positive monoprinting processes. Taken from an early sketch worked in brush and ink this is an image which I propose to take further and introduce within 'the field' prints. This has presented a more interesting proposition to developing the work. 

Photographed on the table with all its history of marks added another dimension.