Grow or rot?

 

The seed is cosy and comfortable underground, but if it doesn't stretch to reach the light, it never grows, it just rots.

This page started with the stripes, the lighter stripes at the top suggesting sunlight, and the lower ones strata in the earth. I wanted to put something in the cosy little dark place, and a seed seemed to be the most appropriate thing. A seed sits in the earth, but it needs to germinate and grow. If it just sits there, it will eventually lose the potential for growth and rot away. 

Are there places in your life where you have stopped reaching towards the light, where you are letting the seed of something rot instead of grow? Cosy and comfortable is fine for a time, but don't become so ensconced that you stop living.

More experimentation

So I got into the groove (some might call it a mini obsession, but what do they know?) and carved some more Lino plates to make more cards. After having tried a few flowers, I found that I preferred the leafy designs, so here they are. These are printed on to paper that I have patterned myself, some on the gelli plate and some by marbling. 

Experiments with two different types of block-printing ink have revealed a clear favourite which cleans up easily with water. This is very important as I seem to be one of those people that only has to open the pot of paint/ink to somehow get it on my elbow. The ink I've discarded was very persistent, took for.ev.er to dry, and required scrubbing with soap and a brush to get all the equipment - and my hands - clean afterwards.  

So which is your favourite?

 

A new Lino-cut

I had fun last night carving a new block for my mini printing press. Before I've done prints that are basically outlines that I then colour in, but this time I went for a different look, and I'm really pleased with the result. I'm not a very competent carver yet, but I think it's the imperfections that give a print its charm. I have a few other ideas for prints in the same style of native Australian flora.

Watch this space :)

More book forms

 

So I've been making more book forms from Making Handmade Books. Here we have the flag book, piano hinge, winged book, tied binding, origami wallet. Not pictured here, but one I have made before, is the flower fold. As I'm working through them, I'm finding that some of the forms are only subtly different from each other. Those subtle differences can come into play when you make an art book with a particular theme. Having all these forms made up, rather than just a photo in a book, means that when I have an idea for a project I can pull them out and work out what would be most suitable.