Deconstruct Reconstruct

A little while ago I made a group of cyanotype prints from some original sketchbook portraits of older women. Each was printed onto a piece of heavyweight Bockingford paper cut from a pattern for a Victorian corset. I assembled them originally in the sequence that would assemble the corset, tying each together with purple ribbonContinue reading “Deconstruct Reconstruct”

Hungry Scribbles

It was the life drawing group’s annual Xmas curry last night at the excellent Vojon curry house. I had a Handi Lamb Polongwala with a Gobi Aloo – no rice or naan as I’m cutting back on refined carbs for a little while. I was still stuffed until lunchtime, a very late lunch too. BecauseContinue reading “Hungry Scribbles”

Random Folk

Husb and I went to a meeting in our area this evening, a group of like-minded people looking at the feasibility of raising money to convert an empty church into a community arts / cultural facility. It’s an historic Victorian building, Grade II listed by Cadw and it would be a shame to see itContinue reading “Random Folk”

People and Printmaking

Last night I was at the launch of People and Printmaking, a special collaborative artists’ book celebrating 15 years of Swansea Print Workshop. I’m really pleased that my work is featured in this beautiful anniversary publication. Printed in full colour, in Welsh and English, it contains 60 pages with full page illustrations. As well as examplesContinue reading “People and Printmaking”

Up The Workers

In this era of austerity and cutbacks, it’s so good to acknowledge a success story. Just over a year ago, two artists, Gayle Rogers and Chris Williams took over the recently closed public library in the little village of Ynyshir, up the Rhondda Valley and reopened it as a gallery. Not only a gallery butContinue reading “Up The Workers”

Watching The Match

The rugby World Cup has been thrilling so far and after Saturday’s epic woodcut session at Swansea Print Workshop, a few of us decamped to local hostelry, The Brunswick, to watch the match between Wales and Australia. It was a tough game, we lost but we’re still going through to the next round. Exciting stuff.Continue reading “Watching The Match”

Constrained, A Victorian Tapestri

I’ve finally finished the piece I’ve been working on for the exhibition ‘A Victorian Tapestri’  at the end of this week. It’s constructed of the 12 pieces that make up a Victorian corset, cut from a heavyweight Somerset paper. I coated each with cyanotype chemicals and printed them with some of my sketchbook drawings. I’ve called itContinue reading “Constrained, A Victorian Tapestri”

Sunshine Prints

I did a whole load of cyanotypes yesterday for an exhibition and I had some pieces of paper and chemicals left over so, waste not want not, I coated the paper scraps and stored them away in a folder in a dark cupboard. Today, I shrank my negatives digitally and printed them out on acetate.Continue reading “Sunshine Prints”

Blue Sunday

A while back I began a new piece of artwork, quite an ambitious one using some of my sketchbook drawings of older women and a Victorian corset pattern to create a 3D piece in cyanotype, an archaic photographic technique. I cut the pieces from some lovely Somerset Velvet paper, 12 in all, and scanned andContinue reading “Blue Sunday”