Eryri: 4.

Bright Light In The Pass.

After a steep and spectacular climb up the mountains, Husb and I had a break in Beddgelert and the storm eased off while we were there. We strolled through the historic village and were stunned by the ferocity of the two rivers that meet there, Afon Colwyn and Afon Glaslyn. The recent storms had created a maelstrom of torrents where the two rivers surge together, one brown and muddy and the other clear and dark. After a pot of tea in the village cafe, we boarded the tiny steam train again and set off back across the Eryri mountains, which were now clear of heavy rain and glowed with a strange light behind the peaks.

A Strange Light.

Eryri: 3

The Forms Dissolve In The Rain.

I live in a very rainy country, but rarely represent the rain in my sketching …. because it’s miserable to stand in the rain and draw! And not very practical – paper gets soggy, colours run or slip around. That can be interesting, but it’s a lot of physical discomfort. So the journey on the little steam train from Caernarfon to Beddgelert the other day was brilliant as I could observe the fabulous mountain landscape immersed in a storm from the comfort of a warm, cosy carriage with tea and biscuits being served along the way.

The height of the storm.

This drawing was done at the height of the storm, the massive peaks disappeared in a chaos of whites and greys, yet the sun illuminated the vivid green vegetation nearest the train. This sketch is abstract because that’s how the landscape, momentarily, seemed to be. I guess this must be a bit like what the artist Turner saw. But not from a lovely little steam train though.

Eryri: 2.

A slight break in the rain.

Waking up to torrential rain and gale force winds on our short break to North Wales, Husb and I decided to ditch the planned walk along mountain paths and opt for a steam train ride from Caernarfon up the mountains to the legendary village of Beddgelert. It was pouring and windy outside but we were cosy on the little train, sipping hot tea as it puffed its way up through magnificent scenery. It’s a nice way to do some sketching too.

I’ve been wanting to use this black sketchbook for ages, I tried one or two things in gouache and they didn’t work out, but these Sennelier soft pastels are great. I peeled most of the paper off and used them on their side to get that blunt, blocky feel to the sketches that was similar to the Eryri landscape.

Eryri: 1.

Rain, sky and crags.

I took a blog break for a few days while Husb and I visited North Wales / Cymru Gogledd, such a gorgeous part of the country. The weather, however, wasn’t gorgeous, it poured with rain most of the days we were there. The upside is that the atmosphere was amazing, soft and smudgy, almost but not quite monochromatic and ideal for my black sketchbook and Sennelier soft pastels.

Screen Play.

Multi-layer silkscreen print.

I’ve been pushing myself into creative “play” in recent months, to loosen up my artistic practice and push out of my comfort zone. Today I had a play with silk screen techniques, courtesy of a free afternoon workshop at University of Wales Trinity Saint Davids …. or Swansea Art College as most people call it. The screens already had photostencil images on them, taken from graphite rubbings of street metal – manhole covers, watercock lids and drains.

A detail of the overlays.

We experimented with overlaying different screens with different colours, occasionally masking out areas with ripped and folded sheets of newsprint. The colours were pre-mixed so I had to work with what I was given, which was probably a good thing as I had less to agonise about! It was random and abstract, totally different to the way I normally work. I didn’t really like it until the last colour went on and then the whole thing seemed to tie together.

Marbled Mari: 1

Linocut on marbled paper.

I used my little Mari Lwyd lino block in three ways during my one-day residency at The Workers Gallery in the Rhondda Valley. First, to print onto a cotton shirt, then overprinting on top of circular monotypes, and finally I printed the block on some marbled papers I had made a few months back. I like this, it reminds me of 1960s psychedelia.

Pink And Yellow Maris.

Here are some different colourways of my little Mari Lwyd lino block and Gel Plate monotypes that I was experimenting with during my residency at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir last week. It’s a lovely place, do try and visit if you can.

The Gel prints were made with Cranfield Safe Wash Relief inks in Process Yellow, Magenta and Cyan onto HoSho paper and the linocut printed with Black Safe Wash. I used a circular Gel plate, 10cm diameter, and I created the textures with a combination of fruit nets (like you buy oranges in) and bubblewrap, overlaying translucent oil-based inks. Each monotype is different.

Green And Yellow Mari.

Three Mari Lwyds in Green and Yellow Colourways.

I had fun overprinting my little Mari Lwyd lino block onto some circular Gel Plate monotypes. The monotypes were done using fruit nets and bubble wrap and Cranfield Safe-Wash relief inks mixed heavily with Extender. The three primary Process colours, overlaid, give a lovely range of secondary colours and tertiary tones. I was experimenting during my residency at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir last week. It’s a lovely place, do try and visit if you can.

Monotype And Mari Lwyd.

Gel Print and Lino Block.

I spent a day up The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir yesterday and took a small lino block of a Mari Lwyd I cut a couple of years ago. I thought I’d try doing different things with it. I printed a border on a cheap cotton shirt (here) and then I switched inks and printed Mari’s head over some little Gel Plate monotypes I did a few weeks back (here). I really like the result. They’re psychedelic Maris!

The Gel prints were made with Cranfield Safe Wash Relief inks in Process Yellow, Magenta and Cyan onto HoSho paper and the linocut printed with Black Safe Wash.

Mari Lwyd On My Shirt!

Lino block and fabric ink.

I did my one-day artist residency at The Workers Gallery in Ynyshir today and had a great time, some really fascinating people came into the gallery and first off, I used my Mari Lwyd lino block to print up a cotton shirt, a cheap buy from TK Maxx, with Speedball Fabric Block Printing Ink.

Husb and I made our own Mari Lwyd from a kit and I’ll wear this shirt when we take the Mari out and about next New Year.