Folding And Creasing

I spent a pleasant afternoon folding and creasing coloured papers, doing simple origami shapes. I work part time for a national charity that helps homeless people and we made a start today on an art project that’s going to grow over the next few weeks.  Watch this space 😀

Banners Are Good…..

Banners are good. Banners are a useful way of breaking the ice when I’m running sessions in art. A lot of adults feel intimidated by ‘art’ and that they can’t paint or draw. Doing banners means they can drop by and do a few brushstrokes or they can get absorbed for a couple of hours.Continue reading “Banners Are Good…..”

Art In The Cellar

I am so lucky to work as an art tutor for a charity that helps homeless people. I love it and I love using art to communicate with people and to give people a lift, a sense of achievement. This banner has been going for a few weeks now. People can drop in and doContinue reading “Art In The Cellar”

Randomness Ensued

I did an afternoon of experiments at The Workers Gallery last week, trying out different combinations of inks and papers on a Gelli Arts gelatine printing plate. I want to print papers for collage. I did some basic experiments a few weeks ago and I wanted to do something a bit more advanced to seeContinue reading “Randomness Ensued”

Translucent Overlays

I’ve been experimenting with Gelli Art gelatine plates for printmaking again. This time I used Caligo Safewash oil-based printing inks mixed with extender to make them translucent and overlaid the monotype three times, once in Process Yellow, then Process magenta and finally Process Cyan. I’ll explain the process in tomorrow’s blog. This is one ofContinue reading “Translucent Overlays”

The Last Experiment (for now)

I’ve been experimenting doing monotypes on a gel plate from Gelli Arts, trying out different inks and paints over the last week or so. I’ve finished for the time being, ending up with Caligo Safe Wash oil-based printing inks. I used Process Yellow, Magenta and Cyan mixed approximately 50:50 with the brand’s Extender for translucencyContinue reading “The Last Experiment (for now)”

Jelly And Liquitex

So, still experimenting with the Gelli Arts plate, this time trying out Liquitex Heavy Body acrylic paint. It gives excellent coverage and takes textures really well. Almost all the ink comes off onto the paper – Daler Rowney cartridge 90gsm – with gentle rubbing, leaving very little for a ‘ghost’ print. The only problem IContinue reading “Jelly And Liquitex”

More Jelly Experiments

I’m continuing top experiment with gel plate printmaking using a Gelli Arts plate. Today I tried it with Essdee block printing ink, staying with Daler Rowney cartridge paper (90gsm) for consistency, The Essdee inks are easy to use, roll out nicely and take a good texture from bubblewrap and scrunchy tissue paper. The ink printsContinue reading “More Jelly Experiments”

Letting People Play

I’m working for a charity that supports very vulnerable people, running arts and craft sessions. I work in different venues across the city and I tailor the sessions to suit them and their clients. This evening was about letting people play. It wasn’t a formal session aiming to teach fine arts or enabling people toContinue reading “Letting People Play”

Testing Testing One Two Three

I tried out a new printmaking technique today, gel printing with a commercial Gelli plate. It’s part of the equipment I’ve been given for my part-time job running art sessions with people who are homeless and insecurely housed. The instructions just said to use paper and acrylic paint but were no more specific than thatContinue reading “Testing Testing One Two Three”