In the last half hour or so of Andrew Baldwin’s weekend etching workshop at Trefeglwys Print Studio, I did a first proof print (on the left) of my coffee lift / spit bite aluminium etching plate, using Charbonnel black ink onto soaked Hahnemulle paper. I’m really pleased with it. It’s completely different to the fauxContinue reading “Mad Mari: The First Proof”
Tag Archives: Mari Lwyd
Spit And Splatter
Carrying on with the coffee lift plate I worked on at Trefeglwys Print Studio last weekend, after washing the coffee off the plate, leaving the black B.I.G. etching ground masking most of the aluminium, I dipped it in copper sulphate solution for quite some time to etch the exposed areas really deep so they’ll giveContinue reading “Spit And Splatter”
Mad Mari
So as well as working on a copper mezzotint plate at Andrew Baldwin’s weekend course at Trefeglwys Studios last weekend, there was also time to prepare an aluminium plate with coffee lift and spit bite. I used another of my drawings of the traditional Welsh Mari Lwyd from one of my sketchbooks. The Mari LwydContinue reading “Mad Mari”
Exhausted But Happy!
Just back from a very tiring weekend printmaking course at Trefeglwys Print Studio. It was fantastic. I learned so much and came away with a number of prints I’d be happy to exhibit and two new etching plates to edition and an etching plate to work on and finish. Result. I’m shattered now though. TheContinue reading “Exhausted But Happy!”
May Day, Beltane And The Horse
It’s May Day, Beltane, and in some parts of Britain the Hobby Horse, or ‘Obby ‘Oss, is part of the festivities marking the beginning of Springtime fertility. There is a long tradition, predating Christianity, of celebrations involving horses, possibly linked to the ancient Celtic horse goddess, Epona. Here in Wales we have the Mari Lwyd,Continue reading “May Day, Beltane And The Horse”
A Very Quick Dead Horse
Here’s the last drawing I did of the Ystradgynlais Mari Lwyd when it appeared at Gellionen Unitarian chapel a couple of weeks ago. I did it in a few seconds so I had to just get down the fundamental details of what I was looking at. I used mostly white conté crayon, a stub onContinue reading “A Very Quick Dead Horse”
Mari Lwyd’s Friends
Mari Lwyd, the ancient Welsh tradition linking back to the ancient Celtic goddess Epona and the mythological Rhiannon, welcomes the new year by parading a life size puppet constructed around the skull of a horse along with a group of characters who each have a role to play in the celebrations. These characters varyContinue reading “Mari Lwyd’s Friends”
Face To Face With A Dead Horse
Husb and I are spending a few days in The Lake District with family and I have taken a break from drawing. It’s great scenery around here but I’m not much of a landscape person to be honest, I’d rather draw cityscapes. I did a lot of drawings last weekend at Gellionen Chapel’s MariContinue reading “Face To Face With A Dead Horse”
The Old Chapel
Husb and I went to the old Gellionen Chapel last Sunday for a service that included Mari Ystrad, the Mari Lwyd from Ystradgynlais. The chapel, dating from the 1600s, is gorgeous and decorated with fresh boughs of holly. The service started with lighting a large candle and was not overtly religious, as the Unitarians welcomeContinue reading “The Old Chapel”
A Strange Place
Husb and I went to chapel last Sunday. Yes, that’s right, not something we would ever normally do. we went to see the Ystradgynlais Mari Lwyd at the Gellionen Unitarian chapel up on Gellionen Mountain. It was freezing cold but very sunny so I strolled out into the landscape and had a scribble into myContinue reading “A Strange Place”
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