Open Studios is back at HOFS and we’re all very excited to be opening our doors to the public!
However, before we open the doors, on the 15th & 16th October, I’ll be moving into a new studio (so please excuse any unpacked boxes!)
In the run up to the event there will be a buzz of activity and I’m really looking forward to it. My new studio is more spacious than my current one and comes with its own printing press!! Yay! Come along and see for yourself.
There will be other events in the building and artists taking part will have an exhibition in the main hall. I’ll be displaying the photograms from my #the100dayproject that I completed earlier this year. Here’s a taster:
Photograms from my #the100dayproject 2022
I’ve also been working on a new series of mixed media collages using gelli printing. Join me in the studio to see how I create my gelli prints and the progress I’ve made so far.
Mixed media collages using gelli printing and stitch
This year, the Leigh Art Trail will be celebrating 25 years! I’m taking part with SEVEN Collective, where we will be exhibiting sketchbooks inspired by the theme ‘Silver’.
Each artist has chosen a different ‘silver’ theme and created a handmade sketchbook.
My theme is black and white photography.
“When exposed to sunlight silver became darker”
Britannica
Silver is the main element in b&w photography due to its light-sensitive properties. Photography paper is coated with an emulsion made from silver salts and gelatin. When exposed to light, an image is formed on the paper, which is then developed using darkroom chemicals.
I have always enjoyed developing prints in a darkroom and I have long been inspired by the ‘Art in Nature’ photographs of Karl Blossfeldt and the cameraless photograms of Laslo Moholy-Nagy and Man Ray.
My book is comprised of five sections, each with five pages developed from a different workshop run by SEVEN, focusing on collage, print, text, lyrics and drawing. Cultural and technical references to photography are loosely woven throughout the pages. Each section closes with a digitally enhanced lumen print (a cameraless technique using direct sunlight to develop photographic paper). The book has been bound in a recovered vintage hardback book cover.
Sketchbooks on display at The Refill Room, Leigh Art Trail
When: 3-11 September 2022 Where: Venu 13, The Refill Room, Leigh-on-sea, Essex, UK
Earlier this year I visited an exhibition at Dulwich Picture Gallery on the Abstract Expressionist Helen Frankenthaler’s woodcut works called ‘Radical Beauty’.
Details from Madame Butterfly
Frankenthaler’s Japanese woodcut prints were delightful to view up close; and to discover that many of the prints were made using 30-100 colours, some taking months or years to complete!
Alongside the exhibition, Dulwich Picture Gallery teamed up with Camberwell College of Arts to deliver a printmaking workshop inspired by the work of Frankenthaler. I signed up!
Camberwell College of Arts has an excellent fine art printmaking facility which includes lithography, etching and screen printing along with a number of Victorian printing presses.
After initial introductions we were split into smaller groups and shown the ropes by some of the current MA Printmaking students. They were amazing! Full of enthusiasm and offered help and support throughout the day.
Creating monoprints using the aluminium plate
We experimented with mono printing using a plywood board and an aluminium plate. The metal plate was more sensitive than the wood and when printed, more subtle details appeared. We also experimented with blind embossing and ghost prints and used various materials and mark-making implements.
Below are some examples of my experimental prints…
Experimental mono prints using woodExperimental mono prints using aluminium
The workshop was a lot of fun and I will definitely be looking to take the ideas further in my practice.
I completed #the100dayproject for the first time in 2021 where I decided to ‘print something everyday’ (you can read about it here). This year I have taken up the challenge again and I’ve chosen to print 100 4″x6″ photograms*.
*Photograms are created by placing objects directly onto photo-sensitive paper and exposing them to light. They use a camera-less photography technique and so don’t require a camera, film or an enlarger to create.
I was first inspired by Man Ray’s Rayographs and Mohly Nagy’s photograms while studying photography at Uni. I loved developing b&w photographs and would happily spend many hours in a darkroom.
My recent exploration into cyanotypes (also influenced by Man Ray and Moholy Nagy along with Karl Blossfeldt and Anna Atkins) has enabled me to develop similar photograms using UV light and water.
To make the process easier I made a mini darkroom in my house by converting a small utility room (that has no windows). I added a red safe light and a hanging line and I was able to develop my cyanotypes there.
Test prints drying in the darkroom
To take this a step further, for the 100 day project, I have bought photographic paper and black and white darkroom chemicals.
Darkroom chemicals – developer, stop bath and fixer
I’ve started my 100 day project with a botanical theme. Last year I divided the 100 days up into 10 x 10-day series, which worked really well for me, so I will do this again this year. I’ve also realised that darkroom developer doesn’t last very long once it has been mixed (2 days max), so I plan to make 10 prints in one darkroom session. Below is a selection of prints I made in the first session…
Days 1-10 various botanicals
My challenge started on Sunday 20 February and will end on Monday 30 May. You can follow my daily postings on Instagram #100daysof4x6photograms).
I’d been given a set of old encyclopedia volumes to use for collage, as altered books or even to recycle as handmade paper. I decided I’d give handmade paper-making a go.
Encyclopedia volumes
I was intrigued as I’d been told that due to the age of the books, and the way they had been printed, that the letters were likely to stay intact rather than blend into a mushy grey (which digitally printed papers are more likely to do).
Internal page
So I started by tearing a few pages out of the books and ripped these into smaller pieces of paper. I left them to soak in a bowl of water for an hour or so before using an old kitchen stick blender (no longer used for food!) and blended the paper into a pulp.
Paper shredded, ready for blending
I experimented with a few different types of mesh for creating the sheets of paper. Then after watching a few online videos I found that car bodywork repair mesh worked brilliantly!
So I dipped the mesh into the watery/pulp and pulled it out, this gave me a layer of pulp on the mesh (the amount of water in the pulp affects how thick the paper will be: less water = thicker paper). I then needed to press out as much liquid as I could. Once I’d done this I flipped the mesh over and released the sheet of pulp onto a Jay cloth. I added a second Jay cloth on top to create a ‘sandwich’ and then repeated the process.
Sheets of handmade paper
The process was really successful (once I got the hang of it), and I was able to make quite thin sheets of paper. It was easy to build up a ‘sandwich’ of 10-20 sheets (this will depend on how much pulp you’ve made). I also like rough edges, so I didn’t worry about giving the paper straight edges, but this could be done by placing a frame onto the mesh before pulling out the pulp.
Letters are still visible
I really liked how the letters were visible on the paper. The level of detail in the lettering is affected by how long the paper is blended for. The less time spent blending = more definition in the lettering.
The next step now is to try blending different types of paper (basically I’ll be rummaging through my recycling paper bin for junk mail and packaging), this will hopefully add more colour and images to the paper. Plus I’d like to add seeds and petals and…the list goes on!
