Hello my lovelies, I didn't have much to report last week so I thought I'd combine the two
(Yeah, I just didn't want to write it)
So... things suddenly got very messy and busy in the studio over the last fortnight, I seemed to try and use ModPodge in nearly every project.
We are currently on day 22 of 40, so grab a coffee and see what I've been up to.
PROJECTS OPENED: 8
PROJECTS CLOSED: 4 (5 if you're reading it on Sunday!)
Thank goodness for that, on day 20 of 40 I was starting to get a little nervous that I'd only closed one project so far... I mean two isn't much more, but fuck it, let's celebrate! 🍕🍷 Because I'm still pretty bloody brilliant, just can't commit or concentrate 🤷
I cheated slightly by using leaves that my good pal Mother Nature had already skeletoned for me (instead of me having to boil them in this gross smelling chemical) - and created a three leaf Cyanotype which was half dipped in the mixture to turn it yellow. I'm actually really happy with this, and sort of wish I'd done a few more - so probably will soon.
There was a lot more to the process, in terms of tests, I filmed a lot more
1: end result (still wet)
2: post vinegar rinse
3: post hydrogen peroxide bath
4: during the sodium carbonate bath as the colour starts to change from blue to purple to yellow (fucking magic)
... yes, I basically just copied that from my instagram caption, but the overwhelm is real, and there's more info below if you need it:
While this is definitely something I'll be doing more of...
PROJECT STATUS: CLOSED
Well, it would seem that I was SO pleased with the result of this in week one, that I just didn't touch it for a week or so. That's a lie, I picked it up a lot, flicked through, admired it; basically shoved it in the face of every family member who came near my studio... but I didn't add to it for a while.
Earlier this week, I decided to be okay with the fact that I probably wouldn't be making any more pages - these are mini projects afterall, and maybe I said all I needed to say in those five little double page spreads... so it was time to glue it together, pop on a cover, and smother it in gold.
I am still incredibly in love with this book, with every flaw, every swish of gold, every truth so blatantly displayed. I can't wait to make more.... and between you and me, there might be another one, sooner than you think under this 30 by 30 project, in response to the Grayson's Art Club prompt of 'LOVE' - my sister and I were discussing it at length while decorating, featuring lots of "OH FUCK OFF _ YESS!" in response to ideas.... it'll be possibly, the most personal and exposing project I have ever worked on and I invite that level of cathartic exercise into my life, especially during this damn retrograde!!!
[videos to follow]
PROJECT STATUS: CLOSED
PROJECT #4: VASE
oooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh the vase.
Who knew, that at age (nearly) thirty, I would be so damn fucking proud of a paper mache project... well, I did a jolly good job of not planning or following a trusted recipe and making a fuuuucking mess in the studio. But, hey, it really came together!
I tried to use as much recycled materials as possible for this, luckily I've kept all my paper recycling and packaging for the last year or so, and happened to have deflated the balloons sent to me for my friend's virtual hen-do last year, so I was pretty much set!
After a far too watery first layer, I thought I'd get creative and (very loosely) followed a recipe for a flour based paste for my second layer. Quickly painted it in a thick layer of white gesso before sunrise as I had family commitments to attend to and knew I'd hardly be in the studio... The next morning I felt like it was time, and I began collaging on my fennel firework designs using the coffee filters which I had cyanotype exposed last year and were sat in a box being ignored... and topped it all off with a thick layer of ModPodge hard seal before heading off to my sister's for another day of decorating.... which gave me an idea - she had this new tub of PollyFilla which was like a mouse, and went on the walls so beautifully - I wanted it, I needed it, and after a few more days of us all being incredibly forgetful, I got it. Last night she popped over with a little box filled with filler for me to play with.
I already learnt so many lessons for next time, which is good. I also REALLY wanted to dip it in concrete, so there's no if, I will be making more! WOULD YOU BUY ONE!? It's really making me think about how much more there is I can do with cyanotype than standard prints (not that they aren't tricky enough, and mesmerizingly beautiful!) but I've always wanted to make homewares and fashion items, and maybe I know how to do that my way now.
I'm still waiting on things to dry so I can decide how much to sand and how much to paint, but I've already tried flowers in her, and SHE IS A BEAUTY - may need to treat myself to some new tall dried flowers and seedheads for this fennel stunner. Annoyingly, I didn't keep any fennel unpressed when I collected it... so if you have any, let me woo you!
PROJECT STATUS: CLOSED
PROJECT #5: MAKE IT HOLLY
So this is a project I signed up to before Christmas, but I've only felt creatively capable during this #30by30 period - so why not include it in the challenges. I was asking for prompts and "make this in your style" challenges, and I already had one! Holly's brilliant project "Censor Me, I Dare You" focuses on the bullshit nature of censorship of the female body in the modern age - which really is nonsense.
I really struggled to commit to my modifications on this piece - I think because I knew I only had one shot at it, and had already accidentally got Sharpie on it while marking out the possible text on acetate. I so wanted to produce something breath-taking, and I didn't quite trust myself to do that at first leap. In hindsight, I am glad that I procrastinated, because then I suddenly had the idea of the coffee filter instead of thick paper - a much softer modification, fleeting almost - like a fine scarf draped across the body. The lightness of the tear juxtaposing the harshness of the implied action.
I found it really hard to write on this photo paper in my new dip fountain pens... I thought I'd take a slight upgrade from my trusty Waitrose kebab sticks (you know the ones), but bugger me it took a lot of getting used to! There is an obvious fuck up, but, hey, that's life; learning to love yourself is messy, and it's hard, and it hurts, you hesitate, you struggle, you shy away a little, but ultimately you shine.
you can read more about Holly's work and this project on her website: www.hollyinks.com
Why not come to the exhibition? Or buy an artwork: 50% of profits from each print sale go to the chosen charity of that artist... pretty cool idea right!? (I've requested Rowcroft Hospice)
PROJECT STATUS: CLOSED
PROJECT #6: MERIDIAN CLOCK
This one's been an idea in the works for a while now, but I'm struggling to figure out how to make it authentically in my style - as I have many styles... but it hasn't felt right.
Basically a friend and I, during a course on meridian corrections, came up with this idea to make a BEAUTIFUL clock which would easily tell you what was going on with your body at the time you were looking... as a physical clock on the wall, not just a paper or digital diagram you have to find to know. For me, I wanted it to know how best to plan my day, or to understand why I was identifying certain issues or positives at certain times and what it meant, and for Rebecca, as a practitioner to use it both personally and professionally as a tool in her magic-working.
I may trying to sketch it out by hand with colour markers and fine liner pens instead of on Photoshop.
I definitely need more time on this. Or possibly, to care a little less and just get it done, because I know deep down, she will love anything I make, and as this literally doesn't exist in the UK market for her, it is already guaranteed to be the best... things seem a little easier when you look at them like that.
PROJECT STATUS: OPEN
PROJECT #7: RUBBISH PHOTOGRAPHY
Take the trash, enjoy the treasure.
This was a beach clean project - a one day activity & creative session to create a small series of artworks depicting the waste on our shores. Once again, a project I have been meaning to try for a while, which is why this 30 by 30 is so useful for me - trying things out with the prerequisite of them being quick and not needing much planning or explaination, just giving it a jolly good go!
I think there's something quite morbidly fascinating/ macabre about the similarities between the finished results of my artworks and what sealife see in the water - they are just shapes, shadows... non-threatening nothings, almost appealing; which is why they are such a danger to animals. The ghostly shapes, appear to float and dance and there is certainly a level of beauty, whether or not that should be celebrated or not is down to the individual. We can at least celebrate the fact that they are on my page and no longer in the sea or on the shore...
(luckily took a bin bag, as there was more than one poo bag left sunning itself 🤢)
I'm pleased to say that, although I got thoroughly distracted for the middle 6-7 hours of this one day project, working on all the other open projects (and some left over pizza), I now have 15 A4 cyanotyped artworks complete.
I will be selling this series in my shop and donating 50% of the profits to charities (TBC) ... trouble is I now just can't decide whether to add to them now that I've 'closed' the project - fine liner details or gold!?
[photos of prints TBC when dried & pressed, + videos]
PROJECT STATUS: CLOSED
more info on beach cleaning:
WEEK THREE.... I definitely have a few projects that I can't wait to start, and just as many that I'm quite hesitant about. But I will get through them all! I'm thinking of listing all the ideas I've got... as a guide when I'm asking others for suggestions of prompts. I'm also thinking of maybe getting a head-start on this year's Grayson's Art Club prompts because that really makes a lot of sense with them being due in March anyway.
Sodium Carbonate
Paint It Blue
Art Book / Book of Poetry
Vase
Make It Holly
Meridian Clock
Rubbish Photography
Curtains
Does It Cyanotype?
Sigils
Collage
Memento Mori
Embroidery Hoops
Self Defence
Self Portrait
LOVE
Crown
Bridesmaids