Printing fabric

 Well I honestly don't really know where this came from - one of those moments where a bunch of disparate thoughts/notions/threads came together with opportunity and we were off!

I have been thinking about stitching a small needlecase; so was rummaging through scrap fabric.  I was at home. It is summer. I saw somewhere (and honestly have no recall of where despite trawling through the likely places) an image of a corn cob. What else could possibly happen?

So I went to town and bought a cob of corn, and peeled it. It seems odd to say peel; but that was indeed the action.

The scene is set (the concrete alphabet letters are a distraction - they are acting as paper and fabric weights)

Step 1.

This was a mistake - I didn't hold the fabric down well enough as I rolled.

And these are the results!

Hanging out to dry, then be ironed, then be washed.

It worked on all sorts of fabric and now I have a motley collection of marks to include in my stitching!

Around and about

As we all adapt to the new normal, we count ourselves as very fortunate to be able to self-isolate on the mountain block we call home. The block keeps us busy at the best to times, but is now also offering us healthy activity and things to do and focus on when our minds might otherwise wander.

A magnolia bud from down below.

We are gardening most days, hauling logs, building walls, growing seedlings and sprouting seeds, gathering flowers and just enjoying basking in the beauty that surrounds us.

It calms our souls.

Despite having removed our coffee plantation because of a nasty weevil infestation a few years ago; there are still coffee bushes growing around the edges of the block and they are bursting with coffee cherries (which have the beans inside them).  We figure if things get really bad, we can start to process beans again...

The camellias on the terraces below are coming into bloom and wandering amongst them is like walking amidst pink and white snow drifts.

A bunch we picked on Sunday

I popped them in these little wee floating boat 'vases'; and set them upon window sills in the kitchen.

And here are some camellia shadows on the water tank.

The veggie garden is beginning (we hadn't planted any as we were due in Scotland on 25 March...) and we are enjoying the daily collection and sharing.

A few weeks ago I did a bit of a panic buy of seeds (only one packet each of about 6 veggies but I did feel a bit panicked) and we set them to grow and already they are bursting out.  Barry prepared another veggie patch for them and that has been good to see.  

Our climate is a very kind one - we can grow so many things. Avocados are coming on and limes have almost reached nuisance levels; but our entire orange crop has virtually just dropped which was sad.

But we have a beautiful place to occupy us and nourish us.

Making things

I am pleased that as I get older I work a few things out.  I have learnt to complete all my commissions and commitments (pretty much) by November which gives me some clear air in December when things go all a bit ditzy.

And so this month I have been able to finish odd jobs; test out things I want to test; make a few things; work with the garden's bounty; and sit and stitch and repair.

All of which adds up to nothing much, yet quite a lot!

As we head towards gatherings and celebrations around Christmas here, baking becomes a thing.  I have been making shortbread for gifts and preparing food for guests and visitors.  For reasons completely unknown to us, our tomatoes have gone ballistic this summer (hot and dry perhaps?) and we are collecting about 1-2kg each day of these tiny sweet cherry tomatoes.  Bags are given away but also sauce and relish are made and others roasted to stir through pasta and the like.

They are so cheery!

And then to making more cards.  My grief cards are selling well - I think they speak to folk who want to say something about grief without actually using a with sympathy card.  I had been looking at them and thinking however, that they were a bit bright, and so I went and played with my Graphitint watercolour pencils instead and came up with some slightly more restrained, slight more sombre or gentle colours which I think still work well.

They are available over at decklededgepress shop if you are interested...just select the colours and the numbers of each you would like. They are, priced at $8each including postage anywhere in the world! You will also find some new baby cards and wedding cards there...

And so to stitching and fixing.  I have become one of those people who has an alterations/repair pile! Who knew?  This old dress has been a bit of a favourite - a nice linen which has been modified a few times and then sadly got a blob of oil down the front of it.  It has become a house dress (ie I don't wear it out in public) but  I thought I might be able to make something of the blob, so off we went.

I used a template for different sized circles and drew them onto the front using one of those pens which will iron away.  I gathered some beautiful silk thread I had bought at Fibres West back in July - a variegated one called Hannah from Beautiful Stitches - and started stitching around them  with a bit of variety here and there.

So far so good - plenty more to go but I think it will make me happy when I wear it around the house in the heat of summer!.

Still considering calligraphy

So I started to think that to be complementary to the letterpress works, (as pondered in my last post) the calligraphy probably needed to be smaller. So I got out my 3A Automatic Pen and some good ink and used them to do the same style of writing in the square, just a fair bit smaller.

But this time, I left room for the inclusion of an etched plate just in case I really wanted them to look even more alike.

More of the fabulous stencil material, cut to size.

A draft of the lettering - once again done on BFK Rives printmaking paper. The layout leaves a bit to be desired - it all gets a bit squishy towards the end. But a draft is a draft.

The ragged right thing didn't happen quite so much - think I was more conscious of trying to finish the line with strong strokes; but also the smaller writing makes it hold together better.

 And because I started to think there might be something in this calligraphy idea - altho the style is probably not quite right yet - I did  a  test run on a scrap of the Gmund 300gsm cotton paper I am printing on.

It is a much whiter white; but I was happy to see it took the calligraphy ink well.

My final test for now, was checking to see how the Gmund 300gsm folded.  I had assumed because it is quite heavy that it wouldn't fold well and I wouldn't be able to use it for the companion books I am planning to produce.

I was very pleasantly surprised when I cut a scrap and folded it and it made a beautiful crisp fold! The book planning has also begun; because once I start printing for the wall works; I need to also print for the books so that the inks etc are all the same, and I am really discovering how much planning goes into a printed production! 

That means I need to know now, how big my pages will be; what sort of binding I will use; which leads to how I will place the prints on the pages in terms of layout etc, so once again my brain is beginning to boggle.

So its nice to take some time out and check out life onto block a bit- we have had loads of pumpkins and there are still more to gather.

We have had some really foggy mornings and mornings where the could puddles sit in the valley...

After which we are having beautiful bright days - and the magpies are loving it!

A real mixed bag

The weekend was full of variety - and time to do all sort of things that needed doing.

I made some progress on my etching and letterpress work, I met with a fellow about a new book commission and got the details so I can start thinking about that and I managed to do some small arty type chores/projects.

A life of and with art is never simply about making - the talking about commissions, wrapping and packing, pricing, and preparing are all part and parcel of it.

Barry is involved with the Maleny Neighbourhood Centre and volunteered to paint some stakes for the vegetable garden (it is a massive community garden that offers so many people in need access to fresh fruit and vegetables).  He also volunteered that I could write the names on them!

So after the stakes were dry from painting I sat down to work out what was needed. I decided that there was NOT going to be any calligraphy - I was simply going to sit down and write the names on the 50 stakes.

Which is easier said than done of course.

The style of pen was up for debate and given the size/length of the stakes and the length of the words, I chose the simplest bullet-tip marker, with a narrower tip for the top writing.

Because the words differed in length, I wanted to try and keep the size of the lettering similar, it couldn't be exact but I wanted it to look rather regular or uniform.  So I devised an excellent template!

 You can see the gap where I would write. It was attached to the table and flipped back; I put a stake underneath, lined up the top and bottom and wrote in the gap.

 One tub full.

A second tub full

Four tubs full full!

In preparation for September at the Sydney Contemporary, I am continuing the quest to work out how to present unframed work.  I spent a few hours going though books and making some small mock-ups of possible options.

I want to have the unframed works on paper presented in 'something', to make them look special.  I shall attach them to foam core and wrap them in a cellophane bag, but then I want a little bit more...

Fun was had! But no decisions made.

And then I packed up some commissions ready to deliver to their new home!