Grief cards

It is interesting to me how people respond to the grief cards I make.  When I explain why I do it, how I use them myself, and what each of them says, people really seem to get it.

One person came in the other day and bought the last of my "grief breaks us and re-makes us" cards. They told me why, and who it is was for, and  how after a year or more, it felt as if it said the right thing for where their person was at.

And so I went about making another version.

First up I did the letterpress printing on the bottom right of a soft Grey Magnani Pescia paper DL card. And after all that practise and attempting to select an appropriate looking hand for the words, I added some calligraphy.

Even with my love of the spare and of sparseness they did look a bit grim!

And so I pondered how to gently elevate them.  I thought about an entwined vine and was thinking of doing it in black pen. And even to me that seemed a little bit too grim again.  Barry suggested trying maybe white or silver to see if that lightened things up a touch.

So I did, and we both agreed it didn't work. So my trial card got added to with black and bits of colour.  We thought gold and metallics maybe to add highlights?

But I wasn't too fussed with that.  So it was back to the coloured pencils to test and to check.

 And then the pattern, drawn in black ink.

But because each piece of calligraphy is slightly diffenret - it might start 5mm to the right; it may be bit higher; the gaps might be slightly smaller... I chose to transfer the design through the tracing paper with an embossing tool. This allowed me to see through to the letters and move the design around as needed.

The embossing tool also just pressed into the paper and provided a guide for drawing on with the pen afterwards; no pencil as transferred, so less cleaning up.

So there they are all drawn in and fitting with their slightly varied calligraphic bits.

And then some details highlighted and coloured in.

And doesn't the grey change depending on the light?!?!

Here they are packaged and ready to go.

And then as I started to print another set of cards which have been 'bestsellers' - I laughed.  Mind your ps and qs is a tenant of letterpress and here is the perfect example of why!

I feel it could be read as a birthday blooper...

Thursday Thoughts...

“Write what should not be forgotten.” 

Isabel Allende

With these words it seems that Ms Allende captures one of the most important truths of storytelling and books. That we need to make sure that what must not be forgotten gets recorded, written down and retained.

I guess one could argue that video does this, sound recordings do this, and that saving something to the cloud does this...and yet.

For me each of those methodologies requires and depends on technology of sorts.  As I type these words, clearly so does this form of writing.  I worry about technology and its capacity to help us retain our memories that should not be forgotten; because it becomes obsolete so relatively swiftly.

In my lifetime I have seen big floppy disks, small floppy disks, CD ROMs, flash drives and more. If I had saved important memories onto a floppy disk - how on earth could anybody have found and read them?

And yes writing immediately privileges those with education and a grasp of language, but even tho our language continually evolves, it fundamentally can be read over the centuries it seems.

Apart from all the technological issues of recording, what I probably most needed to say about this one is that we must all be witnesses to history; we must all record the things that should not be forgotten...

Detail of John Brack's work "Out".

After the rain...

We popped down the back the other morning because we thought there might be a wee flower open that we wanted to see.

And there was.

Just the one for now, and it was a shy young thing and hard to photograph.

So with some time out I looked left and right.

And wandered off to the right...

And thought about this lovely home and wondered if a furry friend had ever spent time there.

And marvelled at the lichen on a tree trunk - a sign of such clean air.

And returned to the top and was in awe of the setting moon in amongst the  mackerel sky.

And turned myself upside down and inside out to get an over head overview...

A marvellous morning.

Works in progress

I seem to have gotten a bit of a zing along on a number of fronts.  I hardly have time to jot down the next idea or things that needs doing before I have to remind myself of another one, and capture the thoughts for yet another.

Which is kind of nice.

I am pushing a few things forward at a time; and in between, occasionally completing something as well!

This work is underway... using a beautiful composing stick that Adele Outteridge (from West End Studio) had found and popped in the post to us.  We don't have the before shot; but Barry did a great job of cleaning it and making it shine and making it slide again.  It is a delight to work with and we are thrilled Adele thought of us and generously sent it along.

Now this is something that is not yet fully formed.  Even in my head. I have the sense that this exploration is going to get a long way down the track before I know if it will work.  There is something about layers, about revealing, about fragments.

The very fine overlay you can see is Tengucho paper and it is 4gsm - the lightest I have ever worked with. It's like feathers, but lighter.

Layering and layering.

Who knows?

And now trying to finish another piece by getting the title done.  Playing around with old wood type options. Still no decision made, but I am enjoying raiding our stash and seeing if this goes with that.

And finally something done. Simple, but fun - for anybody you know who is Outstanding!

Thursday Thoughts...

With beauty before me, may I walk. 
With beauty behind me, may I walk. 
With beauty above me, may I walk. 
With beauty below me, may I walk. 
With beauty all around me, may I walk. 

 Navajo Prayer (extract and modified)

I  love these words.
A mantra.
An approach or attitude to take with me through my days.

I have annotated them as extract and modified, because I found all over the interweb there were variations, adaptations, modifications, extractions and extensions, and I just thought it was best to note and acknowledge my uncertainty around the pure original.

As I sit, quietly, breathe gently and read them slowly, I envision a cloak of beauty wrapping around me. Reminding me that beauty holds; it remains.  Reminding me that beauty is there to be found if I pay attention. Reminding me that  beauty enlivens my spirit and refreshes me.  Reminding me that beauty is a tonic.

For yes, there is beauty to be found. May I find it.

Rollin', rollin' rollin'...

I am very fond of the serendipitous marks the can appear when one is cleaning up ink.

From great swirls of colour left on the glass as you rub, to the colours and designs that can appear as you clean your brayers or your rollers.

It is nice when you aren't in a hurry and can take the time to see if they might take you somewhere.

A couple of times of late I have had the chance to play and have been rewarded with some interesting marks.

From the collagraph print, these appeared - mixing Payne's Grey with Burnt Sienna - who knew?

My favourite - I remembered in time to do some asemic-like writing into it whilst it was still wet. And I was rewarded for remembering!

I also managed a little bit of extra play into this one as well.

After printing with black on some letterpress cards on the weekend, I rolled and rolled and rolled and was left with these interesting, random grids towards the end.

I am intrigued by what they are offering...

The sky, the ground and in-between

We have had those glorious days of big blue skies during the week- chilly but stunning.

For some reason, the yellow-tailed black cockatoos have been filling the air with their screeching as they restlessly move from here to there and back and again.

Every single time, they stop me in my tracks; and I have been distracted by them quite a lot this week!

One day's morning midday and afternoon shots, as the clouds rolled in.

In between times I have been doing small calligraphic bits.  The pebbles have been a hit this week in the gallery/shop so it was time to do some more.

And a young visitor left us this message in pebbles which made me smile so much.

And then I began playing around trying to work out how to incorporate calligraphy and type on a card...

And then tried to see which ink would work best (not bleed) and which nib size would be best; and even which nib would let ink flow best.  Decisions decisions.

 I haven't yet arrived at the answer but am definitely closer!

And so to the ground, from which Barry and I dug our latest crop of potatoes.  An excellent haul and I have to say they were creamy and delicious.  I am sorely tempted to simply roast a stack of them tonight, slather them with butter and call that dinner!

Thursday Thoughts...

“Pursue, keep up with, circle round and round your life… Know your own bone: gnaw at it, bury it, unearth it, and gnaw at it still.”

Thoreau

These words refer to the life of an artist and I really liked them.  They speak to me of tenacity; of just keeping on going.  They speak to me of the relentless pursuit of the things that matter; the things that are your truth and that need to be said, spoken, made, shared, drawn, painted or printed.

I honestly believe that we are all unique as artists and that we can only truly make our own work. We can't make other people's work - we must make our own; and our own is unique to us.  And from these words I guess they can mean drilling deep into your well and discovering what matters to you; going around and coming back to it, even tho it may be challenging, unpopular or deeply personal.

They seem to say I think that working away at it, fraying its edges and then going at it again is the way.

Just keep going at it, go around and around and around...