Made a start on a linocut, Jack Frost with the sun trapped in a block of ice. Or is it? Anyway, the repetitive action of cutting small lines isn’t good for the shoulder wound so I’m staying away from the lino today.
Tidying some space around the house. The last chimney improvements added a fine layer of dust to this dinner set that has been sitting around for years. Might inspire some still life drawings, or some pasta sauces that will be good in the wider bowls in the corner.
We went for a short walk to the post office and then wandered into the gallery at the library.
I liked the idea suggested by the empty display cabinet. Viewers have an opportunity to imagine the pieces that could inhabit that space.
The reflective images of the lights and window blinds were enough, given the exhibition’s climate change theme. There again, some little models of a future landscape might have been more thought provoking than a bleak emptiness.
The Climate Change figure is made from random detritus. It had an unpleasant smell, which brought back indefinable memories. There were some interesting fish made from toothpaste tubes, also some protest posters. No photos of them. The exhibition is on display for the rest of September 2023.
This was the sketch I was working on when the virus hit. My nose was running while I was bending over the paper. I tried to ignore the symptoms and finish the picture. The aches, pains and tiredness caught up in the end.
The old people used to say they grew sweet peas because you don’t have to bend far to smell the blooms. This is the first time I’ve grown some for a few years. The last attempts ended with little stems surrounded by slug trails.
Today’s drawing of the sweet peas might inspire the usual questions: “but what will you do with it when it’s finished?” etc. Well, since you ask, parts of it might be used for a family tree project. The little spirals are interesting, and could be a useful link between the names and dates of the more complex ancestors.
Knitted stripes, or ridges of two rows each. Using dark and light yarns and knit or purl stitches, an illusion of a circle in a square. This is the easiest pattern in an article about illusory knitting, but I like it anyway.
Cameras never lie, mine won’t show the red and yellow stripes in the way they’re visible to me.
I sketched a few pairs of hands, thinking maybe one of the sketches would summarise the warped conditions of various workers.
Shortest day of the water tiger year. Apparently it’s best to gather energy during the winter, to be ready for spring.
There’s often an imaginary gallery in my dream landscape. Various prints and drawings appear on the walls, some of which I recycled years ago. A few months ago, this woodland scene was on display. I didn’t like it but it kept getting in the way of my dreaming walk around the gallery. Maybe if I make a version in the real world it’ll disappear from my dreams? Cutting the lino took a long time. A drawing would’ve been much more direct but it wouldn’t have looked right.
I’m very fond of folk tales and legends. The thought of making pictures of tree spirits didn’t appeal, there are enough around already. I suppose this is a depiction of the life force of the planet we live on. We don’t think about our connectivity until it’s under threat.
The theory of bad workmen blaming their tools comes in again. Blunt cutting tools won’t cut fine lines exactly where you plan them to be. Badly made rollers/brayers won’t pick up ink smoothly. I thought I’d use a second roller to add blue to the upper corners of the tree. It didn’t pick up any ink at all…
Sometimes a tiny detail isn’t in contact with the paper. A wooden spoon or the edge of a coin is useful to rub that section more closely. My usual beach pebble had disappeared so a piece of lapis lazuli was employed instead.
I thought I’d make a quick splashy sunset picture. It took longer than intended. Some of the layers reminded me of making a lithograph.
The photos I worked from were taken while smoke blew across from a recycling fire. I didn’t notice the black clouds at the time.
I found two offcuts from the corners of a previous linocut. Some little sketches could be tweaked to fit. The test print with an ink pad on a postcard shows there are some angles that need curving.
berry daines 