Sowing Seeds

In January I went to live and work in a small tribal village called Badanga in Rajasthan, India, along with international and national artists for two weeks. We were all selected to participate in the annual Sowing Seeds residency program, which has been hosted in different towns of Rajasthan for the past seven years. This was the first to be run at the farmhouse of Chiman Dangi, artist and founder of Sowing Seeds.  The whole village, especially the children, were very excited. Continue reading “Sowing Seeds”

Frames of reference

Making Paper All Over The World

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In March I participated in an annual papermaking swap with 40 papermakers from different countries. The package of papers which I received in the post from the organiser Elena Siff, of Etsy Papermakers Guild, introduced me to the diverse and creative papers of 40 paper artists like myself, each experimenting in their worlds of paper, plant fibres, colour and pulp. The variety and quality of the papers was wonderful and the experience was very inspiring. Continue reading “Making Paper All Over The World”

Frames of reference

Printmaking In Granada

These are the first etchings I have done since printmaking at Edinburgh College of Art in 1984-88 where I did a lot of mixed media using silkscreen printing with etching. They are solar plate intaglio and relief etchings. It’s a technique which allows you to transfer a black ink drawing made on acetate onto a plate, using the sun to etch the plate, by exposing it to the sun for as little as 3-4 minutes, rather than using toxic chemicals. These are my first attempts. Continue reading “Printmaking In Granada”

Frames of reference

The Light Of The South

Whilst I was writing my last post, Waiting For Inspiration, I started to realise how much I was longing to paint again, after a long eight month break. So as soon as it was finished I went to the local market and ordered some beeswax. I started painting in my studio again. I began without any images in my head, I just knew that I wanted lots of texture, hot colours and a feeling of spontaneity and freshness in the finished work. I used the landscape all around me to express this, but it wasn’t intentional, it wasn’t my starting point. Continue reading “The Light Of The South”

Frames of reference

Waiting For Inspiration

When I read what Robert Newton said in his post My Work about how he can get ecstatic with excitement when his particular method of painting works, it made me think about that feeling when a painting is all of a sudden finished, as if by magic, even though you’ve maybe spent weeks and weeks or months even, working on it. Continue reading “Waiting For Inspiration”

Frames of reference