Day 2 of the book collaboration

Quick discussion at the start of the day regarding the format of the book and we decided to add another page.  The book is constructed from thin layout paper, Hahnemühle printmaking paper, card and the cover is made from a beautiful cream paper whose name escapes me but its fab for drawing and wet work.

Having cut the various papers to size we are now creating imagery.  The idea is to each end up with a book constructed with pages from each participant.

Paper cut to size

Madeleine has been working with bark, watercolour and ink

Gill has been working with a stone, gouache, and watercolour

Fiona has been collecting soil and using it to create pochoire around leaves

My tools

My page using ink and watercolour 

Madeleine watching solar paper and shadows

      

The start of book collaboration with Fiona Byrne-Sutton and Gill Neish

Today was the first day of our Scottish book collaboration.  We started with a discussion about ourselves and then what we would like to achieve over the next 4 days.

Our first task was a limbering up exercise...the 30 minute book.  I love doing this with people it always produces the most fabulous results

We then went on a gathering expedition to the estuary and the forrest.

More discussion ensued, and we decided to use madeleines 30 minute book as our template for the collaboration.  We still have to discuss the format further regarding pouches and perhaps page colours but we have definitely decided that each of our books should contain each others work. We are calling it a collective creation.....

Today's work in the studio

Our beach collection from yesterday

Our drawings so far

                                 

Maquette Books and their contents

                                 

'Mussel Bound', Our first sample book....we are making the pages drawing with ink using found tools from the beach on to Japanese paper.

More solar paper

I am having MASSIVE problems with the blogging app trying to size and place photos...so it is not appearing as my perfectionist self would like them to be.....

Whilst my pine needles were a negative image Madeleine decided to make a positive one.  Cutting out a carbon sheet and laying it on the solar paper this was the result

This image was created by moving the stencil 4 times during exposure which was a total of two  minutes.  We like the way we have turned cyanotype round by making the imagery appear blue instead of the background being blue.  We were also pleased to have worked how to create tonal contrast.

This one below was exposed for two and a half mins

Friday 6th Sep

On Wednesday we started experimenting with the solar paper.  I used pine needles to create abstract imagery and Madeleine used carbon paper stencil.  We climbed in a kitchen cabinet to set up our objects on to the solar paper and then exposed them to the sun.  

We exposed for  7 minutes first and got reasonable results

and decided to extend exposure time to 10 minutes 

Then realised maybe we were over exposing and dramatically reduced the time to two and a half minutes and got a fabulous result

The more you expose the less detail appears.

Shore, Dream and Rain Noise, Rive, Reve and Bruit De Pluie

A research project in Findhorn Scotland and Conwy Valley North Wales funded by the Arts council of Wales.  

   sam & sue

We have spent the last week at the IMPACT 8 printmaking conference in Dundee.  A wonderful opportunity to meet fellow printmakers and talk about all things print. Madeleine and I assisted with the table preparation and open discussion for 'Unravelling Signatures', the altered book exhibition we took part in.

Findhorn greeted with us with the most amazing skies and furious wind, it felt like our caravan transformed into a boat at sea.

Monday 2nd Sep

Today was spent consolidating our IMPACT information and brainstorming strategies and ideas for the next week. Very happy with our studio at the Moray Art Centre.  An attempt was made to find the beach but this proved to be a tricky experience.  The ocean is hidden behind massive heather and gorse dunes, it is like a desert, a sort of no mans land and with very few landmarks an easy place to get lost.

Tuesday 3rd Sep

Set up the studio, started a walkabout, and discovered a wonderful building covered in mosaic which turned out to be a singing chamber with a hole in it's roof.  The sunshine created the most amazing moving shadows on the walls.

We stayed a while and created a small video vocal piece, which needs editing.  

How to find your way through the desert to the sea...find someone who knows the way

The wind was incredibly overpowering.  It was impossible to do very much on the beach apart from try and stand up........

Our beach collection

Ready for action