All together now ...

14 professions ... but now that I have stitched them and am ready for framing, I am wondering whether I should not make a 15th etching. My initial idea was to do 14 etchings only and frame them in one looooooooong (horizontal) frame, intended for a specific narrow horizontal space in my home. Unfortunately the 14 etchings in one looooooooong frame will be too long for the intended location. If I have 15 etchings, my options for arranging and framing them are more varied.
So I have been pondering a few ponders: First of all, I wonder how often practical considerations (such as the one above) influence what and how artists create? And secondly, if I decide to do a 15th etching, what profession do you think I should add? And thirdly, should I perhaps have 16 etchings, which have even more possibilities for combining? Oh dear, this is becoming rather complicated ...

A Sad Experiment.

You may remember that I experimented with monoprints some time ago. Under the expert tutelage of artist Andre Stead, I slathered on ink, measured stuff (can't quite remember what, but rulers and pencils and masking tape were involved), flopped down my paper, drew joyously on the back of it, and then rubbed (I think - but what did I use? My hand? A tool? Or perhaps I did not rub at all? It is a mystery to me, as by now the process has disappeared - like a sock - into the dark tumble dryer that is my mind.

So last weekend I experimented by myself, using a glass plate, lino cut ink, and a wooden spoon. It went all squishy on me. 

Not my proudest moment, although with time I have come to like the two on the right hand side. (A little.) 

So then I thought, when all else fails, RTFM!!! and I googled and landed up with a set of quite clear instructions which involved sanding a perspex plate, painting on liquid soap and letting it dry, then painting the image with poster paint, letting it dry a little, wetting the paper, placing it on top, and rubbing vigorously with the back of a wooden spoon. This was the result:

Back to Andre, I think.

Mail Art.

This is my submission for the Associação de Gravura da Amadora (postcard) mail art call. The theme was A Day Like This. I used this existing plate which I adapted, printed and embroidered. I posted it to Portugal ten days ago, and I do hope that it will not go missing as did my previous two attempts at mail art (one to the UK and one to the US)!

A Day Like This (drypoint etching with embroidery).

PS This etching is in preparation of a series which I have been planning for some time now, reflecting on the events at Marikana on 16 August 2012.  I have been delaying starting to work on it properly, perhaps because the subject is controversial, tragic and depressing.

Transformation.

Over the past two weeks I have been transforming my profiteri etchings with stitching in bright colours - orange, red, yellow, different greens and blues, pink, brown, purple ...
They have been transformed into colourful saints, their haloes shining brightly.

From the profiteri series (drypoint etchings. embroidery thread).

profiteri #14 - The Actress.

profiteri - (Latin) 'declare publicly' (see profess). sense 1 derives from the notion of an occupation that one ‘professes’ to be skilled in.

This is the last one in the series. In my next post I will show you what I have done to them to liven them up a little!

profiteri #14 - The Actress (drypoint etching)

profiteri #13 - The Artist.

profiteri - (Latin) 'declare publicly' (see profess). sense 1 derives from the notion of an occupation that one ‘professes’ to be skilled in.

profiteri #13 - The Artist (drypoint etching)

profiteri #12 - The Business Tycoon.

profiteri - (Latin) 'declare publicly' (see profess). sense 1 derives from the notion of an occupation that one ‘professes’ to be skilled in.

profiteri #12 - The Business Tycoon (drypoint etching)