Inside Out - an assemblage.

The requirements -  to make an assemblage piece with the theme "inside out", using at least one piece of wood and incorporating at least two techniques (apart from gluing and nailing stuff). I transferred a picture to wood (using acrylic matt medium), tapped the tap (no pun intended) into the wood with the help of L'Usband, drilled a hole for the lens, and glued on the rest of the items. Incorporated is an etching of an ant which you will recognise from my Work series, and I attached to the tap five inked perspex etching plates with ants. I seem to still be obsessed by issues involving work. the creative process, and ants.

Inside Out (assemblage with wood, paint, transfer, dry point etching, collage, perspex etching plates, brass tap, glass lens and keyboard letters).

Two books.

I 'discovered' these two books at exactly the right time. Slow Motion - stories about walking by Andie Miller is a book that I found on a library shelf - without looking for it. Well worth reading for anyone interested in slowing down & walking mindfully.

Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland was recommended to me by my art teacher. A fantastic book that felt as though it was written especially for me :

Napier Moments.

We visited Napier again last week - such a lovely place. Some moments I captured for you:

Work III - Nine Ants.

Work III - Nine Ants (drypoint etching).

Work II - Two Ants.

Work II - Two Ants (dry point etching)

On Work and Ants.

I have been thinking a lot about work recently. Actually, since before I started the profiteri series of etchings. How people choose a profession, why we can't necessarily make a living from our passions, the joys of working (and specifically of working with one's hands), the psychological necessity to work, the compromises involved in working for a living. I have also been reading a lot about ants since I did the Complex Systems MOOC at Santa Fe. Ants are amazing, and how they work together is even more amazing ...

Work I - Three Ants (dry point etching)
Yes, yes, don't point out the scale, please! These are meant to be huge ants!

Work I - Three Ants EV 1 (dry point etching with collage)

I have decided to stitch onto the first etching - ant trails. I caught three ants in the garden and one by one let them walk over a page of the same size and followed the trails with different coloured pencils.

I hope to finish the stitching this weekend, and will post a picture then ...

A bit of weed ...

... can be beautiful.