AbiJayneART

Again I was struck for inspiration with how to use the materials that I collected at St annes and decided to use them to make a collagraph print. 

Unfortunately, this time I had no handmade papers to work with but decided to explored how the materials could work for a print anyways on a large scale. These were on the largest paper available in the printroom showing I have decided to be more experimental with the scale I am working on and to create prints that create a more immersive experience for the viewer in the landscape. 

This print consisted of a 2 plate print, I made the sea on one plate using carborudum in various weights to create a depth of mark makes that would hold different tones once printed. I found when printing this that the ghost prints worked better for creating the base for the other plate, the blue was much softer and would allow for more for the layering brown print on top.

The second plate had all the different materials from the beach on to it to recreate the different textures and the sense of place, again I found it took a few prints for the plate to create a good print. Initially in the first two it completely merged with the blue underneath and no details could be picked up. Eventually we got one really successful print out of the 4 we did, I was so pleased with the result of this. The textures and tones it picked up really created that feel for the beach I hoped for and hopefully brings that experience to a viewer too. 

Inspired by the weaving at the merz barn, I returned back to all the materials collected at the beach to create a weave from. I was at a real loss of what work I could create from this visit and exploration of site, until I had explored the weaving process. I decided to experience with the materials from the beach in this same way, by working in similar ways with the different sites its creating differentiation with the sense of different places and how they can communicate with a viewer differently. 

Using the paper I created using leaves from the Merz Barn, I decided I was going to do a collagraph print onto it to see how the paper could be used in printmaking and also to bring together my use of materials for certain processes. 

The collagraph plate was made using materials all found at the Merz Barn and I aim to recreate a photograph taken at the site with these materials too, thus connecting all uses of materials throughout the process to document the merz barn site. I decided to work in brown in too as well so it would blend with the nature of the paper and the piece becomes one. 

For the first print, I trialed not soaking the paper however it didn’t pick up much of the plates detail and didn’t create the effect i had aimed for. I find with collagraphs too that it takes a few ink ups and printing for the ink to gather in the textures and create the print you want. I continued working and this time spraying the paper down with water, instead of soaking as that could possibly destroy the nature of the paper. The dampness of the paper allowed the ink to be picked up better off the plate and on to the paper. I kept doing this to ensure I created an effective print.

I also experimented with inking up relief over the intaglio ink too, rolling over again ensuring the ink is still on the raised surface as sometimes a lot of it gets rubbed off during the scrimming process. This worked really well in picking up all areas of the plate. With the roll overs too, I also trialed rolling on a lighter brown colour over the raised areas but didn’t really like the effect of this and preferred the simple dark brown against the paper. 

I attended the life drawing exhibition displaying the work of students attending the life drawing classes provided by the Haworth charitable trust. It a great opportunity for students to develop their drawing skills and showcase the development of their work throughout these classes. The trust then gives awards out to the 3 best students, with them the main winner receiving money for a study trip which is a fantastic opportunity for them to go expand their practice further. 

Rachel and Rox have been working with the arts for autism group at Manchester art gallery, they run sessions for autistic children when the gallery in quiet before opening times so that the children can experience and interact with the art in a suitable environment for them. They run the sessions based on the current exhibitions going on at the gallery and this exhibition is a event to celebrate the work the group does for the gallery and show off what they have all been working on. 

It was a fantastic opportunity for the girls to say they have been a part of and will look great in terms of their professional development. The exhibition was well executed with very interactive for children to come make art alongside and the  turn out was great for them too, bringing in new people to join the sessions too. They displayed skills of networking, organization, team work and understanding those with extra needs and getting them involved in the arts which is great to see!

From the mud and iron experiments, I also wanted to look at other materials that could create color and marks for drawing/painting with. I found some berries on the site and squashed them into the paper, the paper that I could then work back on top of with other materials. These together would provide a documentation of the place. I also found a vibrant red mushroom and thought this could create great natural color, it put a vibrant red pigment on the paper at first but over time it wore down and faded into a yellow color. Its interesting to see how the evolution of landscape can be evidenced in my practice without intention. 

I worked on some A2 monoprints using leaves and plants that I had collected from the Merz Barn, I had used this process throughout my explorations of other sites in my work this semester and I think they had worked really successfully in my work. I returned to these ideas once again for the Merz Barn work but really looked at layering imagery this time using different tones and different  compositions on a larger scale. I had been suggested to scale up my prints more,especially with this to create a more immersive work and picking out a wider range of plants to use to add dimension and interest. 

I am still looking at ideas of working with materials from site in a way that will emulate a sense of place and that connection it has with me as the artist. These prints are my way of exploring the materials and emulating the tranquility of the lake district, the atmosphere I felt whilst working at the Merz Barn. 

I collected lots of leaves at the Merz Barn with the intention of using it to make paper that I eventually would want to print on. I worked on turning out the largest size of sheets we could make with Sue’s equipment, the size being 51cmx 68cm just less than an A2 piece. I hadn’t weighed out my materials first so we had to experiment with ratios, as I was having to combine the leaves with other precooked plant materials sue had and recycled brown papers. Simply making paper from just leaves to then print on wouldn’t work and provide a stability that could take printmaking. I made 6 sheets varying in thickness, depending on how much of the materials we put in the vat and we wanted to create different thicknesses to see what would work best for printmaking:

-the 2 thin sheets had 4 cups of the other materials and 2 cups of the leaves

-the 2 medium sheets had 5 cups of newzeland flax mixed with other plant pulp, 6 cups of various recycled papers and 2 cups of the leaves

-the 2 thickest sheets had 8 cups of both and only 1 of the leaves.

The more leaves in the mix, the more uneven the surface of the paper would be and would make it more brittle. To print this paper, I have intentions of trialing printing dry and then lightly misting with water instead of soaking, we weren’t sure whether soaking would completely disintegrate the paper. 

After the success of my smaller weaves at the Mez barn, I trialed scaling up and making a weave between two small trees at the site. The weave was a real act of interacting with the forms in the landscape and focusing in the materials I chose to include in the weave to emulate the site, its beauty and my own interactions with the place. Working larger scale meant I was able to experiment more using larger materials and combining these together to create a piece with depth and detail. 

I had previously explored weaving with my materials from Cromwell bottom but something wasn’t working with them and I wanted to experiment with the idea again within the environment in hope it will give me some ideas. 

I found a piece of slate and more three dimensional log that I thought would work perfectly as the base for the weaves. I then worked with materials I had foraged from around the site, things such as sheep wool and pine leaves etc, all things that would work cohesively with one another to express the materiality of the site. I definitely think the weaves worked better on the base of a natural form than the flat card I previously worked on, it creates a more sculptural element to the work and ties back in with the materials that form the weave. 

I photographed them back in situe around the site, and these photographs really capture my works connection to its surroundings and really focused in on my ideas of sense of place and my own links to the environment-with how I have used it. These photographs act as part of my work too alongside the weaves. 

Here are other examples of my mud explorations, the top one I used conkers and pinecones covered in mud to roll across the paper to mark make and the bottom one i used my own mud covered shoes to create imprints on the paper. 

The idea with the pinecones and conkers rolling links back to childhood and activities I remember we used to do outside at school, we would usually cover them in paint and roll around in a tray to create different imagery. My technique here stems from that but uses the mud in the environment and the conkers/pinecones to bridge the link with the materials too, but creates the similiar childlike mark making I remember. A way of interacting with the outdoors and exploring its materials. I think this will work really well as a piece alone and I want to simply leave as just the marks. 

Inspired by experiments using the iron pigment of the river, I decided I wanted to explore similar ideas using mud on the site. The aim again here being to use materials of the site to produce my work, as a way of exploring personal connection with the site.

Similar to the papers I left in the stream, I went and left papers in mud puddles to capture the movements of the water and allow it to draw and create imagery with the mud for me. This partly inspired by the work of Richard Long and his mud paintings, I wanted to give this a go myself and explore similar contexts as his. I left them for a few hours while I went off to do other work, I can back and picked them up and let the water run off the paper to leave the mud. It was an unpredictable process in which some pieces work better than others, but equally created interesting pieces.

I then also used paper and buried it in the mud and kicked it about to create different marks and textures on the paper. I think these would work better worked into but my interaction with the paper and mud was interesting and got me to experience more in depth the environment I was in.

Again inspired by natural brushes and paint experiments at Cromwell bottom, I decided to make some brushes that I could then dip into the mud and paint with. I worked observationally from different places around the site to create the drawings, I had not been doing this previously when visiting sites but I do think this is vital to do whilst at site to work with the surroundings and visually show what you are experiencing.

I also experimented with the pigment in the river further to create oberservational drawings, mark maked with it and also printed with leaves that had collected the pigment. The idea here being to explore and experiment more with how I can use the river pigment to make the work and interact with other elements of the site. All this combined to explore my relationship with place through the materials.

I picked out leaves and rocks from the river to use as drawing tools, I sat beside the river and aimed to draw my surrounding using these creating a link between the materials used to produce the images and the image of the landscape I have created as well. The mark making I made with leaves and rocks was a lots more loose and experimental than I am used to with my previous works, but I think it really translated the interactions with the environment and the flow/calamity of the place.

I also then used the leaves to create prints as well, in a similar way to the previous works I have done using materials for st Anne’s and Cromwell bottom to do natural monoprints. I focused on pattern and form but also loved the idea of using materials on the site to create the ‘ink’ I am printing with. This is an idea I want to take back to the studio and look at how I could create natural inks from materials on the sites to then print with.

At the site of the Merz Barn, there was a small river flowing at the entrance that had an orange tone to it. I did some research and it’s the iron pigments and sediments collecting in the river from the ground underneath, I decided I wanted to explore how I could use this pigment to draw with, print with and mark make with in different ways.

In previous experiments in my practice I was looking at using more natural materials and in particular has tried to make natural paints for my work from Cromwell bottom, however decided they weren’t right and didn’t directly link to the materials of the site I was looking at. This iron river has presented me with the opportunity to explore using things at the site to form my paint and colours.

I started by submerging papers into the river in the hope of it picking up the pigment and naturally making the marks itself, I left them in there a while to pick up leaves with the sediments on and pick up on the marks of the different rocks. I was apprehensive to see whether this was going to work or not but when I took them out the flow of the river with the pigment had creating these really interesting mark on the paper. These worked really well as stand alone pieces on their own and I have let the environment around me make the work exploring the sense of place and it’s materiality.

(Have written up the professional side of this visit in my Professional context diary)

I visited the Merz Barn in elder water, the lake distract for a few days to work on my studio practice and have the experience of working directly on site to create work. The Merz Barn is the previous site of artist, Kurt Schiwetters and the site is a way of preserving his legacy and allowing artists like myself to come here and make work.

The Lake District is often a place people often associate with exploring nature and being at one with the environment, it’s a quite remote area and evokes this sense of calm and tranquility. It is a simply beautiful place to spend time in and appreciate the nature around you and that of the world. With my work here I had the aim of wanting to explore directly with the materials on site and have the opportunity to spend time at a site to see how it can influence my practice. I want to capture this sense of calm and the appreciation for the landscape, an opportunity we don’t usually get in an urban commercialised world.