Studio time over the past few weeks

I seem to have been really busy in the studio the last few weeks. I think i was making up for not being in when the exhibition was on. 

God has been speaking to me loads about different things but one being Wisdom. 

Here is my owl which represents Wisdom. I did the etching at the exhibition.

 I love how he came out.

 I experimented on some textured paper and think i like the way the texture brought up the feather textures.

 I also printed in a light grey.

 With wisdom you need to be wise enough to know when the cute little foxes come to destroy the good things in life.
I think that we don't expect things that look good to do bad. But if its too good to be true...... it normally is.

Catch all the foxes, those little foxes, before they ruin the vineyard of love, for the grapevines are 

blossoming!

Song of solomon 2:15

 Here is the little fox basking in the sun. Cute isn't he.

God has also been talking to me about the strength of an Elephant. So strong, powerful, commanding and the tower over but there is also such a gentle, timid and quiet side to them. Especially between a Mummy and baby.

This is the latest print i did on Tuesday.  It is called Peaceful Places. To me it represents that quiet time with God. When it is just you and him and you are having a stroll.

 I did quite a few different versions of this but love the simplicity of a dark grey tone.

I will be printing this cheeky wild hare tomorrow in my lunch break.

Sometimes you just have to 'be'.

Today i did the 2/2 of the lino course. Today it was time to get our image onto lino rather than just shapes.

A while ago my friend gave me a bee necklace. She had been chatting to God and felt that i needed to just 'be'. This impacted me and i still think about it. Now when i think about bees, i think about people just being themselves and being close to God.

My lino is of a bee on a flower. I did a slight lino reduction on the flower which gave it a 3d effect.

 My flower and bee cut on separate lino pieces.

 After printing all my flowers i started on the bees

 My bee closer up.

 Here is the print with a grey background.

 Here is one of my prints on the yellow i did last week in preparation. I really love the bright colours.

 My prints drying in the racks.

I learnt so much from the tutor. It was so enjoyable. Its encouraging to look at things from a different perspective and have someone encourage and stretch you in a different way. 

I will continue to 'be' me as i am just as God created..... I'm a creative girl that can't and won't stop creating. And i love that God gave me this gift. 

Going back to the Maker

Why is it when we are struggling at life that is when we cry out to God for help?. Why leave it to the last minute to cry out.
For me i feel like i cry out on a regular basis. Deep desperate prayers. And i wonder if i pray in between them.
I do.
But when you are in a cycle of desperation, it really feels that desperation is all i do.
On the positive, and there is a few of these. When i am in this state this is when i am closer to God and i can hear him more clearly.
And this works through my creativity.
God is the ultimate creator and i love how he speaks to me through my creativity.

After my first attempt at drypoint etching i felt drawn to do another.
Its called -

Lion of Judah

Then a Shoot (the Messiah) will spring from the stock of Jesse [David’s father],
And a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.
2 
And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him—
The Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
The Spirit of counsel and strength,
The Spirit of knowledge and of the [reverential and obedient] fear of the Lord—
3 
And He will delight in the fear of the Lord,
And He will not judge by what His eyes see,
Nor make decisions by what His ears hear;
4 
But with righteousness and justice He will judge the poor,
And decide with fairness for the downtrodden of the earth;
And He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth,
And with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked.
5 
And righteousness will be the belt around His loins,
And faithfulness the belt around His waist.

6 
And the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And the leopard will lie down with the young goat,
And the calf and the young lion and the fatted steer together;
And a little child will lead them.
7 
And the cow and the bear will graze [together],
Their young will lie down together,
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
8 
And the nursing child will [safely] play over the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child will put his hand on the viper’s den [and not be hurt].
9 
They will not hurt or destroy in all My holy mountain,
For the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord
As the waters cover the sea.

10 
Then in that day
The nations will make supplications to the Root of Jesse
Who will stand as a signal for the peoples;
And His resting place will be glorious.

 Here is my etching plate held up to the window light so you can see my marks.

 I inked up my brown/black hawthorn ink

 And then spent arm aching time taking off the ink in small circular movements making sure it was even. Then using a cotton bud to take off some detailed pieces of ink.

 Here is my first print.

 Each print i did ended up slightly different giving the lion a slightly different expression. This was not planned. Just God.

 I experimented with a bit of colour and added some turquoise to the last 2 i did.

I then printed some lino cuts that i have been working on at home. An Easter bunny.

 Squirrel

 And Red Poppies.

Tomorrow i am finishing my lino course that i have been a student on for 2 weeks. I have been designing my lino and tomorrow i will be cutting and printing it.
Its another busy week. And i am also looking at putting my prints onto Etsy for sale. 

Old and new Technics

So studio time this week consisted of doing 3 of my prints and also purchasing some materials for a new project which i will mention at the end of the page.

I started with my Thistle print which i managed to reduce at home. I didn't want to take too much off as i wanted to give the illusion of a morning glow around the thistle. I went for darker colours to make it pop. I will do a few more reductions on this print. 

I really like the result so far. I have kept the rest of my ink in some pots so i can add a richer colour next week. I soaked the paper and it gave it more depth.

Teasel

This is a new lino print that i have been working on. I love the textures of seed head plants. Especially when they are all dried out and crisp.
I used my burnt umber Hawthorn ink on this print. The sharp edges have really popped. I think i will refine the colour a bit next week. I was having some issues with the press i was using and didnt manage to get the pressure quite right. It is an old press and normally it is my favourite. I used a different press so i could at least get 4 decent prints completed. I found out from my boss later that the press didn't need to be measured on the bolts both sides but rather do it by feel. Which is something that i always do but this time did not trust my own instincts. I won't make that mistake again.

The last print i tried out was a cut that i did over half term. It is of a Humming bird diving into the water and a mirror image -

I went with a rich blue and it came out better than i hoped. In the last print i did a graduation and made it slightly darker in the mirror image just to define it in the water.


So i have decided to try out some drypoint etching. When i started back in the studio in January as an exchange i felt at the time that God was prompting me to try out different ways to do print. In my head i said i would do something different each month. Realistically i am doing a different print each month so i am not bothered that i have not done other technics so far. This week though i felt drawn towards trying out some etching. So i bought some perspects and asked to borrow an etching tool which is like a sharp needle. I am sure a needle would work just as well but the handle helps stable it.
I took it home and really thought about what to etch. This was the hardest part. I prayed that i would be given an image and that he would bring something to mind since it was a new thing and i have never done it.
I settled on a close up image of a dandelion clock. The details in a photo i found was just what i wanted.
I stuck the image on the back of my plastic and scratched away.
This is my result -

I held it up to my lounge light so you can see the image.
I will try a print out today but i think that really i need to use the studio press. I am just impatient and want to see what it looks like.
I'm really happy with the image and hope that it prints out nicely.
Watch this space.