Holiday Snaps

The holidays are over. I went back to work this week so experimentation has slowed down. There are things on the go but nothing to show yet. So instead, here are some of the sketches that I did in France. 

These are some of the images that went into 'Ce que j'ai fait pendant mes vacances' (see earlier post).

Structure

I'm on a roll with paper-making. Another batch of 'Pringles' done. Its quite therapeutic.

   And I've been considering the structure of this book. I want to reflect the way the seed pods hang. As I was playing with this it struck me that singly they are reminiscent of lockets. Again somewhere where memories are stored.

I've tried hanging them singly, doubled and sewn together. I'll probably include a mixture of all three depending on the imagery that I use.

 I want to keep the whole of the structure quite simple. So far they are on a dowel sticking out of my shelving. I'll let this simmer and see what develops

Ce que j'ai fait pendant mes vacances

Usually when we go away I pack far too much art stuff and hardly use any of it. This time I still packed far too much but in amongst it was a pack of Inktense watersoluable crayons. Normally watercolour and I do not get on. I know the theory but in practice....  However I am hooked on these crayons. I can put down loose blocks of colour and a  limited palette of 12 stops me being too fussy. They even tempted me into trying pure watercolour paint again. It's all sketchbook work and none of it is a masterpiece but I came back feeling like I have a proper record of the place. Not only that but I think my traveling kit will now fit in a small bag in future.

I started to scan a couple of the drawings ready for this post but got carried away and they've turned into a zine. If anyone out there would like a copy send me your snail mail and I'll put one in the post.

More experiments

I've been thinking about the different ways that names are recorded. On the wall we have a sampler that has been passed down through my husbands family.
 I copied the style of some of the lettering onto linen and plastic mesh.
 

 I tried embossing into the handmade paper ovals. The mesh and the linen take well as blanks but the embroidery doesn't read well.

I also tried image transfer onto different papers. These have potential

Then it was time to pack. Holidays! Staying in France with friends. Good food, good company, some painting time and sun!

Honesty

I've been exploring the Honesty seed heads, shape, colour, how they attach to the stem and the way the outer layers peel away from the inner membrane to release the seeds.

I've experimented with making paper,

and with embossing.

And with printing using drypoint,

and etching.