the return of the relics

[looking in, from the outside]...[stacked fragments]...[wall fragments]...[intaglio print]...[intaglio print]...[blind embossing on paper]...[intaglio collagraph prints]...from the imperfect/circle project: liminal, on the brink, success, failure, beautiful, ugly, perfect, flawed, incomplete, whole, insignificant, valued, sacred, discarded, lost, saved, broken, mended. strange relics......

ever increasing circles

Some recent printmaking experiments - intaglio prints made from some worn and discarded sandpaper discs that I have been collecting for a while.[prints, proofs and other experiments on the wall]Rather than retaining their perfectly circular shapes, I have instead been tearing and distressing the paper edges, as I print and reprint the proofs.[eroded sandpaper used as a printing plate]I also wanted to pursue the idea of the imperfect or broken circle, or with parts missing or two halves that don't quite match - cracks , fissures, fused joints.[detail of embossed surface textures]Most of these first experiments are printed on white drawing paper, some are on Hahnemuhle, some on Khadi. I also tried some viscosity printing - a process that enables you to print two, three or even four colours in one go. it requires more prep work but the results are immensely textured and tactile - and even the crumpled paper discards have some visual appeal. Most of these initial experiments will be heading for the collage drawer...but I have some heavyweight paper set aside for the next stage of printing...[crumpled inked paper]Thinking back to the earlier intaglio collagraphs on paper (on canvas), yet again I didn't want to end up with a flat print, so I erased the evidence of the plate mark or edge by trimming some of the proofs, giving the print some potential as a sculptural form rather than a material mark on paper.[more embossing textures]During this time, I have been pondering on (or should that be inspired by?) the earth's shifting tectonic plates and the so-called 'ring of fire' (according to scientists, Concepcion city has moved ten feet to the west since Chile's earthquake), to the micro-ecologies of lichens, my collections of striated beach pebbles and hag stones, the geometric pattern on a dinner plate, even an abandoned bird's nest that fits in the palm of my hand, and the strange fruit encountered in the hedgerow...[lichens, found on churchyard gravestones in Suffolk][collection of striated beach pebbles][pebbles with holes; hag stones][Barbara Brown dinner plate][a tiny bird's nest][strange fruit in hedgerow]While printing some of these collagraphs (if printing from sandpaper comes under that category) I heard on Poetry Please (on Radio 4) the poem, Try to praise the mutilated world by Adam Zagajewski ... (but I am sure some of its depth is lost in translation)......Lastly, I have been accepted as a new member of Artworks. Established in 2000, Artworks is a dynamic group of thirty contemporary East Anglian professional artists working in a range of styles and media, some with national and international reputations. So, I am looking forward to the new connections and opportunities that being a member of Artworks will bring into my creative life.

intaglio, to go

i have been feeling somewhat under-the-weather (by the cold, with a cold) during my break from the day job ... so after christmas i have really pushed on with something that i have been meaning to do for some time.. to make something of all the prints from my collagraphs (i constructed them exactly one year ago; you can see the digital scans of the collagraph plates here, i played a little with photoshop)..my background is in fine art printmaking and it's always been there in my work, one way or another (papermaking, embossing, monoprinting), but i've no real desire to make pretty editions, it's just the processes that i like.. here are a couple of artist proofs or A/Ps together with the original scans of the corresponding plates, printed using oil-based etching inks on hahnemühle 300gsm paper..the only problem being that you do get through a good lot of quality paper..  after fifteen or so pulls from the plates i ended up with about six clean, sharp prints, so the rest i have decided to handcolour...here is one altered collagraph print close-up, showing the textures of the surface embossing..they were first sealed with a varnish and then i carefully adhered them to some small canvas blocks... [no frame required]..there is something about prints, surfaces that are so tactile and appealing (due i think, to the printmaker's close engagement with surface from the very beginning of construction) - it is no wonder i have a myopic vision with surfaces, i've been consumed by them for years (see some of my art college days work here..) - all this tactility is lost behind a box of glass and wood..i had the idea that i wanted to reconstruct the malleable 2d print (the twin or ghost of another surface) into a three-dimensional form.. actually, this is an idea that i have been harbouring for years, wanting to make the printable surface the artwork, but when looking into etching on copper it was too costly for me..i have cubed six of the altered intaglio prints so far (very time-consuming).. not even sure if they are intaglio prints anymore, maybe this is the middle ground, part painting, part printmaking, part object.. here are a couple more of the collagraph printing plates with residues of ink; they will never be discarded..collographs or collagraphs, sometimes called collotypes or collage prints: the printing matrix is constructed from a base of strong card into which you can incise, carve or texturise with fillers, powders, sand, tissue paper, glue, paint or collage (anything goes, just musn't be too deep or hilly).. they can be printed relief (as in woodblock) or intaglio (as with drypoint engraving or etching).. collagraphs are essentially very eco-friendly printmaking, and a little bit arte povera, with recycled or found materials..