Last Dance - mono prints

Printmaking (or Graphics as it was called) was my favourite subject when I was in high school. I've done the odd etching, woodcut and lino cut over the years and have always dreamt of one day having my own press. It is therefore not surprising that my favourite Process Art classes have become the ones where we work with Mono prints.

 

The class started with a guided meditation, which I always find really helpful. It calms your mind and helps you to switch off, or change gear, after a busy day.

We spent some time paging through magazines and tearing out pages of colour, texture or images that grabbed our attention. There was also a selection of items such as bubble wrap, textured fabric, lace, flowers, leaves etc. that could be used to make texture or patterns in the ink. We were free to experiment printing onto different papers, including the magazine pages we'd torn out.

 

 

My many printing experiments done on various papers, including some magazine pages.

 

 

When we were done, we stuck all our prints up on the wall and quietly sat and looked at them. We were to choose two prints that could then be worked into by adding colour with ink or pastels.

 

These were the two prints that stood out for me. They felt like they belonged together.

 

 

Last Dance

 

 

As always, the artwork that I do in these classes ends up reflecting something that is on my mind or in my subconscious at the time. In the days before this class I had been thinking and worrying a lot about my father who is ill and was due to start radiation therapy. I had been preoccupied by thoughts of human mortality, the fear of death, and the fear of, and inevitability of, one day losing my parents.

 

I called this work "Last Dance".

Immerse yourself

This artwork was created during one of my process art classes. We used sticky black printing ink and pages from a very old Oxford dictionary.

After paging through a magazine and tearing out one picture that caught our attention, we were ready to begin. The picture I chose was of people in the rain with umbrellas and raincoats.

 

We used a roller to spread the ink onto a sheet of glass and then made prints by either drawing into the ink and making a print (like my umbrella and raindrops on the far left and far right) or by placing a piece of paper onto the ink and 'drawing' onto the back of the paper. This left an ink impression on the other side. We could also cut out some of our printed pages and use them to collage onto our final work. Some of my classmates stuck rolled up, scrunched up or folded paper onto their work.

 

 

When our work was completed, we stuck it up above our desks and took a moment to reflect on what it meant to us. Earlier that day a friend and I had been having a good moan about how tough and draining life with young children is, and that we both felt like we're in 'survival mode'.
To me this picture is about 'weathering the storm'. It made me feel sad. I am missing out on so much by just trying to get through each day. Always busy, busy, busy with so much to be done.
So, this was an important reminder, to stop and smell the roses. Immerse yourself into what is happening here and now. Live in the moment.

I love this quote by Roger Miller...

"Some people walk in the rain. Others just get wet."

 

 

Details of my artwork, "Immerse yourself"

 

 

 

Flower

This work is called 'Flower' and was done in one of my process art classes.

The class was about Symbols. The works were created by printing with dyes, printing inks and wet clay using any object that was flat enough to print or stamp a mark onto the paper.

There was a vast selection of objects and shapes to choose from. I was drawn to using my hands, dried leaves, feathers and a beautiful old wooden printing block with a flower design.

I started off by covering my hands in wet clay and making brown 'clay prints' onto the paper.

I was feeling a bit 'paniced' and out of my depth having no direction or plan in mind. (Process art is a creative journey or process, rather than the end product of art and craft, which takes some getting used to.) Getting my hands 'dirty' and making a bold start really helped me to get into the session.

I experimented with some dried fine leaves, feathers and the flower stamp and made prints using red and orange dyes that are quite translucent and black and red printing inks that leave a bold, opaque print. At times the test prints that i did on separate paper turned out so well that i cut or tore them out and collaged them into my final artwork. I used a wet Rooibos tea bag to stain the paper and finished off with some hand prints in (sticky) black printing ink.

 

 

Detail of "Flower":   An example of one of my test prints of a feather

done on brown paper, cut out and collaged into the final artwork.  

 

 

SYMBOLS and their meaning:

 

Hand print - Symbol of a human's life, achievements and legacy, the creative spirit, channelled energy.

 

Feather - Sacred universal symbol of flight within the spirit world and serving as messenger to Great Spirit.

 

Flowers - Symbolise a relationship to the sun.

 

Leaf - Wealth.

 

A list of other symbols and their meaning can be found here.