EDAM term 3: ''Meanwhile..." First explorations

  In the second session of EDAM this term looking  at theme of 'Meanwhile....', after  going through the slides of  different approaches by various artists to research ( see previous blogpost ), I had a discussion with Amanda  about  my initial thoughts and ideas .  After  taking lots of photos from the train and having an initial stab at a 'mindmap'  , I was in a lot better position to talk about it than the previous week.  As usual ,  too many ideas  but we discussed  what could be done at home and what to focus on  while in the class.  I  thought I'd like to do more monoprinting but that was something to do quietly at home ( or review what I had already) and what the classroom offered was opportunity to be messy with charcoal and  work large!   

 She suggested   working on a collaged  background  of maps / squared paper -   until I could get to the photocopier all that was available was copies of a map of India  but it served it's purpose  in combinations with sections of the rail timetable.  and I quickly  drew in charcoal over the top to indicate the seat and window and some of the   scenery flashing by

 At home, I   did some different versions  in Photoshop .  It occurs to me that the curves remind me of  the influence of  the catenary paintings of Jasper John  on my paintings based on collage .

After lunch and a session  with the photocopier  I used  collage of the map for the train route in combination with photos taken out of the window  with drawings in  ink of the seats and their reflections  in the window when in 'Tunnel Land' . Too much  going on  and I over-thought it  but it has possibilities  for further exploration , perhaps on a larger scale or cutting it up and reassembling ?

 I also had a go with tracing onto acetate   the section of the map around Gravesend and Ebbsfleet where the train goes under the Thames .I then used the overhead projector  to draw it A1  size ( below) , getting a different quality using graphite stick.  When I posted it  on Instagram , there was a comment    saying it looked like bones  and was I considering archaeology as part of the brief . So now I'm re-reading about the Ebbsfleet Elephant!  

I've scanned the acetate and been playing with different filters in Photoshop ( above) 

Also on acetate, I traced  on a different scale the  whole route from Faversham to St Pancras  ( above) and scanned the stitching  on acetate I'd done with Ruth ( below)  - I like how you can see  both the front and back at the same time. 

 I showed Amanda  the 2010 Moleskine 'Pocket Project Planner'  notebook I bought  cheaply in 2011  to modify as  a sketchbook (  realising the demand for such  items  they now  sell 'proper'  Japanese Accordion albums ). During  our discussions  we realised it's potential  with its printed details of charts  etc of  considering 'Time ' as one  aspect to consider  further - exciting!

  The  'Zine'  book I produced  using photocopies of monoprints   was something I wished to explore further  in any case.

After all this thinking and cogitatating , tomorrow I'm planning to have a 'play day'  in my studio sampling  different  approaches, including getting my sewing machine out! 

EDAM Term 2: Monoprint and Artists Books

 I missed  the first of the 3 sessions  with Claire Hynds  on 'Experiments with hand printing'  as I was up in the Lake District on annual  NWCQ  retreat but as it was monoprinting ( which I've done a lot of)  I was able to take some samples  I'd done previously to the next class which was on artists books. I took along some of the 65 (!) prints  on fabric   at Studio 11 in Eastbourne ( above)  and some on paper from City Lit monoprint course  (below)

Claire started the session  with looking at the history of Artists books  from the early  20th century onwards  including Dada and Surrealism , Kurt Schwitters and Max Ernst ,  Italian Futurism early 'Zines'  and the '26 Gaseline stations' of Ed Ruscha   ( which I'd seen in BM  'American Dream' exhibition)

 She then showed   photos of various  book structures by contemporary  artists  : Alisa Golden  Fishbone fold and Fibonacci ( above)

Jenny Smith laser cut folded books ( above and below)

 Stef Mitchell  ' Field and Hedgerow'  fold out books  ( above and below) 

 Claire  had a number of print outs of instructions for different  structures,   and made photocopies of  our  monoprints /drawings to work with , time to have a go! 

I was pleased  with  nested accordion/ 'slinky book'   folds  and my first attempt  at covering  boards with paper, definately one to explore further. 

Mostly though I experimented with the simple folded one sheet - this one   was made from  failed painting from earlier EDAM  class  based on  photo from Puglia  with  photocopy of the same painting glued to the back. I cut through   in various places inspired by Jenny Smiths books

 The same approach used on another failed painting didn't work so well - the round holes a bit  clunky in comparison  with the slots and lines of the  drawing of the bamboo structure. 

The second  session of making artists  books was a workshop  where we explored ideas further.

I wanted  to have a go at making a ' star tunnel book' following  instructions in my copy of ' cover to cover'  by Shereen Laplantz only to find  it didn't  meet up ! Patti explained that  it would  if  I  added on more paper , it takes a lot more strips than you think ( her  wonderful  version ( below)   showed how it should look like!)   

  I then  tried different variations of   meander accordion sketchbooks ,  folding and cutting 1 sheet of paper.  I particular  like the one I did  using a photocopy of a print from collage class.

 I'd  brought in examples of previous book making including the  sewn ones from Dorothy Caldwell  masterclass  ( above)  and the  ' Australian reverse accordion piano hinge' booklets from Alice Fox workshop  ( and my  subsequent home -steamed drawings ) 

This   cunning   method  of combining simple  1 page book structures  proved popular and I  showed several people how to do it

 It worked particularly well  with  photocopies of my  prints ( 'zine' approach) , exploring  1  structure and letting  the prints speak for themselves. 

Large Scale Sketchbook Week 8 and Conclusions.

It's nearly 4 weeks since the  final session of Large Scale Sketchbook  but with so much going on there hasn't been time to report  on it and record  my thoughts ( tho'  I made sure I wrote up  my notes  in my notebook straight away)  .  At the end of the session I brought my  the sketchbook home , which entailed a taxi from the station it was so heavy. Tomorrow, a couple of  artist friends are coming round to view it so I thought it was about time I wrote about it here!

After Week  7, I'd run out of ideas  about what I wanted to do with work based on the cast courts , mainly  because the subject matter itself didn't inspire.  The night before the final session  I had a brainwave ( or so I thought....) The lines of stairs and curves of the sculpture in contrast to the surrounding architecture  reminded me of the work  I'd done on shells a ( mussels and limpets) in the advanced painting course in  2016. 

 At the time , I concentrated on developing the mussel paintings  set in context of surroundings ( influenced by the work of Paul Nash)  and hadn't done much with the limpets.  I'd been influenced   by the 'Circle' exhibition at Margate Turner Contemporary  , particularly the pile of black discs by Edmund de Waal,  and had drawn and photographed   a stack of limpets , delicately balanced  and carried out  work in Photoshop  combining it with prints of the Fleet  done during   a printmaking course. 

I gave Tony a whole lot of photos of my sketches/photos to photocopy to A3 size  and while I was waiting,  starting several pages  in,  I assembled a pile of limpets  and drew it large scale  using charcoal  ( which gave interesting marks on the previous page).  I then carried out a number of different approaches using photocopies; graphite and rubber; sanguine pen; coloured pencils;  and cutting out holes through several layers. 

 I was enjoying   applying what  I'd learnt  to new material but a lot  of what I produced wasn't really working.  Luckily at that point it was my turn to discuss my work with Tony.  He was a bit  surprised I'd discontinued with what I was doing in previous weeks when it had been going so well  while applauding the idea of using my own material to try out  what I'd learnt from earlier lessons ( "the Ideal Student" !) . 

The main reason the shells weren't working  as well was because they were on the whole  central on the page and retaining identifiable structure of existing images  and therefore weren't so exciting.  The danger with using material we care about  is that you have to work harder as not so inclined to experiment  or try things out . 

Looking back  at the earlier weeks when we'd been working with still life  with random objects

 and to some extent the Cast Courts  where it wouldn't have been my first choice of subject , I was more prepared to experiment, fragment images, as I was  looking at the shapes and lines  rather than the subject matter.  Looking with  Tony at previous  pages ,  the most exciting  were when I'd left a lot of space , repeated ideas over several pages ( copies of copies of copies)  and made good use of the edge of pages rather than placing images centrally. 

He made suggestions on extending marks over drawings and copies  ( including  use of the negative shapes left when cutting out)   and putting objects at the edge of the page.  Also to be even more radical  with my cutting, removing items completely.  

 This was more like it ! 

My final intervention  was to go back to the last spread from the cast courts  and cut out the fine lines of the stairs , and extend the line with graphite.  With the negative shapes from around the limpet stack pasted  in , there  was now a link between the  two areas of subject matter.

We  cleared up early  in order to look at everyone' s sketchbook  briefly ( although it still took an extra hour - I missed my train and had to get a later one) . Well worth it though - they were so diverse in approach and content considering we'd all  begun with the same  subject material!
Didn't  make notes at the time but these stuck in my mind:
- finely folded/pleated  paper ( like tiny steps)
- transparent fabric inserts ( also tracing paper and acetate)
- exploded shapes reassembled, photocopies cut into strips and expanded
- images torn up and collaged back ( in some cases just a few tiny pieces)
- layers  of subtle colour  under cutouts
-  images wrapped around edge of page ( so just see a glimpse)
- foldouts
- extreme cutting ( a fine lace-like network).

 I also have a list  of what I like in my own sketchbook  and ideas for future work.
Finally,  as is usual on City Lit courses, there were suggestions about what courses we might want to do next ( printmaking from the images produced  was one).
In my case , I'd  enrolled and paid for Extended Drawing for Artists  and Makers (EDAM)  that morning.   So a year  of experimenting  lies ahead!