these prints (from the same screen of course) are from a drawing based on a friend's photo of her cat snoozing. i burned the image on to a screen using my Gocco printer, and then hand screen-printed them. happy how they turned out.

over the past few months i have been working on some lino prints. not for any particular project but just because. i had ideas that i had been thinking of for a while, that had just popped in to my brain really. this girl was from a book of old photos of the hebrides. this is just a trial of using a lighter blue than the print below. i prefer the lighter shade but have still to do a proper print. having no press, i have been experimenting with hand burnishing, with inconsistent success. however, using a water based ink proved to be a lot better. and i'm quite liking the almost communist aesthetics.

i'm not so keen on this one. though i do like how the hair turned out. less so, the face. it is also from the same book of photos as the above print . this was just a practice but i'm not sure whether to pursue it and print it properly.

this one really was for fun and to try out some different textures and techniques. i was really happy with the outcome.

so i tried my hand at some lino cuts and have been really encouraged by the outcomes! these two were based on documentary photos of the hebrides taken during the 1950's. i think it is something i will do more of and am taking them with me to the book fair in Glasgow this Friday and Saturday. i always thought i would like to do lino prints but somehow never got round to trying it out - i wish i had found the time earlier!

i am still trying to find a way of balancing my time and finding moments to concentrate on work. the somethink collective is heading to two book fairs in the coming months - leeds and glasgow. a;; of us are having the same struggles but hopefully we can come together for some positive experiences even if collaborating with each other is proving tricky this time around. 

i have my migration project with my sister, which is still ongoing. but i have put that to the side for the moment in the aim of creating work to sell at the book fairs. i am also trying to work on some lighter hearted projects, with the possibility of playing with some text, in order to keep the creative juices flowing. so vicky and i are looking to collaborate on a smaller project for the book fairs. we are still in the planning stages but i will update and upload images as soon as i can. 

this is just an image of a drawing i did the other day. sometimes i just have a few minutes so i am trying to get into the habit of producing some work in these small moments. it's from a book of photos by werner kissling who took pictures of life in the western isles around 1930-1950.

so it's been a while since i posted last. i have been on the job hunt and not getting very far, and just trying to establish some sort of timetable for myself. i hope i am getting there and in the mean time will try and post some more information on ongoing work. at the moment i am reading this book

and have started a collaborative project with my sister vicky on bird migration. i need to continue researching this and motivate myself! the somethink collective has also booked to participate in two book fairs (march and april) so i will be creating work for those also. i hope to be able to upload more in the next few weeks.

i finally managed to sort out a work space for myself and have started playing around with some ideas i have had for a while now. the small publisher's fair is coming around and i need to sort out some work to sell/show. i started playing with the drawings i had made for the one week loan show at camberwell library in june. i opened them all out so the creases line up. they form a really tactile, chunky pile which can't be folded as the creases suggest, which i find interesting. i like the sculptural quality that the piece gains. it really asks the viewer to play around with it, and this almost creates a number of temporary sculptures as the piece falls one way and then another. I'm also interested in the way, when opened up to view the drawings inside, that the drawings can only be partially viewed unless you lift out the pages above. I like the way this plays with the reading of, or rather the inability to fully read, the information. 

so...i received my copy of the Blue Notebook today, complete with my contribution which is pretty exciting. don't know if i can bring myself to read it again quite yet though. the paper should also be included in the next online issue of the Bonefolder, but not sure when that comes out. it will be the fall edition though.