Wanderlust 2023 - weeks forty-one to forty-nine - Monoprinting and carving

I was really looking forward to the final focus of monoprinting and carving and I really did enjoy it.  The first week was looking at different kinds of carving and printing  and we used stencils on the gel plate, heat sensitive printing foam (where you heat the foam, press an object into it and an image is created.  When you have finished, you heat the foam again and the image disappears. I used some japanese anemone seedheads), foam shapes on a kitchen roll inner and a lino print.

My linoprint was of honesty seedheads, from a calendar - 'silver pennies'.

The next week was making papers using the gel plate and then creating a collage image.  My papers included corrugated cardboard, my own foam stamping plates, bubble wrap and my own stamps.  I chose the tree as we were enjoying nice autmnal weather.

Week forty three was using charcoal and then oil pastels on the gel plate. I had wanted to try using charcoal on the plate, but just hadn't got round to it, so this was my chance.  We used a photo to trace over using the charcoal and then stuck the image to the gel plate.  We then made some 'wonky people' using oil pastels, which was a bit of a trial and error process, but I got there in the end.

We then had to represent a favourite place using gel plates and bearing value and contrast in mind.  My place (not that you'd know from the image) is Haddon Hall. The little bridge is represented by the arches, the swirls are roses, the wavy lines are the river, the castellations are just that, and the diamonds are the window panes.  I wasn't sure I had chosen the right colours, or that I had enough contrast... 

...but when I desaturated the image, it looked better than I thought.  There are light and dark areas.

We next made a lino print again from a photo and made decisions about how much to take away or whether to add patterns.  I was really pleased with this. I made a frame for the image with gel plate printed patterns.

For this week, we used a gel printed background which was a very colourful one.  We then painted out a lot of the colour using black acrylic.  I used a face stencils for my version and was pleased with how it turned out. I like the change of colours from warm to cool.

For the penultimate week, we took our inspiration from Matisse's paper cuts and designed our image using cut out paper.   We then made a lino print of the image and printed it on paper and material.  I decorated the paper print with acrylic pens and stitched over the material version.  

I used three stitches: backstitch, split stitch and french knots.  It took a while but the result was worth it.

The final week was just having fun with colour, so I did!

There was also a wrap up week, where we were encouraged to bind any loose pages and then make a cover for the journal. I need to decorate my cover, so shall do that shortly.

This year has been about experimenting with different media and I have learned a lot. I have found some lovely techniques and will be using them again in the future.  I have embraced some media, such as pastels, which I didn't think I liked.  

Most recently, I have rediscovered my love for lino printing and collage and this is an area I really want to develop, so this will be a focus next year.  I have also signed up to Wanderlust again next year, so it will be interesting to see what that will bring.

Stitching Sundays 18

Yes, time has run away with me again and it isn't Sunday, it's Monday!  Still, better late than never to post my progress so far.  I did spend a fair proportion of the day embroidering yesterday and I really enjoyed the luxury of being able to do that.  As you can see, I have been working on the foreground and adding in some grasses as well as dandelion-type seed heads and other little bits and pieces.

 The dandelion-type seed heads caused me a fair bit of frustration because, try as I might, I just couldn't get them to look how I wanted them to.  I tried seed stitches and then star stitch, which just looked like a star, rather than a plant (the clue is in the name, Ellie!)  So, I decided to make the seed heads out of french knots instead and I am happier with these, even if they don't have the fluffiness of a real dandelion. They have become a generic seed head, rather than anything identifiable.

 I also added in a couple of things at the front, again making use of french knots.

I am pleased with the feathery grasses as I just stitched in an informal way, with no real prior practising.  I think it is all coming together now.  The next thing will be to add in lots of blades of grass in different colours, to make the plants look as though they are growing through something.  I think the end may be in sight, at long last. (I have other projects that I really would like to start; the most pressing being winter decorations for the seasonal tree!)

Stitching Sundays 17

I hope you all had a lovely Christmas. Stitching Sunday has come round again and I have a little more progress to share with you.  I have added in a few seed head-type plants in the mid ground.  I needed a bit of thinking time as I wasn't sure quite how to tackle these and my first thought was to applique some tiny pieces of felt in order to get the look I wanted.  However, in reality, the tiny pieces of felt just didn't work at all.
(It probably doesn't look much in this photo, so I have added a couple of close ups below in order that all my hard work will be easier to see!)

 I turned to the trusty split stitch for the stem and then double french knots at the base of the stem, moving to single french knots towards the top.  I used six wraps round the needle to make the french knots bigger.

Although I did have a few issues when the thread decided to helpfully get tangled right in the middle of the knot construction, (and this happened quite a few times) I am pleased with the result, which adds more texture to the embroidery as well.  I am slowly moving onwards and the next thing will be the dandelion seed heads.  I have tried these already, with no success at all, so am going to use one piece of thread, rather than my usual three, so that I should get a more delicate stitch.  That is the hope, anyway.

Stitching Sundays 16

 Amazingly, I have actually started stitching onto my felt background and I am quite pleased with the effect so far.  I started with the large seed heads at the back and the intention is to move to the middle ground and finish with the foreground, building up the stitching in layers.

I have used my favourite split stitch and french knots for these seed heads and I feel that it looks quite effective. Although the thread looks white in the photo, it is a pale beige colour which echoes the colours of the original seed heads in the original roadside verge.  I hope to make some more progress for next week, but at least I have finally got it started!

Stitching Sundays 15

I have made a little progress this week, but not as much as I would have liked.  I have been really busy at work and have only just got around to writing Christmas cards!  Decorations will be going up in the next couple of days, I hope.  So, enough excuses, what have I done?  I looked at the original photo and then did my trick of using a scanned image to draw the design on.  Unusually for me, I only drew one design.  I used a white pen as the background was so dark, so that I could see what I was doing, but the stitching won't be in white - I'll use the photo for inspiration in choosing colours.

 Here is the design, which I am really happy with.  It will probably change as I start actually stitching,  but I am hoping to keep the busy feeling of all the grasses at the front.  I am intending to have some dandelion-type things in the mid ground and some more detailed feathery grasses as well.  I think the stitches will be relatively simple; stem stitch, split stitch, seed stitches, perhaps satin stitch (or a variation on that), couching and french knots.
So, as you can tell, although I haven't stitched yet, I have been doing lots of thinking and decision-making. Now I'm ready to start the stitching, I think!

Stitching Sundays 11

 I am a bit late with my Stitching Sundays post this week, as you may have noticed that it's Monday.  Time just ran away with me yesterday!  I have embroidered snowflakes on the plain silver/grey and turquoise blue material.

 I used simple stitches in grey and white - split stitch, backstitch and french knots.

I'm pleased with how they turned out.  I have sewn the triangles for the bunting and hope to be able to show the finished bunting next week.

Continued...

This was again based on the bulb fields but I decided to add the details using embroidery and applique, after felting. I had made a piece with shades of yellow, which I cut up and sewed into the foreground to represent the individual flowers. I added French Knots in silk thread and satin thread to give a feeling of flowers in the distance. I felt that the added texture gave more interest to the surface.