artists palette

ive used this palette on and off for 20 years,it’s almost a painting in itself….

new mould & deckles

have spent today making new mould and deckles for my paper making , old ones looked a little worse for wear,at the moment they are sitting in the sun with the final coat of shellac drying and tomorrow will staple the mesh covering,think i may make some smaller ones as well….have sorted out my filing cabinets and it is all looking and feeling very organized…willsand my work bench in the morning as it is covered with a combination of wax, ink,shellac and linseed oil, not good for my beautiful printmaking paper………all is mellow here, my little man is asleep, my eldest son is completing a snake tank that he has made for his soon to arrive new snake (darwin carpet python), and partner weilding together the new ferret cage as the female has quite a few new babies..me, im about to finish this post ,pour another glass of red, and sit outside in the garden while the bbq cooks..im sure my little man will be awake by then and will probably go for a swim…more later…………….

studio clean out………..

[gallery] haven’t written here for quite a few days, have been really busy cleaning and sorting my studio, lately i haven’t been able to ground myself and have been all over the place , so a couple of days ago i made a list and that gave me a clearer direction

# 1 clean up , organize, and make definite work area’s in studio ( photo’s are proir clean up)

# 2 work areas – a desk for paperwork,writing, journal and research

#3 file all tid bits and ideas scrawled on bits of paper (100’s)

#4 an area for encaustic,an area for printmaking,a clean paper area, a table for making my own paper, containers to store all collected material for papermaking, a corner for my easle with all my paints, thinners etc..       so far so good………tomorrow i will continue sorting paper work,sketch books etc……….

my fresh new goals as of next week- begin making more handmade paper, print my collagraphs, lino’s ,monoprints etc…continue with encaustic with handmade paper……a little directions feels much better, instead of going from one thing to the next……………once i get back on a roll as i usually am , i am going to learn how to make artists books with my work on my paper, have joined a group called “artists books 3.0″ a wonderful website full of wonderful talented people,worth looking at,anyway all sounds good in theory, i’ll see how it goes with the 2 teenagers,1 three year old, a partner, a garden, dogs, ducks,chickens,ferrets(& their babies), errands,cooking, cleaning,friends and xmas just around the corner…

another great afternoon experimenting in the studio………….

have been really enjoying doing these monoprints with encaustic, last year i saved up and bought myself an etching press, something i have wanted  and needed for a long time, coming across a second hand one seemed impossible as people seemed to keep them , but fortunately i came across one that had been sitting in somebody’s shed for 12 years and had never been used, it was at Perth about a 5 day drive from here, so picking it up wasn’t viable, so across the Nullabor Plain on a train it came and we picked it up from Sydney..Just having it in the studio is great, having the time to experiment with types of my printmaking without having to rush as somebody may also be waiting to use it such was the case whilst studying creative arts at uni, when you know that a class of people also need to use it within a specified time frame experimentation is pretty much out the window….ive always worked with intaglio (etching ) & relief printing but lately the freedom of playing with random one off prints has been great and i find it broadens and pushes the creative flow, i lke this work although it feels a little dark in colour, over the next week im thinking about doing a series of this style and putting them together to for one work….no rain today ,it was so cold and windy yesterday that we actually lit the fire, which is so bizzare for November in Australia..today i’ll get into the garden for a while and plant some more vegies……………….

afternoon in the studio….

have just come in from my studio to make a coffee and warm up a little, has turned out to be a very windy ,cloudy and cold day..inside my studio is like a cocoon though, i can see our linden tree being blown about and rain apon the window, will have to move the windchimes though as they keep hitting the wall…have had another pottery day, i have noticed that i am working alot more lately since i have put big works that i am working on to the side ,and am just happy to experiment any which way and just let the work evolve on its own, this one is a collagraph( still following the lake &reed theme) combined with encaustic…would like to experiment with transferring,still need to find out more about it..anyway will finish for the time being &write more later..want to get some more work done before my little man wakes up from his afternoon sleep………