Narrative and the creation of series of works is something that has interested me for a long time, to see a picture in context with its companions. I think in many respects it harks back to my love of sketchbooks and how precious these are to me as a visual timeline of places visited and ideas noted down. There is also something very personal and intimate about sketchbooks and artists books which are not necessarily created with the aim of public display. Like exploring a new place the book reveals its contents slowly with a fresh discovery at every turn. It is something I hope to explore more over the next year or so, especially in relation to the Cuba sketchbooks.
This piece 'A Walk Along the Naver' was completed after my residency in Sutherland, incorporating chine colle, collagraph, embossing, Japanese woodcut and painting. It was exhibited with a selection of small objects by sculptor Trevor Gordon http://www.trevoragordon.com/index.htmat Dundee Contemporary Arts during the Impact 8 International Print Festivalhttp://www.conf.dundee.ac.uk/impact8/home/
I regularly work with a variety of printmaking techniques, one of my favourites being collagraph. This was a plate based on some sketches gathered out and about around Sutherland... and a wee
look at the process that goes into each print:
The prepared block ready to be inked up...
Ink is applied with a spatula in a layer across the whole surface...
Then wiped back until just a thin coating remains, trappedin the textural surface of the block...
The block is laid on the press with a sheet of dampened paper on top, tissue paper and thick wool blankets...
It is then wound through...
And at the other side its time to carefully peel back the paper and see how the image has printed...
The print is complete and will be stacked between tissue paper and weighted boards for a few days to dry.
