realsimple

i was really excited to find a convo in my inbox this morning letting me know about this post!
thanks to holly {decor8} for posting about my work on this great site.
screenshot above.

weekend's work

a new digital print for the shop. the waves are made with a rubber block on a pencil background and the sun and moon are done in photoshop. so a mixed media print print . . . tags get confusing here. i like the simplicity of the rubber block. i've used oil paint to make images like this in the past with semi-transparent white layers. the focus there was on the texture and overlapping of layers where here it's about the lines and simplicity.



here are some more block prints i did on saturday. i made some of the combi too but the lines need more work, they filled in a bit too much. with these ones i experimented with the background layer – the grey one is pencil. i like the colour but it's not so perfect as a print! the green ones have an acrylic paint layer which helps the print. in the bottom image i've added the 'leaves' in photoshop. i'm getting a little closer to the image i had in mind at the start but would like to use a hand-made layer for the leaves. i might try sponge stamping . . . maybe next weenkend.
happy monday, or mumday as we call it :)

work in progress

i caught an hour to work on this this morning {older son at kinda, younger one in the cot}. am still loving the carving, in fact it's very therapeutic! i wish the green was a paler one tho as my eyes feel like i've been staring at op art after a while. i've learned that it's best to start on the hardest part with these, then if it doesn't work there's not too much time wasted. i will get to test this one out on saturday . . .
we've been watching Dexter {a great series about a serial killer forensic cop who uses his skills/obesessions for 'good' - only killing other ruthless killers, not innocent people} and as i laid out my tools on the table i started to get flashbacks! funny how things you watch or read inhabit your brain!

saturday

i've done some more rubber block carving and i think that i love making block prints! i made one yesterday morning that turned out to be backwards?? {i didn't test the print} all that work – i was pretty disappointed .... but then in the afternoon i made this one. i was pretty happy with the results with the white on red but got that feeling of satisfaction/excitement when i peeled the rubber back on the blue/green pencil background version. i know they need more work to get the print right but this is all i needed to get me hooked. it's so good when a little experiment turns out well!
i did buy a new tool for carving finer lines and changed from the super soft-but-too sensitive speedball rubber blocks to the blue/green rubber that is easier to carve than lino and it seems to have made things much easier/more successful.
rebecca from edwardandlilly has included my work and shop in her saturday shopping list. thanks rebecca, the online shopping list is a great idea. there's a gorgeous woodblock print on the list by mizu designs. here's an example of skillfull block printing :)
enjoy the rest of your weekend.

design for mankind

a big thanku to erin for this post on designformankind, one of my favourite design blogs, this morning. erin is such a positive and supportive person and i really appreciate the help in finding a little business know-how. i've recently read this great book: craft inc by meg mateo ilasco and think now is the time to apply some of the concepts to my 'business'. so far i have been really happy to be producing the work and getting it into the shop, but have reached the point where i need some idea of the bigger picture to see where i can fit in! i find with some of the important decision that are to be made i am thinking and thinking but the more i think the less sure i become! so the next step is to ask someone experienced in the industry . . .

hand printing

my first attempts at carving stamps for printing by hand! {inspired of course by the lena corwin book, printing by hand}. these are so much fun to make, will definitely be working on more over the weekend. i've had some ideas floating around that i think will look best in this medium. i need to do some more to work out what weight i can/can't achieve with the lines and whether a little circle is actually possible to create. the rubber is so soft that breathing at a slightly different pace creates a wobble on one or the other side of the carving tool. there are 2 sides to every line to be thought of! and i've already damaged one stamp by scratching it with my nail when cleaning up.
must learn to take more time with cleaning up etc. . .

landscapes

2 new ones . . . made with pencil on printmaking paper.
here is a landscape artist that i admire, joanna logue.

the answer

to the yearly christmas shopping for dad dilema! i know it's obscenely early to be thinking about such things but i know i have to if i don't want that stress the day before of shopping aimlessly with the kids for someone who is quite a provider of his own needs! they are either v simple {coffee - how many presents have included fresh coffee?} or too complicated to access in a christmas shopping way {gliding/computers}. and i do share the interest/dependence in/on coffee. i just don't have the kind of house that requires the use of coasters.

these are from obiektfunction and they were on the front page, so i didn't even have to virtual search :)

courtyard garden

the courtyard garden is now available as a print in the shop!

6 small prints

6 little {4 x 4 in/10.2 x 10.2cm} prints coming to the shop bit by bit . . . glimmer blue, glimmer orange, 3 blue trees, rain on trees blue, rain on trees green, & rain on trees olive.

dreaming, printing

after a really great lunch at fed square with hubby and the kids {both love going out for lunch} i stumbled across these guys who are part of the dream festival at birrarung marr, on oct 3-6. it was a sneak peak really as it started raining heavily and the piedemontes bag wasn't enough shelter for the little one in the pram! i quickly took these pics with my phone, hence the poor quality.
i've not listed the print pictured in the last post in the shop as yet! apart from exchanging printers {long and boring story involving a faulty one} and trying different papers in attempt to get the best results i realised that this particular design is not going to look so great as a tiny thumbnail on etsy! i'm working on an alternative and a solution!
i have finally come to a happy place with a few new prints which i will post and list over the weekend.
happy friday night:)