greenman studies

a new body of work

I have been looking for a new theme, something that will hold my interest, and that I can stretch to fit as it were. I have decided to work with ideas based around the green man. I like this starting point because it covers myth and darkness, texture and natural subjects. I can also deviate a little, there are some many other myths/ religions that are influenced by trees and nature, and all I want to do now is do a little research.
I am posting pictures of my work process as record for me and some people have asked for information....so here it is

I can be crafty too

I can be crafty too
Originally uploaded by paintistworks

I have put this little piece on my blog to show how I just grab at ideas and then move on....I found it stuffed into a carrier bag of threads and fabric bits, where I had just left it after it was finished. It is sad because now I look at it i can remember how thrilling it was to make it, but I moved so quickly on to something else....I really really should stick to one thing for a while, to develop it to its full potential......

New easel !

New easel !
Originally uploaded by paintistworks

My new easel....sigh. My old one is held together with gaffer tape, and this doubles as a table and an easel. Now all I have to do is really get back in the studio. My son has temporarily moved back home and it is full of all of his stuff. Just another two weeks until he gets his new flat, then I can get in there and work..... i really miss not painting

cyanotype

cyanotype
Originally uploaded by paintistworks

I have been experimenting with a childs toy ( or so it says on the packet ! )
I remember doing these as a very young child, using leaves and keys, any object that would block the light. It is very exciting seeing the shapes emerge and the magic that happens.
I wanted to see if I could just stretch it a little further than placing objects, or using it to develop negatives.
In this peice I have used a drawing of a crow flying, and a photcopy onto acetate of a fabric pattern, then I put real foliage over it all.....fascinating.
Now I have got to find more ways to use the paper, I do enjoy experimenting.

organs by numbers

organs by numbers
Originally uploaded by paintistworks.

a tatty book that i found in a junkshop.It is very fragile and utterly fascinating....as i turn the smallest sections over, peering into the mystery that is inside all of us i think of the words by shakespeare

"What a piece of work is man! How noble in reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving, how express and admirable! in action how like an angel! in apprehension, how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!
--From Hamlet (II, ii, 115-117)

womens work

womens work
Originally uploaded by paintistworks.

I am looking through my work and realising that I leave many ideas behind in my rush to develop yet another idea.
This piece was from a body of work dealing with ideas of my own futility in the art world.
I was late going to university and had never been taken seriously until I went there, my work was always something that my family treated as my 'hobby'.......
this piece was so long and tedious in the making and yet looks so simple. I am not particularly pleased with it, but I keep it by me to remind me of a time when people took me seriously for the first time.


process ( as I remember it...)

first find a piece of embroidered fabric...in this case a tablecloth embroidered as a child ( we used to do that sort of thing :-) )

next scan it on the computer.
print out a copy of scan, and then blow it up on the photocopier until you get rich contrast of the stitching in black and white

next ( and this is where memory gets fuzzy ) make a photo negative etching...

put through etching press

dry, snip and stitch..

this doesnt sound very much, but it took for ever