Two years to the day (I had no idea until facebook told me this morning, but I *do* like the coincidence!) since I started this blog with #projectsnail, I've taken another step and launched my online shop! I've also gone for a bit of a logo change - sorry snail!  You never know where the snail  might appear again though.... 

The new logo and name fit with my packaging (I made the logo stamp this morning, and it's great fun using it to personalise the packaging) and also with the fact that I am now registered as a sole trader and that's the name I've gone for for the business! I guess it will keep me out of trouble for a bit ;-)  It's a relief to finally get it all up and out there, poor Dave has had to put up with me wittering on to him about it for a good while.  Thank you too to the wonderful folk on facebook taking the time to answer queries and questions and sharing their knowledge with me, it is Very Much appreciated. My Very First order came through not long after I launched the site this morning, and I did love packing up my cards and sending them off - they should be arriving at their new home tomorrow morning! (Thank you A :-) )

This also means I can now start back at doing arty things again rather than tinkering away at the computer! (I do think my eyes have got a little squarer!) Including hopefully being able to share with you the product of my first commission.... 

Just to update you too of other things coming up  - I have some of my work in the Rotary Club of Kenilworth's exhibition over the weekend (24th - 26th November) at the Holiday Inn as part of  'Art at Kenilworth' (Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon - click the name for the website) - free entry and art from lots of folks around Coventry and Kenilworth.  Lots of it is available to buy too (including mine!).

Then on Friday 8th Decemeber I am returning to The Herbert Art Gallery to take part in their 'Making Merry' event from 7.30pm - 10.30pm; lots of local artists and craftspeople. I am planning some 'mini original' drawings to be framed and sold at the event too - something that I will hopefully be able to offer through the website at a later date too. (Click on the art gallery name above for the webpage - it is free entry, the booking online part is to do with the stall people, although I do  believe there are also different 'making workshops' available on the evening too).

A huge thank you to you all for your support, and the many kind comments I have received off folks in the past (and recently) which helped me realise I should Just Do This.  Now I have;  let's see where it goes from here.

​Please share the parsnips out of my facebook links/posts to the shop, or via twitter or anywhere you fancy.... follow me on instagram..... the art page on facebook..... anything to get the shop out there would be great. (Hopefully clicking on any of the above should send you to the right places!)

Cheers me dears,       
  alix x

It's a double whammy blog today - two prints in one place - catch up time!

There's been adventures and happenings going on over the past while, as I mentioned in my previous blog, so I  need to catch up with blogging the different things I've tried as #projectMagpie2 was a new process I hadn't tried before!

I'll start with #projectPhoebe because it is much quicker; basically a normal linocut using Japanese vinyl taken from a drawing I did as part of #inktober2016 (that reminds me, I haven't shared those pictures yet either!). I finally got her inked up and printed using my Caligo Safe Wash inks in time for the fair at The Herbert Art Gallery last week, and I've also printed her up onto some brown cards too. It is definitely Phoebe at her most peaceful! (She's currently recovering from a mini-op to remove another cancerous sarcoma :-( However, prognosis is good, and she just has two more sleep in the 'cone of shame' before her stitches are out on Thursday and then we can take her for muddy walks again. Hooray!) There's some photos below of the process and inking up, but I hope you agree that she looks lovely in a frame too :-) Butter wouldn't melt...

OK, onto #projectMagpie2..... so called because #projectMagpie1, as previously blogged on here, has ended up being a bit of a learning curve process, which could otherwise be called 'practise something before going at it straight away'. In a nutshell, the ink *still* hasn't dried properly as I think I printed my layers too close together before they dried properly and I am unhappy with the finish. You never know, they may even out one day...... Here's a quick photo of my finished #projectMagpie2 print.... more underneath....

Therefore I needed to work out how to fix it, so decided to try a multi-block print. I haven't done one before, so set about with another piece of vinyl and some tracing paper, working out where I needed to print the grey and the greeny-blue ink to be able to create the colours of the beak, legs and wood and the feathers on it's back and for the black second print layer, using the final cut of the previous project, to fit over the top of the coloured areas perfectly.

Once this had been worked out I carved away some of the lino from around the shapes, but rather than removing it all, used a template made from tracing paper to get the ink onto the places of the block where it was needed  Using my smaller rollers meant I could ink up two colours at once onto the print block - so printing the grey and the greeny-blue at the same time. In my search through the garage I managed to find the old glass splash back from behind our old cooker so I have re-purposed it as a surface for rolling ink out on. I cannot explain what a revelation this is to my printing environment! It also cleans up *so* much faster and easier than the plastic I was previously rolling the ink out on to too, and I feel that I am getting a better finish with the ink as I am able to roll it our to a better consistency as I have more room! I made up a registration plate to ensure that I would get the layers lined up properly for each print, and off I went, deciding on a print run of twelve birds.

The first layer of print was then left to dry for a few days before I could then use the last cut from #projectMagpie1 to print over the top to create the layered effect. The registration (lining the prints up) worked perfectly on this print run, and all twelve of the prints have survived to be printed up with two layers of ink! 

Time to upload the photies! There's two slideshows below; the top one is #projectMagpie2 and the bottom one #projectPhoebe.

In other news I have been beavering away setting up my NEW ONLINE SHOP, which will be using to sell my prints and products through the website. Just a few last legal beagle things to get sorted and I hope to launch it next week, which is very exciting!  You may also have noticed my website address has changed. I am still being hosted by weebly but have upgraded (oo-er) so my web address is now www.alixalmond.com. You might notice a little picture as well, just up there on the tab next to the website name too at the top of your screen... and a couple of other touches round the site.

Last weekend saw me selling at a charity event to support Aimee (my sister-in-law's sister) in raising fund for Children with Cancer UK as part of her fundraising before running the London Marathon in April next year. It was lovely to meet lots of new people and I had some very kind comments made about my work. I'm getting the hang of packing and unpacking my stall now, and am always on the lookout for fairs to attend - watch this space!

I'm also squirreling away at a commission currently, and have another one in the pipeline, so if there is a piece of art work, be it a unique print or a drawing you would like, please get in touch. 

That's enough for now, there'll be plenty more coming up soon!

alix x

It's been a busy couple of months at Chez Almond. Post Warwickshire Open Studios it was the end of term (always busy) and then our big running event - the Lakeland 50 - at the end of July followed by a short holiday away in the Lake District post race.

Then we've had a bit of a change! I've hung up my teaching bag for a while, and Dave has a sabbatical from work for a year. We've filled our time very nicely so far with a lovely break in the Lakes (again!) followed by a trip to Norway with my parents - it was just beautiful! We sailed up the coast of Norway from Bergen to Kirkenes and back again on the Hurtigruten Ferry - we had snow and Northern Lights; very lucky! Now it's back home for a good while though and time to explore new things and ventures.

The drawing and lino printing has still continued despite adventures! Of course, it's just been #inktober, which I partially completed this year due to the wobbly wavy seas we had on our Norwegian trip during the second part of October which made drawing impossible at times - it was hard enough to try and draw a straight line, let alone try and colour anything in!

I've also just taken part (yesterday!) in The Herbert Art Gallery Print and Ceramics Fair, which was fun to do. I met lots of nice people and had some lovely feedback about my work.  Printing has continued - I have created a new print of one of our terrible terriers Phoebe, and also re-worked my #projectmagpie as the ink *still* hasn't dried from the first print run, so I tried out a multi-plate technique which worked well, (and dried!) to create a new limited edition print run.

I'm also at another charity event next week selling my cards and prints, and have just entered some of my prints into the 'Art at Kenilworth' exhibition in late November, so will add dates and information about these soon. Somewhere local has agreed to put a couple of my prints on their wall too - again more details as soon as they're up!

I'll do a proper blog about #projectphoebe and #projectmagpie2 very soon, as well as sharing some different photos of #inktober.

The 'buy' part of the website is also about to be improved too with photos and prices of cards and prints that I have for sale - however, please get in touch though via e-mail if there is anything you are specifically interested in.

In the meantime, here's a few photies of what I've been up to artwise!

alix x

 Or the alternative title: 'If it frightens you then it might just be worth a go' as my cereal packet announces to me every morning. 

The idea of taking part in the Open Studios did frighten me a bit. It was one of my 'almost secret' New Year's resolutions to myself. I did share it with the hubby. I've been to Open Studios on and off in the past, and it had sat there as an idea that I could do it when I started with my printing and the drawing seemed to be going OK too, and lots of people had said lovely things which made me think it wasn't maybe such a bonkers idea. So when the time came for folks to sign up for it, I registered with Open Studios and then had the small issue of finding somewhere to be an 'open studio'. We have two dogs, so that made here not an option as even though they are lovely and friendly it's not ideal..... and then I spotted the 'Lonely Arts' column on facebook. There were artists offering places in their homes/studios, and the lovely Hilary Poole was not far away and offering space, so I jumped at the chance! (If you click on Hilary's name above it will take you to her website).

Now I had a place to exhibit, entered for it and then 'just' needed to get stock/work together! Dad recommended a great printer who he uses in Earlsdon - Rennison Publications, and Kevin was fabulous printing cards and copies of some of my drawings too.  I was really pleased with how they came out. Then it was choosing drawings to frame and getting things ready to sell - setting up business cards and thinking about how to display things. Mum came up trumps with a variety of baskets!!

The booklets were delivered about a month before the event started, and seeing my name and Black Kite print in the booklet was great - and it made it all feel very real too! Mum and Dad did a fabulous job helping to distribute the booklets far and wide!

The Open Studios was a fabulous experience. I had two wonderful weekends with Hilary and Anne Bravey - Hilary's specialism is glass and ceramics, and Anne is a mixed media artist, and it was great to have them to chat to about art work, as well as putting the world to rights in general.  Mum and Dad, and the ladies, manned the stall for the final weekend as I was away in the Lakes on a final training run/race in prep for our big summer running event. We had some lovely visitors - friends, family and strangers - and some very interesting conversations with all of the visitors. I was really very touched by friends who had traveled a fair distance to come and see me too - thank you. It was good to chat about how and the prints were made and for people to show an interest in my work - I'd taken along examples of how the reduction lino prints build up, as well as some of my actual lino cut 'plates' - as in the vinyl/lino I'd carved into. I had lots of lovely comments from people, and sold some of my prints and cards. More than anything though is the fact I took from it that I had made the right decision to do it, and the confidence to get out there and do more. 

Next steps from here are to start looking for other places to go and try selling my work - I've already started searching. I'm planning on taking photos of what I have for sale and popping them onto this website too - before that please get in touch if there is something you would like.

​It is exciting; let's see where this journey goes. :-)

alix x
​

One for sorrow, two for joy..... I've had to google what eight are for, and allegedly it's for a wish. I'm not sharing the wish, sorry ;-) but I will share my lovely ramblings about #projectmagpie :-) I finally finished it this morning, and have a lovely limited print run of eight magpies from it. It might have been a long time in coming - this has been a 'thinker' of a project - but I've really enjoyed the last week or so of completing it.

​My new inks arrived not too long ago, which I needed to be able to complete #projectmagpie as I needed blue (and yellow to make green)! I've also gone on to 'grown up' inks - Caligo Safe Wash Inks were recommended through the printing book I've been reading (Linocut by Nick Morley - the link should take you there - an excellent book) as well as having great reviews of the inks online. The inks are oil based but environmentally friendlier as they can be cleaned up with soap and water or vegetable oil, so no nasty chemicals involved which I was keen to avoid. It also means, as they are oil based (linseed oil), that they take longer to dry than my previous water based inks. However the colours are fabulous, and they are so easy to use. The vegetable oil is a much better way of cleaning everything up too.

​OK, print rambling time! I can't actually remember when I started #projectmagpie, but I know it was a while ago. I really enjoyed printing the first layer of colour - I'd planned a three colour print, and the first layer I created by mixing the colours using my mini-roller and then 'painting' onto the lino (I was back on Japanese Vinyl for this one) so each print is actually more individual as all of the blue-greens are different on each one. I chose to only 'paint' on to certain sections too, so the first run left me with twelve odd looking eye-less birds! I started with a run of 12, but as is normal, a few haven't made the final cut along the way due to not getting the next layers quite lined up. This layer did take two days to dry properly, so I carved the next section on the bird while I waited, even though it wasn't necessarily going to be needed for the next colour. As usual there are plenty of photos of the different stages in the slide show at the bottom!

​Next colour up was grey for the background, beak, legs and 'stump' the magpie is on. I had a right 'mare before I got started to print; I'd waited until Dave had headed out to his late shift, and he seemed to take my brain with me. The mixing of the grey didn't go quite to plan, so I had to have a massive cleaning up session (downside of oil based, it does take much longer to clean up) and then start again. Thankfully it worked better and my brain engaged, I found registering the print a bit of hard work, but it was OK, they mostly came out inline! Then it was on to the final carve into the block ready for the black layer.

​Again the grey layer took a couple of days to dry. We went and visited my in-laws yesterday and took the dogs to the beach - a lovely chilled day, so I finally got round to the last layer this morning.

​Not having to mix colours and just printing in black was a dream :-) My registering was much better and I didn't manage to lose any more prints! I am really pleased with how the black has worked over the other colours, especially the 'stump' and feet, and it does give some of the 'shimmering' impression you get as the iridescence shines on the back of a magpie - however it would be impossible to accurately capture this! The prints are quite dark in nature, but as they are drying in the sunshine I am really pleased with how the light catches the blue-green accents. It's been worth taking it's time over!

​The next big adventure coming up is my Warwickshire Open Studios - that should link to my page and the link is on the homepage of my website too - I will be exhibiting a collection of my prints, as well as having some to sell. Tomorrow I go to the card printing man as I have chosen which drawings and prints I want to have made into cards, as well as handprinting/pulling some cards myself too. It is all very exciting, but is also taking up a lot of thinking time too!

​I have also been very fortunate to have a couple of re-grams on Instagram recently by @ukprintmakers and @im_printed (two well followed printmaking accounts/people) which have had really positive responses and has boosted my confidence going forward into the Warwickshire Open Studios that this was the right choice to make; I'm on instagram as @alixalmond if you wanted to follow!

​I'll go and put my slideshow together and then get this blog out there! Please feel free to share and spread the word - I'll do another blog soon with more info about WOS (the short version!) again closer to the time, along with what I am selling, so if you did happen to fancy a bit of my artwork you can let me know.

​Cheers me dears, alix x

​

A couple of weekends ago I went to hang out with the taxidermy at The Herbert Art Gallery. Sketchbook in hand I spent a 'lovely' hour or so looking at, sketching and photographing the birds. Although not ideal (as in the fact that all the birds are dead, but at least they sit still for you!) it is the closest I am going to get to some of these birds, and they have been stuffed for a very long time; I remember going to see them as a child....! Since the linocut workshop I did there with Aide and #projectblackkite I've had it in mind to do some more raptors and at school our class have been following the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust's webcam of the Peregrine Falcons in Leamington. (That should hopefully link to the webcam too.) The children have affectionately called the Peregrine pair Peggy and Keith, so making the decision of the Peregrine to start with was reasonably easy, although there are still other raptors I want to do! We have some local Peregrines in Coventry nesting by the Catherdral too.

This is the first time I have worked in the little room upstairs as well - I suppose you could call it a 'studio' of sorts!! We had a sort out and I have put a desk and some storage stuff into the little boxroom for my printing stuff and papers so it's not taking over the house so much. It was a very chilled afternoon listening to some good retro tunes too. I'm still printing in the kitchen though as the desk is too small upstairs. Today that involved moving Dave's cooling cake.... (more later!)

For this print I used 'normal' grey lino again rather than the Japenese Vinyl. It has a different quality to cut and also when printing. The surface seems to soak up more ink than the vinyl, so I am going to have to get used to that when printing further copies. I've also tried printing it onto one of my card backs too, and if I may say so myself it is looking alright! ;-)  I've also got some corks for the end of my pfeil cutters and they are now living in a tea caddy tin!

As you might have seen from the front page I've added to the website, this year I am exhibiting as part of the Warwickshire Open Studios. This fills me with a mixture of trepidation and excitement! I went to see a printer yesterday about getting some of my drawings turned into greetings cards that I can sell alongside my hand printed lino prints too. I'll be making sure the link is added so you can see where and when it's on if you are interested to come along. It's also made me realise I need a bit more of a rocket to get stuff done too! I got the page from the brochure through the other day to proof read - seeing my name and one of my prints next to it, albeit very small was quite exciting. And then I wibbled again!

Right, time to make a slideshow, and as husband has been off work today too, he's been in the kitchen baking chocolate cake :-) And my husband makes Very Fine Cake indeed :-) It Does Not have the extra added ingredient of printing ink.

Hopefully more very soon, as it's been a fair while since my last blog! I *still* have #projectmagpie to finish!

​alix x

According to the power of google, the collective noun for tits is 'A Banditry of Tits'. The birds fledged from their 'nest' yesterday and the banditry flew, by power of Royal Mail, to various destinations. As usual I managed to leave my printing until closer to the final posting date as is totally necessary, and with the end of term being so unsurprisingly busy, you would think I would start earlier..... but no. I did actually start the print block a good while ago, and it didn't take too long to carve as it wasn't a very big print block, but actually printing it was left until a little later!

I am currently suffering from a horrible cold, which includes really poorly ears - they are hurting more as I stare down at the computer, so you may well be blessed with a very short blog! 

Dave (the suffering husband) also took some photos of me printing which are in the first slideshow, they are really good and hopefully show a different persepctive of the printing process. This is the first time I have printed in the back room - I usually use the kitchen - but as he was cooking and I *really* needed to get the printing done, it had to be used. What came in Very Handy was the advent calendar bag string on the wall, which meant I could peg up my cards to dry. It almost felt like a 'real' studio. I was also given an early Christmas present (the husband claims it was from the dogs!) of a paper cutter. This made my job much easier. I did a very limited run of eight Coal Tits printed onto white paper and then mounted on gold and green, and having the paper cutter made this a much quicker process (after handcutting all of the mounts last year for #projectrobin with scissors!) Thank you dogs :-) Thank you Dave for the photos and for lending the dogs some early Christmas money! I took a few photos as I went along too which I have also added below in the second slide show.

I chose a Coal Tit as I wanted another 'winter' bird that could be seen around the gardens and hedgerows at this time of year. We currently don't get Coal Tits in our garden, but we have noticed Blue Tits and Great Tits lately which have been a very welcome addition to the pigeon, Dunnock and Robins.

OK, time to add some pictures. Wishing everyone a very happy Christmas, whatever you are doing, and a healthy and peaceful New Year.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to read my blogs over the year (there must be someone who reads them, surely!) and for all of the kind comments I have received via facebook, twitter and instagram too. It is really appreciated, and encourages me to keep going! I have a couple of other ideas coming soon for the New Year. Here's to a creative 2017!

alix xx

Last year, #inktober was the catalyst for me starting to do more regular drawings and artwork again. I had never heard of it until I spotted it on Michelle's facebook timeline, and decided to have a go.

This year I had already got myself a new sketchbook, had my coloured pens all ready after last year and a pen I'd recently bought (well from the lovely art shop in Grasmere in the summer), and was ready and impatient for #inktober to start. If you don't know about #inktober, the rules are simple: draw every day in October. Use ink. Post your pictures on social media with the #inktober hashtag! There are a couple of other versions about, and if you are stuck, they create a handy prompt list of things you can draw if you are lacking inspiration. 

There were a few ideas I had that I wanted to try and do during #inktober, but mainly the ideas came from what was going on, what popped into my head and sometimes things I'd seen during the day that stuck. Some days were *much* easier than others; time was one factor - some of the pictures took not very long at all, having to fit them in around work, marking and life in general, and on other evenings or weekends I had time a-plenty to sit and draw. There was more than one evening when I just sat staring at my sketchbook not knowing what to do. However, apart from returning to the bird theme a few times, I think I managed a fairly varied set of drawings. I did do some initial sketches for some of them in pencil (it's allowed in the rules!) but for the majority, for example Owl, Tortoise and Snipe, I just drew in ink straight away. Anyway, they were all put onto facebook and instagram. I received some lovely comments from different folks - my most popular picture was the Long Tailed Tit on the last day, although not hitting anywhere near the heady hights of 'likes' that some folk get on there. 

All of my pictures were drawn using a black uni pin fine-liner and/or Faber Castell pitt artist pens. I have kept drawing since, but not as much, which I need to rectify. I've gone back to pencil crayons to do a snail, but then have also tried to keep up the pen sketching too in a smaller sketchbook.

Next job is to finish #projectmagpie lino cut!

Anyhoo, here's my run through #inktober in a slideshow, along with reasons as to why I drew them - I haven't tried to explain the birthday turnip though.

​alix x

It was on a Friday afternoon in September when travelling to Norfolk that an e-mail from the Herbert Art Gallery popped into my inbox advertising a linocut print workshop with local artist Adie Blundell. After a brief call to Mum to see if she wanted to come too, and once my 3G connection allowed me to, we were all booked in. I had been really looking forward to going as Adie's style of art work is fabulous and also very different to anything that I've done before.

The title of the workshop was ' 'A Cauldron of Bats, a Clowder of Cats and a Murder of Crows' and I spent day 14 of inktober (oh yes, I'm doing it again, and it's great - all pictures are appearing on my instagram feed if you fancy a gander - link should be on the contact page) busily drawing different folklore and mythological based images ranging from Aztec designs to Totem Poles and hares in my sketchbook. I was actually a little bit prepared. 

We were first to arrive. Adie was very welcoming; as were all of the team, and slowly the group collected together. Adie had taken along a few of his linocut cuts (the actual lino rather than the prints) and they looked fabulous (there is a link on his website which you should be able to get to by clicking on his name in the first paragraph) and so tactile. I did a lot of touching! We were given hints and tips and guidance, my favourite being using a drill on the lino to create circles for pattern/textures. I will most definitely be playing with Dave's drill to do this soon!

Then it was our turn. I sat down with my sketchbook, looked at my images and decided I didn't like any of them. Finally after a bit of faffing and realising I couldn't do a horse skull as a monoprint, I decided on a totem pole. I was determined to try something new and was resisting the lure of another bird print. First part drawn OK, second part kept looking like Sam the Eagle from the Muppets ( a totem pole eagle is a different style to my normal birds so I thought this was OK to try). Then an idea dawned on me. We were in a museum and art gallery and I knew where I could find an eagle. Just outside the door actually on a display. It was a little too high to get a good shot with my ipad camera, and then a very helpful man reminded me about the gallery downstairs where they keep some of the things not on display..... including a collection of taxidermy birds.

I returned with images of a Black Kite, a Peregrine Falcon and an Owl. I decided to embrace the bird. Within about 15 minutes I had my design. Totem Pole sacked. Black Kite here we go. One of the lovely ladies used the photocopier to shrink my sketchbook image as we were working on lino just larger than half A5 size. I traced, transferred the image and I was away.  

I have put the images into a gallery again at the bottom of the page. The sunshine through the window made the room warm, and this seemed to help the lino become quite 'buttery' to cut, which was great. The huge windows also meant there was great light to start off with when cutting initially too, and great to see contrasts in the cutting and lino. I tried the technique of drawing on in pencil everything I wanted to keep as a relief (black) and cutting the rest away. Usually, as I have mainly done reduction prints, I have a more staged approach. The cut continued to develop from the more basic drawing I had done as my idea. The time absolutely flew by, and I definitely found my 'cutting zone'. The studio had a lovely vibe in it with everyone working away, Adie popping by from time to time as he was checking everyone was OK and giving advice. I had taken along my lovely pfeil cutters and a piece of non-slip matting too which really helped. 

We had to stop for lunch as both mum and I suddenly realised just how hungry we were and also my concentration started to wane a smidge.

Re-fulled, it was on to the final cuts before inking up. We were printing with oil based inks, and Adie taught us how to use a mixer to create printing ink from oil paints. I also tried out archive paper too, first printing on dry paper and then secondly printing onto wet paper to see how it changed how the paper 'took' the print. We used a wooden spoon as a brayer to transfer the print - I had forgotten my trusty metal spoon! I only managed three prints due to time running out and trying out the different paper too. I will be printing some more at home, I have an idea to play with some colours with the background. I think I will also stick to water based inks as I can't stand the smell of white spirit, which is need to clean up the oil based inks.

Five hours after we began, it was all over, and it seemed to go so fast. It was lovely to spend the time with my mum (even if we were concentrating so much on cutting we didn't actually talk to each other that much apart from the odd break here and there) and also to work with new people and see another professional artist's work, and get to work with them. I have learnt some new things and got some new ideas to try, and, even though I have Embraced the Bird again, I have done it in a different way. I like birds. Sometimes you just have to stick with what makes your heart smile.

alix x

Oooo, it really has been a while hasn't it? It's been a busy summer - well, a busy end to last term where I did very little arty stuff, and then I had a wonderful two weeks away in the Lakes *heart*. Since then I have been pottering on #projectwasp. #projectwasp started when I found a dead wasp at my parent's house around the time I was doing Siskin, I put it in a little box and kept it. That sounds really weird doesn't it?! I did start drawing it, a very big drawing of it, which I am still part way through, and I had a kind-of-deal with myself that I'd do a print of it once I'd finished the drawing. However, I went back on my own deal and started the print; I felt the need to get printing again! I will finish the drawing at some point.... I now have a little bee in the box along with the wasp. I'll try not to collect any more dead things.

At the end of July I went to 'Art in Action' with mum and dad. I am sad to say it was the last year of it, we had a lovely (very hot) day wandering around looking at the different artists and I had a chat with a couple of lino cutters/printers there about techniques and inks. I have a few more ideas I'd like to try in my head, but something that I picked up that has proved useful in this project was the idea of masking areas. Strange how something so obvious sometimes needs pointing out to you....

I decided that I was going to try printing using lino as well as the vinyl I usually use. I have mixed views on it. I liked using the lino, and it printed well, but it didn't give the sharper edges in some places that I get with the vinyl, especially on the 'cut away' background. This could be due to the lino, I have another piece which has been kept under wraps more, and this may be less brittle. The piece I used may not have been stored in the best conditions in the shop I got it from in hindsight and after reading a bit more about 'real' Lino. Still, I enjoyed cutting it, it was softer too in some ways. I have just printed from the lino print, I still have the vinyl one, and might do some experimenting with it soon. This was partly why some of the initial parts took me longer as I was cutting not one, but two, linocuts. (I am still getting a hang of the terminology).

I will however aim not to leave it so long before my next print. I have an idea already, and now just need to make sure that I don't get caught up in the hundrum and chaos of the start of a new term and not get stuff done.

Another thing I tried was over-rollering colour, this worked well to give the body some shading, although it worked better on a couple of the prints than others. I made five prints in total, with each one actually altered slightly as I played around a little with the background, and with the fact that some of the ink, on the lino, kept bleeding and creating a fuzzy effect, so I had to cut more away. The masking was used to cover the wings while I printed the yellow, I found sellotape worked well to keep the yellow colour off the wings. I then took the tape off before I printed and then cut into the wings again to put on the final black layer afterwards.

The black and white print was done before I cut more of the wings away for the final print, I might try hand colouring a couple of these too to see how they turn out.

In readiness for #inktober (the thing that started my art journey again - thank you Michelle) I already have my sketchbook.... as a photo of a doodle I put on to instagram says 'It doesn't matter how many sketchbooks you have if you're not drawing in them' I will be keeping up in preparation for this, and have been over the last few days. I have a deal with Dave (hubby), each time he goes to practise his guitar I have to pick up my sketchbook. I beat him to it yesterday and didn't need the reminder :-)

OK. Need to get the slideshow of images sorted to show the different stages; I'm hoping that if there are any potential lino-cutters out there that doing a slide show helps to show the processes involved; or you might just enjoy being nosy ;-) Well done if you've got this far through my ambling.

​I'm not going to leave it so long next time. alix x