Seeing the Wood for the Trees - Winter Theme - Session One

Well, what with all the dreadful weather over the past month, taking a walk through Kingwood woods was totally out of the question.  So instead Carole and I decided to use the first session for creativity.  On the menu was collographs, run by Carole and she certainly didn't disappoint.  She brought a selection of examples so the group could understand a little bit about the process. It really is amazing what wonderful results can be achieved with this print technique.  Here's an example of one of Carole's collograph printing plates. I chose this image as it seems rather apt as we are heading towards Valentine's Day.

Following a quick demonstration by Carole, we were all give a piece of mount board, a pencil and a cutting blade.  The pencil to draw out our design, a blade to either score the surface or cut and lift layers from the board.  Here's my design, a barren tree in the moonlight,  (although I was only about halfway through my cutting out) I managed to cut away half the moon by mistake.  Ah well we live and learn.

Wandering around the room, it was lovely to see everyone fully engaged. One of the group commented on how relaxing she found the process was.

As usual, the two hours of creativity flew by.  Next week we will continue to prepare plates for printing.  Until our next cuppa.......

Book of Days Project - Day Two

Carole was the lead artist and showed both groups some simple printmaking techniques using her portable printing press.  There was plenty of materials to choose from, feathers, lace and various shapes. And I think both groups enjoyed the process.

This week we had some new faces and some people from the previous week couldn't make it at both libraries.  It's a good job that Carole and I had factored this into the project and made up some spare books.

It is always interesting how at the beginning of the session you see puzzled faces but by the end more confident faces appear and the pages are carefully planned accordingly.  I can't wait to see what the group will come up with next week as they start to fill their pages.

As usual the sessions rounded up with a lovely cup of tea or coffee all served in Carole's lovely vintage china.  We both agreed that this was our favourite print from the day.