As well as Son No 1, daughter is also a bit of a creative type.  She is doing an illustration degree at Portsmouth Uni.  She is not so much a 'drawer' as a 3D illustrator and she has let me share the images from one of her recent projects.




I cannot share the exact techniques with you, other than to say that she uses air drying clay a lot.  This particular doll was modeled over string to give the doll flexibility at the joints.

I have helped her make dolls clothes in the past .  Dolls are so fiddly because they are small.

 I love her work and hope you do too.

There are lots of blog posts to catch up on, and I am sat up in bed with the laptop ready for a good bedtime read, but before I do, just a quick catch up on Bletchley Park.

There was a fabulous documentary on BBC2 this evening about the unsung heros of BP, in particular Bill Tutte, a brilliant mathematician who worked out how the Lorenz encryption messaging machine worked (and co-incidentally ended up in Canada after the war - but that's another story) and Tommy Flowers, a GPO engineer who designed and built the first computer, Colossus (because is was so big), which was used to decode the Lorenz messages.

These two men achieved quite astonishing results but had to keep their wartime achievments quiet, never truly revealing all that they had contributed.  For both this must have been so frustrating, but for Flowers in particular this must have really hurt for while he invented the first computer he had to remain silent when, only a year after the war ended, the Americans announced that they had built the first computer.  One reason for his silence was that 2 of the original Colossus machines were transferred to GCHQ after the war ( which became the secret service listening centre) where it was probable that they were used to decode Soviet messages.  It has been suggested that as they swept through Eastern Europe, the soviet forces would have captured some of the German Lorenz machines, which were used by only the very highest ranks in the German forces, and then used them during the start of the cold war era.

The piece is formulating in my mind.  I have not done much since the weekend, but I have prepared two backgounds.


Here is one of them on the (well protected) kitchen work surface.  In the spirit of thrift and makedo and mend I am not buying any new material for this quilt and this background is tissue paper bonded to calico with a mix of half water, half PVA glue and then, while still wet, dry Procion Dye powder is sprinkled onto the fabric/paper.

I then used damp cling film buffed with the back of a spoon to make the powders spread across the paper.  This is a technique I have used before and keep coming back to, despite other experimentation (and the purchase of that book on backgrounds.)

I have also been playing with those lovely fluid metallic pens again.  I love the effect close up, but the picture below shows how the digital camera is such a friend to the artist - they just do not work in this photo.  (But I do like the effect of the writing in the back ground.  This is taken from letters home written during WWII).


I have also been playing about with discarded packaging - here using wrapper for fresh coffee.  Although it does not work here, because the silver of the pen is lost against the 'busy' background,  I like the effect and think that this material will find a place in the final piece.
But this I really love.  This is the rather unpromising print block using the classic Gilbert Scott telephone box as inspiration.  I thought there would be too much 'red' - but I really like the slightly quirky final effect.  Again, definitely one for the final piece.

This one is on lutrador (but I apologise, I do not recall the exact weight).

This one, using bigger switches, is on Evolon.

And then I burnt it - as you do!  With a heat gun.  I prefer the effect above (on the Lutrador) to the Evolon below, but Evolon is more resistant to heat.

As I mentioned previously, I have bought the book Surface Treatment Workshop.  My initial reaction was to be slightly disappointed, but actually, I think I need to take that back.  Last night, with an empty house (whoo hoo) and the opportunity to make a bit of a mess and not have to explain what I am doing, I grabbed the book again.

I have to get this piece for Bletchley Park sorted.  Communication seems to be the way my mind is going so last night I played about with a couple of 'letters home'.  At the moment my thinking is that I want to merge methods of communication into the background of the piece with the switches and cogs of the computer in the forefront.  Anyway, that is still some way off and I am still on that journey to find the expression I want to create.

So I turned to the page in the book headed Faux Encaustic.  I pondered a while (not having any of the materials they suggest for making up the 'recipe') but then hit on the idea of using Mod Podge and acrylic ink, the idea being that you 'blend' things into the background.  Mod Podge dries clear and my idea was that the ink would be 'carried around' by the medium.  This is the idea that the book promulgates but they suggest Opaque or Clear Pouring Medium or spreadable gel.  The book is American, and frankly I have no idea what they mean by these ingredients.

Anyway, the other thing they suggest is to use blobs of acrylic paint.  This is put directly onto the page in blobs, then the 'recipe' is applied and the whole lot is spread over the page using an old knife (no palette knife was to hand).

What do you think?


If you are interested, this is the ink I was using (specifically the one on the left, which came out a bit too yellowy) plus the acrylics.

Elsewhere there is a new debate on When is Craft an Art? going on over at the Tate website.  Being a big fan of Tracy Emin and Grayson Perry, both of whom use 'craft', this is close to my heart.  I haven't left a comment yet.

In my last post I mentioned that I had bought a new book, Surface Treatment Workshop.  One of the suggestions in the book is to use salt crystals to pattern a dilute wash of water colour or acrylic paint.  I have done this before with silk paints (with great success) but not with paper.

My first attempt with paper was not so good, but never one to be defeated I gave it another go in my new 'Bletchley Park' sketch book.  And I think there could be some opportunities with this technique.  The first picture below shows the wet paint with the salt crystals sprinkled onto the page; and the one below shows the dried paint.

And here is the same page once the paint has dried and with the salt crystals brushed off.

Inspired by the computers and deciphering equipment, including the above image, I made three collograph plates using discarded cardboard packaging.  The top plates in the photo below are not so easy to make out  as I stuck the shapes with the shiny side up.  I like the shiny side of the cardboard which helps disperse the paint, giving me the effect I want when I print (well, that's the theory).  When I have tried some printing I will post the pictures.

So when I got home, walked and fed the hound, caught up on work emails (it never stops) I settled down to a bit of swift creating.

First of all I tried a couple of techniques from 'Surface Treatment Workshop' - or rather, I used it as a prompt.  Here is a page from the Seville sketchbook (still a WIP) which already had a background of procion dye inks.  I used a candle as a resist and then put a wash of very dilute green acrylic paint over the top.  Here it is, still wet.  I like the background - it looks interesting.  I'll come back to this page as I decide how to take it further.

Then I applied a wash of the same dilute acrylic paint to a page in the new sketch book.  (I am going to try to keep it very monochrome - the theme is Bletchly Park and I am thinking of the frugality and drabness of colour that we normally associate with WWII).

To get texture I applied a piece of cling film, and left the page to dry for a bit.  Then I removed the cling film and voila.  Simple and effective.

I expect that I will share more of both sketch books with you as they progress.  Meanwhile, I have not done much more with the bigger pieces I am working on - I haven't done much sewing.  But sketch books are quick and easy to pick up during a busy week.

I have been very disciplined of late.  Despite more house guests and other distractions (a fantastic visit to Westonbirt Arboretum - photos to follow) I have managed to do something every day.

What I haven't managed to do is to photograph it all though.  Sorry about that.  But if you are stopping by then have a look at previous posts or follow some of the links to the other blogs I follow.