My blog is a personal notebook of what inspires me to create something. I also write about my outdoor adventures such as sea kayaking, ski mountaineering and hillwalking in Scotland and abroad. Below you can find the last few postings. Visit http://fenfolio.blogspot.co.uk for my complete blog.
In the midst of winter here (-14C in Braemar last night), I have finally found the time to report on our kayak expedition to Greenland last year. We booked our 12-day trip with Martin Rickard who has been kayaking and leading trips in South-East Greenland for almost 20 years. He was recommended to us by our neighbours who did a similar trip two years ago.
On the 23rd of July we took the plane to Reykjavik, Iceland. We stayed there for one night, giving us the opportunity to chat with our kayak friends from NESKy who just returned from their trip and were able to share their wonderful experience there. Because their group was too large we joined a different one. We met eachother the next day at the Domestic airport of Reykjavik. A couple from Northern Ireland, a couple and 2 friends from New Zealand (!), a woman from England and us.
Once arrived at Kulusuk airport we got a boat ferry to Kuummiut, a small settlement inland. Normally the kayak trips would start at Tasiilaq (also called Ammassalik or Angmagssalik) and go through Sermilik fjord. However, a hungry polar bear had been spotted there, “stealing” seals from the locals. As they already hit the quota, they couldn’t do anything else other than making a lot of noise. Although our guide carries a gun, he didn’t want to take any risks. This meant that we were going to explore Sermiligaq fjord with its glaciers and an abandoned US airbase from after WWII.
With about a maximum of 20 k per day it was not challenging. The cold however was! Not so much the first week when it was wonderful and sometimes surpringly hot, but in the second week we had some fog and the nights were very damp and chilly. Even our guide said it was unusually cold for a Greenland summer. There was also much more snow in the mountains than what he had experienced in two decades. One day we stayed put at one of the hunters huts due the bad weather forecast. The kayaks had to be tied down and the hut was shaking when the storm came that night!
Here is a selection of photos. Enjoy!
Some things I won’t ever forget:
- The mosquitoes; they even sting through thick woolen socks! And then the weeping blisters because of the rubbing of the socks against my skin. Ouch.
- The stunning geology.
- The sound of calving glaciers.
- The warmth of our campfire (a necessity).
- The beautiful tree logs brought here by rivers and sea currents all the way from Russia (there are no trees in Greenland).
- The amazing wildlife such as seals (synchronised swimming), the cute and cheeky arctic fox in our camp and the humback and fin whales
- The exploding iceberg right in front of me while I was doing my polar bear watch at night. My heart skipped a beat!
- The tsunami that was caused by the breaking up of a giant iceberg a few kilometers away. We had to tie up the kayaks and it only took a few minutes to reach our beach!
- Drinking lovely fresh water which can be found almost everywhere.
- The joy of washing myself in a few pools of melted snow warmed up by the sun.
- The amount of layers I was wearing in my down sleeping bag during some very cold nights.
- The fresh Danish pastries when we returned in Kuummiut; a delight!
- The coated dates we bought in the small shop in Kuumiut (licorice, cocoa and coconut); the perfect snack!
It was a journey of a lifetime and I would love to go back again some day to explore a different area of this immense country.
Earlier this year I announced that I received the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award to do a printmaking residency at Zea Mays Printmaking (ZMP) in the USA. You can read more about that in my previous article. From 30 October until 12 November I was there and below you can read about my awesome experience there.
Zea Mays printmaking studio is based in a former cutlery building in Florence near Northampton, Massachusetts. It’s a huge building!
The ground floor is where the printmaking courses are run, research into non-toxic printmaking is done, the Sanford gallery is for members’ exhibitions and where the Annex (my studio) is. The first floor contains the members’ studio, the office and the appartment (where I stayed).
My plan during the two weeks I was here was to create large collagraph prints and then make artists’ books from these prints. I had ordered some materials in the USA and had it sent over to ZMP. That was easier than to add to the already full suitcase with other materials I brought from home. As I hadn’t chosen my subject yet, I decided to let the environment inspire me. I was there in the most beautiful season with some decent weather and just in time to see the vibrant colours of the leaves before they fell off. ZMP lent me a bike so first I spent time to get familiar with the area. They have many bike-friendly roads, traffic is not heavy and they are very cautious drivers. There was also a dedicated bike track, the Norwottock Bike Trail which I really enjoyed!
The railway bridge gave splendid views over the Connecticut river and that’s when I decided to choose the flow of water as my subject.
Using the map as my guide I carved/cut out from the chipboard I had purchased in the USA. It was the first time I was using this kind of board so I was a bit nervous and hoped it would work. I was luckily not disappointed; I could easily peel off the top layer from the parts I had cut, making a nice indentation for the ink to set. I also scraped into the surface to add some more texture. Instead of sealing the plate with Shellac which I normally do, I used a non-toxic method in the form of acrylic varnish. That worked really well too and no bad smells!
As the plate was quite big it took a lot of physical effort and time to apply and wipe off the ink (intaglio method). For the first few prints I had to find the right balance in amount of ink, especially in the smaller grooves. Initially I only used one colour (Prussian Blue) but after I received some very valuable feedback from one of the tutors, I experimented with combining two techniques in applying ink: intaglio (which I ususally do) by using a squeegee + toothbrushes and once wiped off and the relief method where the ink was applied only to the raised area of the plate by using a relief roller (I only used this for some linocuts in the past). For this layer I used a terracotta colour. Normally you would leave that second layer of ink as it is, but I wanted to manipulate it and create various tones on the plate (while the blue was still underneath) so I had another intense session of wiping off the ink. All the effort was definitely worth it, I was very pleased with the result!
Inspired by the flow of water, I made another collagraph plate (with same kind of chipboard) by creating textures in a abstract way. I used molding paste, scrumbled up tissue paper, pieces of paperbags (every supermarket has them here!) and netting. This video shows (speeded up) how I wipe off the ink with scrim.
Wiping off ink from my collagraph plate
Certain areas were more wiped off than others to create tonal effects. As a print on its own, I don’t think it works as there is too much going on. There is no point of focus and the netting is not the right texture. My plan is to use the print in artists’ books so I was not too bothered. It was all about experimenting and having fun with different materials!
Before I left for the USA, I heard I was selected for an international print exchange (via Instagram). 20 printmakers would take part and each person would receive 19 different prints at the end. The theme was reflection. I had brought some Toyobo photopolymer plates and my design on film so that I could work on that too at ZMP. A positive and a negative image based on one of my photographs was printed on Pictorico Ultra Premium OHP Transparency film. I then exposed both images onto two different plates with the lightbox in the darkroom with the settings for a relief plate. Then I washed off the photopolymer that had been masked by the film.
Here’s a video while printing off the two plates onto one piece of paper.
Pulling off my photopolymer print
This is just a small batch of the prints. In the end I had to make about 30 so that I could select the best ones.
According to Wikipedia “Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and a countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. [...] Northampton is the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,000–99,000) in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian, a high number of same-sex households, and is a popular destination for the LGTB community”.
I only found this text after I had come back, but this is exactly how I experienced the culture there. I felt at home from the day I arrived!
To give myself some rest from all that printing and learn more about Northampton’s culture, I visited it’s Historic Museum and saw the exhibition “Chaotic Freedom and the scars of slavery: from Baton Rouge to Northampton”. Distressing but important to not forget this horrible past!
I also visited an exhibition at A.P.E. gallery where selected members of ZMP showed their work.
I was instantly drawn to one of the ceiling hangings and artists’ books by Edda Valborg Sigurdardottir.
Another artist whos work inspired me was Nancy Diessner. She had incorporated intaglio prints in a kayak sculpture!
On another day Liz Chalfin, the director of ZMP, invited me to come along to a talk by German book artist Veronika Schaepers, organised by Special Collections at Smith College. She brought a few books that were not in the library’s collection. The amount of detail and dedication to create books like that is just mindblowing! Here are two videos where Veronika shows one of her “woven” artists’ books.
At the end of my residency, I went down to Special Collections again to see 10 other artists’ books with unusual structures such as Daniel E. Kelm, Liz Chalfin, Julie Chen and Ken Botnick.
Back at ZMP I had the opportunity to see their own artist’ book “Traces”, a collaboration between poet Annie G. Rogers and selected ZMP members.
I also viewed artists’ book “Of Thin Ice” by ZMP member Tekla McInerey which had just been purchased by the New York Library Special Collections. It was inspired by Shackleton and Scott’s expeditions to Antarctica. The photos here don’t do it justice, you really have to feel the different (handmade) papers and see the subtleties in the prints upclose to fully appreciate the making of this book!
While I was there ZMP heard they received a grant to fund improvements to their studio. A fantastic achievement! During the preview of one of the members’ exhibitions a local tv crew from 22 News came round to cover the story. Unfortunately the directors Liz and Sheldon had other commitments that night, but members were able to inform the journalists. And then they interviewed me! I was a bit overwhelmed (and not prepared at all!) but I think it went ok. You can watch the broadcast here.
My plan was to create artists’ books from my new prints, but as it took much longer to make them and then to dry them, there was not much time left. I also realised I had to print the back side of the prints too before I could start making books. So while they were drying I made some mock-ups, inspired by Paul Jackson’s books about cut and folding techniques.
This one is made by embossing paper first with one of my collagraph plates and then rubbing graphite on top.
I also brought Hedi Kyle’s Art of the Fold book with me which gave me many wonderful ideas what to do with my prints. This one is a mock-up of the crown book made with newsprint. My head was spinning with the amount of possibilities!
At the end of my residency I had an informal open studio event for ZMP members and tutors. I showed them my work and spoke about the various printmaking processes I had used. It was really lovely to hear their positive feedback and questions. I was actually quite sad that I had to say goodbye to this wonderful community!
Back home I made this card to thank ZMP. It’s the crown greeting card structure from the Art of the Fold book. The designs come from my collagraph prints I made during my residency and are reproduced on Canson Aquarelle rag fine art paper.
Last but not least, I would like to thank Aberdeenshire Council and Creative Scotland. They have given me the chance to develop my non-toxic printmaking in a totally new environment and be part of a renowned, privately-owned printmaking studio. I have learnt new printmaking techniques, have experienced working on my art full-time and worked with a different press. I have been inspired by its members and other artists in the local community and their exceptional quality of artwork. The feedback I have received from members and tutors has given me more confidence to continue the creative path I’m following now. I’m ready to take my art practice further and look for opportunities to exhibit my artists’ books nationally and internationally.
I can’t believe how fast summer went! It has already been more than two months since I last posted an article here. Earlier this year I started to use Instagram where I regularly post photos and videos. It’s a more convenient way for me to record my artistic journey and connect with other artists and people who are interested in my work. You can see the latest feed on the right-hand side of my blog (if you receive blog updates by email you first have to click the title).
It has been a very busy time with a kayak expedition to Greenland (which I hope to write about later this year) and preparations for the yearly North East Open Studios. From 8-16 September I exhibited at the beautiful Phoenix Hall at Newton Dee in Bieldside, Aberdeen, with 10 other artists.
In the run up to NEOS I was asked by the Committee, among a few other artists, to take part in a promotional video which was going to be shared on social media. It was exciting to do but it’s so weird to hear yourself talking!
Video of me in my studio
Video of all interviewed artists
I had a wonderful, light space and was able to display my works in the way I wanted. I brought two side tables to display my print sculpture “Betula”and my limited edition artists’ book “Woodland” (the original was sold at RSA Open!).
As most visitors like to buy smaller items, I designed and made various notebooks. These proofed to be very popular so soon I will have these available in my Etsy shop!
For the event I also made a new artists’ book where I used birch bark and some leftover prints.
This print sculpture was another new piece I added to my collection. It is made from two prints (from a laser engraved plate), machine-stitched together and assembled onto a piece of birch branch with three twigs.
It was an amazing week, where I met so many lovely people. Hearing their feedback about my work was just priceless. I also really enjoyed working together with the other artists and being part of a group. Newton Dee has been a fabulous host for our event and I can’t thank them enough for letting us use their space. Even though I was exhausted after 9 days of listening and talking, it’s something I definitely want to do again, again….and again!
Last month we went to Shetland to visit our neighbours/friends who have a holiday house on mainland (Walls). It was about 8 years ago since we last visited the islands. You can read a summary about that here. Obviously I was quite anxious about the ferry crossing after my previous experience so I had been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and sea state. We were due to leave on the 14th of June but there was a huge storm forecasted that evening so we decided to postpone it to two days later. I’m glad I did because we had a smooth journey.
On Sunday the 17th of June we arrived in the early hours and met up with Dave and Lucy in their beautiful house in Scarvister.
As it was stunning weather Dave, Jaap and me went out for a kayak trip along the coastline from Westerwick to Reawick. Lucy was injured so she took photos of us from land.
The third day the wind came from the South West, F4-5, so we decided to paddle on the East side, at Bressay. Lucy had to do work on Noss. It’s a very short ferry crossing from Lerwick but you feel like you’re miles away from mainland. We left the car at Setter and hoped to circumnavigate the island clockwise. At Bard Head the sea state was such that we decided to return the same way.
Then it got too windy for kayaking so we visited Lerwick, its wonderful Shetland museum and Bonhoga Gallery.
After a few wonderful days we left our friends and went up to Hamnavoe to stay at Johnnie Notions böd. In Shetland, a Böd was a building used to house fishermen and their gear during the fishing season. Now they offer basic accommodation: http://camping-bods.com/. We booked this place exclusively (it has 4 bunk beds). There is a simple kitchen (cold water), no shower but two toilets and it has a woodburning stove. Just perfect for a few nights, instead of camping in some windy and sometimes wet weather!
We walked from Hamnavoe to Eshaness to Dore Holm back to Hamnavoe via Tangwick.
On our last day we met up with Lucy and Dave again (who stayed over in our böd for 1 night) and did the Fethaland circular walk.
After a superb week with some mixed weather it was time to go back home again. It was unfortunate that the moment we got on the ferry the weather looked very stable for the following week and it would have been just perfect for kayaking. Next time we go to Shetland we’ll definitely stay longer! We already know a lovely place to stay at…
In the midst of winter here (-14C in Braemar last night), I have finally found the time to report on our kayak expedition to Greenland last year. We booked our 12-day trip with Martin Rickard who has been kayaking and leading trips in South-East Greenland for almost 20 years. He was recommended to us by our neighbours who did a similar trip two years ago.
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| Map of South-East Greenland (source: Wee Cheng) |
On the 23rd of July we took the plane to Reykjavik, Iceland. We stayed there for one night, giving us the opportunity to chat with our kayak friends from NESKy who just returned from their trip and were able to share their wonderful experience there. Because their group was too large we joined a different one. We met eachother the next day at the Domestic airport of Reykjavik. A couple from Northern Ireland, a couple and 2 friends from New Zealand (!), a woman from England and us.
Once arrived at Kulusuk airport we got a boat ferry to Kuummiut, a small settlement inland. Normally the kayak trips would start at Tasiilaq (also called Ammassalik or Angmagssalik) and go through Sermilik fjord. However, a hungry polar bear had been spotted there, “stealing” seals from the locals. As they already hit the quota, they couldn’t do anything else other than making a lot of noise. Although our guide carries a gun, he didn’t want to take any risks. This meant that we were going to explore Sermiligaq fjord with its glaciers and an abandoned US airbase from after WWII.
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| Our route |
With about a maximum of 20 k per day it was not challenging. The cold however was! Not so much the first week when it was wonderful and sometimes surpringly hot, but in the second week we had some fog and the nights were very damp and chilly. Even our guide said it was unusually cold for a Greenland summer. There was also much more snow in the mountains than what he had experienced in two decades. One day we stayed put at one of the hunters huts due the bad weather forecast. The kayaks had to be tied down and the hut was shaking when the storm came that night!
Here is a selection of photos. Enjoy!
Some things I won’t ever forget:
- The mosquitoes; they even sting through thick woolen socks! And then the weeping blisters because of the rubbing of the socks against my skin. Ouch.
- The stunning geology.
- The sound of calving glaciers.
- The warmth of our campfire (a necessity).
- The beautiful tree logs brought here by rivers and sea currents all the way from Russia (there are no trees in Greenland).
- The amazing wildlife such as seals (synchronised swimming), the cute and cheeky arctic fox in our camp and the humback and fin whales
- The exploding iceberg right in front of me while I was doing my polar bear watch at night. My heart skipped a beat!
- The tsunami that was caused by the breaking up of a giant iceberg a few kilometers away. We had to tie up the kayaks and it only took a few minutes to reach our beach!
- Drinking lovely fresh water which can be found almost everywhere.
- The joy of washing myself in a few pools of melted snow warmed up by the sun.
- The amount of layers I was wearing in my down sleeping bag during some very cold nights.
- The fresh Danish pastries when we returned in Kuummiut; a delight!
- The coated dates we bought in the small shop in Kuumiut (licorice, cocoa and coconut); the perfect snack!
It was a journey of a lifetime and I would love to go back again some day to explore a different area of this immense country.
Earlier this year I announced that I received the Visual Artist and Craft Maker Award to do a printmaking residency at Zea Mays Printmaking (ZMP) in the USA. You can read more about that in my previous article. From 30 October until 12 November I was there and below you can read about my awesome experience there.
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| Zea Mays Printmaking |
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| Zea Mays Printmaking on ground and second floor |
The ground floor is where the printmaking courses are run, research into non-toxic printmaking is done, the Sanford gallery is for members’ exhibitions and where the Annex (my studio) is. The first floor contains the members’ studio, the office and the appartment (where I stayed).
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| The Members’ studio |
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| Rolled up ink in the members’ studio |
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| Participants during a printmaking course |
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| Participant during a printmaking course |
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| Participants during a printmaking course |
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| Relief rollers |
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| Instructions for non-toxic etching |
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| Inky scrim |
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| Letterpress alphabet |
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| The Loo Gallery with a monthly rotating member exhibition |
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| Members’ exhibition at the Sanford Gallery |
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| The huge Takach press in the Annex which was exclusively mine for this period! |
My plan during the two weeks I was here was to create large collagraph prints and then make artists’ books from these prints. I had ordered some materials in the USA and had it sent over to ZMP. That was easier than to add to the already full suitcase with other materials I brought from home. As I hadn’t chosen my subject yet, I decided to let the environment inspire me. I was there in the most beautiful season with some decent weather and just in time to see the vibrant colours of the leaves before they fell off. ZMP lent me a bike so first I spent time to get familiar with the area. They have many bike-friendly roads, traffic is not heavy and they are very cautious drivers. There was also a dedicated bike track, the Norwottock Bike Trail which I really enjoyed!
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| Cycling the Norwottock Bike Trail |
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| The Norwottock trail is part of the Mass Central rail trail |
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| The rail bridge at Northampton |
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| The Connecticut river |
The railway bridge gave splendid views over the Connecticut river and that’s when I decided to choose the flow of water as my subject.
Using the map as my guide I carved/cut out from the chipboard I had purchased in the USA. It was the first time I was using this kind of board so I was a bit nervous and hoped it would work. I was luckily not disappointed; I could easily peel off the top layer from the parts I had cut, making a nice indentation for the ink to set. I also scraped into the surface to add some more texture. Instead of sealing the plate with Shellac which I normally do, I used a non-toxic method in the form of acrylic varnish. That worked really well too and no bad smells!
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| Carving chipboard with a scalpel to create a collagraph plate |
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| Me in action in the beautiful studio |
As the plate was quite big it took a lot of physical effort and time to apply and wipe off the ink (intaglio method). For the first few prints I had to find the right balance in amount of ink, especially in the smaller grooves. Initially I only used one colour (Prussian Blue) but after I received some very valuable feedback from one of the tutors, I experimented with combining two techniques in applying ink: intaglio (which I ususally do) by using a squeegee + toothbrushes and once wiped off and the relief method where the ink was applied only to the raised area of the plate by using a relief roller (I only used this for some linocuts in the past). For this layer I used a terracotta colour. Normally you would leave that second layer of ink as it is, but I wanted to manipulate it and create various tones on the plate (while the blue was still underneath) so I had another intense session of wiping off the ink. All the effort was definitely worth it, I was very pleased with the result!
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| One of the final prints inspired by the Connecticut river |
Inspired by the flow of water, I made another collagraph plate (with same kind of chipboard) by creating textures in a abstract way. I used molding paste, scrumbled up tissue paper, pieces of paperbags (every supermarket has them here!) and netting. This video shows (speeded up) how I wipe off the ink with scrim.
Wiping off ink from my collagraph plate
Certain areas were more wiped off than others to create tonal effects. As a print on its own, I don’t think it works as there is too much going on. There is no point of focus and the netting is not the right texture. My plan is to use the print in artists’ books so I was not too bothered. It was all about experimenting and having fun with different materials!
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| Water texture print |
Before I left for the USA, I heard I was selected for an international print exchange (via Instagram). 20 printmakers would take part and each person would receive 19 different prints at the end. The theme was reflection. I had brought some Toyobo photopolymer plates and my design on film so that I could work on that too at ZMP. A positive and a negative image based on one of my photographs was printed on Pictorico Ultra Premium OHP Transparency film. I then exposed both images onto two different plates with the lightbox in the darkroom with the settings for a relief plate. Then I washed off the photopolymer that had been masked by the film.
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| The lightbox in action in the darkroom |
Here’s a video while printing off the two plates onto one piece of paper.
Pulling off my photopolymer print
This is just a small batch of the prints. In the end I had to make about 30 so that I could select the best ones.
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| Reflection print from two photopolymer plates (Toyobo) |
According to Wikipedia “Northampton is known as an academic, artistic, musical, and a countercultural hub. It features a large politically liberal community along with numerous alternative health and intellectual organizations. [...] Northampton is the most politically liberal medium-size city (population 25,000–99,000) in the United States. The city has a high proportion of residents who identify as gay and lesbian, a high number of same-sex households, and is a popular destination for the LGTB community”.
I only found this text after I had come back, but this is exactly how I experienced the culture there. I felt at home from the day I arrived!
To give myself some rest from all that printing and learn more about Northampton’s culture, I visited it’s Historic Museum and saw the exhibition “Chaotic Freedom and the scars of slavery: from Baton Rouge to Northampton”. Distressing but important to not forget this horrible past!
I also visited an exhibition at A.P.E. gallery where selected members of ZMP showed their work.
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| A.P.E gallery in Northampton |
I was instantly drawn to one of the ceiling hangings and artists’ books by Edda Valborg Sigurdardottir.
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| Detail of Edda Valborg’s mixed media work |
Another artist whos work inspired me was Nancy Diessner. She had incorporated intaglio prints in a kayak sculpture!
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| Print sculpture by Nancy Diessner |
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| Print sculpture by Nancy Diessner |
On another day Liz Chalfin, the director of ZMP, invited me to come along to a talk by German book artist Veronika Schaepers, organised by Special Collections at Smith College. She brought a few books that were not in the library’s collection. The amount of detail and dedication to create books like that is just mindblowing! Here are two videos where Veronika shows one of her “woven” artists’ books.
Veronika showing her artists’ book
Veronika showing her artists’ book
At the end of my residency, I went down to Special Collections again to see 10 other artists’ books with unusual structures such as Daniel E. Kelm, Liz Chalfin, Julie Chen and Ken Botnick.
Back at ZMP I had the opportunity to see their own artist’ book “Traces”, a collaboration between poet Annie G. Rogers and selected ZMP members.
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| Artists’ book “Traces” with prints from ZMP members |
I also viewed artists’ book “Of Thin Ice” by ZMP member Tekla McInerey which had just been purchased by the New York Library Special Collections. It was inspired by Shackleton and Scott’s expeditions to Antarctica. The photos here don’t do it justice, you really have to feel the different (handmade) papers and see the subtleties in the prints upclose to fully appreciate the making of this book!
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| Artists’ book “On Thin Ice” by Tekla McInerey |
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| Artists’ book “On Thin Ice” by Tekla McInerey |
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| Detail of one of the pages “On Thin Ice” by Tekla McInerey |
While I was there ZMP heard they received a grant to fund improvements to their studio. A fantastic achievement! During the preview of one of the members’ exhibitions a local tv crew from 22 News came round to cover the story. Unfortunately the directors Liz and Sheldon had other commitments that night, but members were able to inform the journalists. And then they interviewed me! I was a bit overwhelmed (and not prepared at all!) but I think it went ok. You can watch the broadcast here.
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| Having fun AFTER the interview |
My plan was to create artists’ books from my new prints, but as it took much longer to make them and then to dry them, there was not much time left. I also realised I had to print the back side of the prints too before I could start making books. So while they were drying I made some mock-ups, inspired by Paul Jackson’s books about cut and folding techniques.
This one is made by embossing paper first with one of my collagraph plates and then rubbing graphite on top.
 |
| Experiment pop-up card |
I also brought Hedi Kyle’s Art of the Fold book with me which gave me many wonderful ideas what to do with my prints. This one is a mock-up of the crown book made with newsprint. My head was spinning with the amount of possibilities!
 |
| Mock-up crown book |
At the end of my residency I had an informal open studio event for ZMP members and tutors. I showed them my work and spoke about the various printmaking processes I had used. It was really lovely to hear their positive feedback and questions. I was actually quite sad that I had to say goodbye to this wonderful community!
Back home I made this card to thank ZMP. It’s the crown greeting card structure from the Art of the Fold book. The designs come from my collagraph prints I made during my residency and are reproduced on Canson Aquarelle rag fine art paper.
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| Card for ZMP (front) |
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| Card for ZMP (front) |
Last but not least, I would like to thank Aberdeenshire Council and Creative Scotland. They have given me the chance to develop my non-toxic printmaking in a totally new environment and be part of a renowned, privately-owned printmaking studio. I have learnt new printmaking techniques, have experienced working on my art full-time and worked with a different press. I have been inspired by its members and other artists in the local community and their exceptional quality of artwork. The feedback I have received from members and tutors has given me more confidence to continue the creative path I’m following now. I’m ready to take my art practice further and look for opportunities to exhibit my artists’ books nationally and internationally.
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| VACMA award sponsors |
I can’t believe how fast summer went! It has already been more than two months since I last posted an article here. Earlier this year I started to use Instagram where I regularly post photos and videos. It’s a more convenient way for me to record my artistic journey and connect with other artists and people who are interested in my work. You can see the latest feed on the right-hand side of my blog (if you receive blog updates by email you first have to click the title).
It has been a very busy time with a kayak expedition to Greenland (which I hope to write about later this year) and preparations for the yearly North East Open Studios. From 8-16 September I exhibited at the beautiful Phoenix Hall at Newton Dee in Bieldside, Aberdeen, with 10 other artists.
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| Artists at the Phoenix group |
In the run up to NEOS I was asked by the Committee, among a few other artists, to take part in a promotional video which was going to be shared on social media. It was exciting to do but it’s so weird to hear yourself talking!
Video of me in my studio
Video of all interviewed artists
I had a wonderful, light space and was able to display my works in the way I wanted. I brought two side tables to display my print sculpture “Betula”and my limited edition artists’ book “Woodland” (the original was sold at RSA Open!).
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| Settling in in my exhibition space |
As most visitors like to buy smaller items, I designed and made various notebooks. These proofed to be very popular so soon I will have these available in my Etsy shop!
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| A selection of my handmade notebooks |
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| I used wooden boxes to display my notebooks and cards |
For the event I also made a new artists’ book where I used birch bark and some leftover prints.
This print sculpture was another new piece I added to my collection. It is made from two prints (from a laser engraved plate), machine-stitched together and assembled onto a piece of birch branch with three twigs.
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| “Betula” print sculpture (front) |
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| “Betula” print sculpture (close-up back) |
Last month we went to Shetland to visit our neighbours/friends who have a holiday house on mainland (Walls). It was about 8 years ago since we last visited the islands. You can read a summary about that here. Obviously I was quite anxious about the ferry crossing after my previous experience so I had been keeping a close eye on the weather forecast and sea state. We were due to leave on the 14th of June but there was a huge storm forecasted that evening so we decided to postpone it to two days later. I’m glad I did because we had a smooth journey.
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| The Shetland Isles lie 168 km North East from Scottish mainland |
On Sunday the 17th of June we arrived in the early hours and met up with Dave and Lucy in their beautiful house in Scarvister.
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| North Scarvister house |
As it was stunning weather Dave, Jaap and me went out for a kayak trip along the coastline from Westerwick to Reawick. Lucy was injured so she took photos of us from land.
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| Kayak trip Westerwick-Reawick |
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| More detailed map |
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| Jaap and Arctic tern |
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| Stunning linked cave at Westerwick |
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| There was a cave around every corner! |
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| Good conditions to explore every bit of the coastline |
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| Practicing our paddle strokes in narrower bits |
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| The geology there is mindblowing! |
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| Jaap in his element |
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| This rock structure at Clett looks like a bull |
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| Jaap is keeping a safe distance from crashing waves |
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| The cliffs at Reawick are made of sandstone |
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| Dave paddling at Reawick |
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| Lucy had a fantastic bird’s eye view of us from land © Lucy Gilbert 2018 |
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| Exploring one of the many caves at Westerwick © Lucy Gilbert 2018 |
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| Approaching sea stacks at Sil Wick © Lucy Gilbert 2018 |
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| Another sea stack we could get through! © Lucy Gilbert 2018 |
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| Shags on rock |
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| Happy paddlers at Reawick |
The next day the weather changed and it got really windy so we went for an exciting coastal walk from Dale of Walls to Sandness.
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| Route coastal walk Dale of Walls to Sandness |
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| Happy couple |
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| Lucy watching the waves |
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| Beautifully coloured waves |
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| Exhilirating to watch the waves crashing against the cliffs! |
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| Huge surf at Sandness |
The third day the wind came from the South West, F4-5, so we decided to paddle on the East side, at Bressay. Lucy had to do work on Noss. It’s a very short ferry crossing from Lerwick but you feel like you’re miles away from mainland. We left the car at Setter and hoped to circumnavigate the island clockwise. At Bard Head the sea state was such that we decided to return the same way.
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| Route map of our trip along the East coast of Bressay |
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| Coffee break on the beach of Noss overlooking Bressay |
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| Seal basking in the sun |
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| Add caption |
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| Stunning cloud formation above Noss |
Then it got too windy for kayaking so we visited Lerwick, its wonderful Shetland museum and Bonhoga Gallery.
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| The Viking influences can still be seen in Lerwick (image manipulated on Iphone) |
After a few wonderful days we left our friends and went up to Hamnavoe to stay at Johnnie Notions böd. In Shetland, a Böd was a building used to house fishermen and their gear during the fishing season. Now they offer basic accommodation: http://camping-bods.com/. We booked this place exclusively (it has 4 bunk beds). There is a simple kitchen (cold water), no shower but two toilets and it has a woodburning stove. Just perfect for a few nights, instead of camping in some windy and sometimes wet weather!
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| Johnnie Notions Böd in Hamnavoe |
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| Johnnie Notions Böd in Hamnavoe |
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| Information about Johnnie Notions |
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| Inside “our ” böd |
We walked from Hamnavoe to Eshaness to Dore Holm back to Hamnavoe via Tangwick.
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| Map Eshaness |
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| A wee gang of cute puffins! |
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| Field of cotton grass |
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| Wild orchid |
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| Dore Holm (manipulated on Iphone) |
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| Wave in collapsed cave (manipulated on Iphone) |
On our last day we met up with Lucy and Dave again (who stayed over in our böd for 1 night) and did the Fethaland circular walk.
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| Route circular walk Fethaland |
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| A large rock of quartz had to be investigated upclose |
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| Close-up quartz |
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| Looking towards Isle of Fethaland |
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| Remains of old fishing houses |
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| Skillfully built fishing house |
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| House with a view |
After a superb week with some mixed weather it was time to go back home again. It was unfortunate that the moment we got on the ferry the weather looked very stable for the following week and it would have been just perfect for kayaking. Next time we go to Shetland we’ll definitely stay longer! We already know a lovely place to stay at…
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| Goodbye inspiring Shetland, till next time! |