Digital Cyanotype Sketches

That's what I'm calling these images, digitally reworked from photographs. I'm thinking of lifting some of the lines as monoprints... or collographs?




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Guanche Connection

Image
I have found myself delving into the aboriginal beginnings in the Canary Islands and have made some significant discoveries. The original inhabitants of the islands were Guanches, who are thought to come from the Berber tribe in North Africa. This tribe were reputed to be very tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, a description which also fits the Grooved Ware folk from Orkney who I believe could be one and the same. The graffiti that I spent much time photographing around the island turns out to be a Guanche motif. There is a  neolithic settlement on Lanzarote called Zonzamas which seems to have striking similarities to Skara Brae in Orkney, although it is very hard to find and not promoted much as a visitor attraction. In fact, I had great difficulty in locating it on the island. During the Spanish Inquisition anyone of Guanche origin was hunted out and put to death, so many islanders denied their Guanche history from that time onwards and it still seems to be rather a taboo ...
Read more

finding the way forward

Image
The mid session review is a great way to crystalize ideas and sort out where I am in my work. On one side of my studio 'booth' I had displayed digital images from Chania reworked on aluminium and transfer sheets beside a large painting of a Chania wall where I was experimenting with layering oil paint over acrylic. I want to experiment with the idea of mixing up digital imagery with paintings:  On the other side I had a large mixed media painting of a Guanche cave wall alongside sketches of cave art: and the 'otro mundo es posible ' photobook: After very useful discussions with Gordon Brennan and Joan Smith, my next step is to bring the key elements together in my work - graffiti/cave art, posters/layers. Gordon suggested I should introduce a motif, and as it happens I already have one, with my collection of Guanche symbol graffiti. This 'Guanche icon' could be added to my work after installation. Meanwhile, Alex Rowell has been bac...
Read more

Kekki Seams

Image
In preparation for a forthcoming Mesh Collective exhibition at Patriothall Gallery in Stockbridge, from 22nd April - 6th May 2015, I am working on my part of a collaborative work entitled 'Earthworks'. Mesh is a diverse group of artists residing all over Scotland. Earthworks is our first collaborative work. In 2015, International Year of Soil, each of us will produce a hanging textile work using our local earth and soil  and things that grow in it or are found in it to mark or dye the fabric, My piece relates to the East Lothian coastline. I have been having fun stitching kekki seams in the long dark winter evenings. Being triple stitched, Kekki seams add form and structure to a textile work. I found detailed instructions on how to do them from the wonderful Korean textile artist Chunghie Lee in this publication: Bojagi and Beyond In the past stitching gave Korean women a creative outlet which gave their lives meaning and joy. Bojagis would be stitched in an almost tranc...
Read more