Wednesday’s Wood Engraver
This book arrived in the library this week; with lots of new images that I have not seen before. Although I have featured Claire Leighton in my blog before I never tired of her work.
Weekly photo challenge Extra Extra!
Extra, extra, more and more with less! or for a little bit extra! We have a need for extra as we have become more and more informed. This is not a new phenomenon; it has of course developed over the millennia but doesn’t make it any more attractive. Except of course you can not have too many extra teapots! Funny that!
Monday’s What’s new?
I have been working on this linocut for about four weeks! Its is a lengthy process because the oil based ink takes days to dry thoroughly. Also converting my kitchen it a printing workshop is best done at weekends. I am pleased with the results as my previous attempt was pretty disastrous. Although these prints will not rock any boats they have raised me a little from the doldrums. Now I feel in a better position to begin lessons at the end of the summer in an intermediary printing class rather than a beginner’s class.
Silent Sunday
Saturday … have a good weekend!
My cup runs over this morning; neither half full or half empty. I have no complaints, not sure why, best not analysis. In fact I am stuck for words. Why is that? I can blab for reams about my hard done by -ness; yet I cannot express joy or gratitude even in a word.
Yes! good weather, a tiny bonus, recognition for a mammoth task, or even a successful day goes a long way to lift the spirits. But, I know from experience, (you don’t get to my age without learning a few lessons in the School of Knocks) there is always a rug to be pulled from beneath my feet. The Christmas dilemma was a case in point!
But this pales into sweet insignificance this morning; all is fine and I make noises of gratitude to those who have contributed to the sense of comfort and send love.
Friday … not a snapshot!
This week has been pleasantly different. First the weather has been kind and summer-like. Then, the students will finish their exams today so there is a sense of calm around the place. Also and more important I have a day off. All this had an impact on my blog post today or the lack of it. So I fell a little at a lose. Wednesday (my holiday) was memorable and deserves more than a snapshot; so I will tell you about it later and will share with you the fruit of my labour. I spent the day with a wood engraver and it was very exciting (a strange way to describe a learning experience of such intensity). Nonetheless one highlight or two I will share today. Sadly, I have no visual evidence of either. My camera didn’t come out all all (which I regret slightly); but it does demonstrate the business of the day (in between the tea breaks!)
On the wall of the studio was an original Monica Poole linocut and the press we used ; or rather I gazed at longingly was owned by the lady herself!
So while I apologise for the lack of a snapshot I did have a good week in and out of the library!! Thanks to Chris Daunt and Monica Poole ….
Alphabe Thursday D is for Ding, Dong Bell
Ding, dong, bell,
Pussy’s in the well.
Who put her in?
Little Tommy Green.
Who pulled her out?
Little Tommy Stout.
What a naughty boy was that,
To try to drown poor pussy cat.
Who never did him any harm,
And killed the mice in his father’s barn.
Very common in my generation; not so sure now though, but it does have a long history. In 1580 John Gant, an organist of Winchester Cathedral ,
Cathedral, collected;
Jacke boy, ho boy newes,
the cat is in the well,
let us ring now for her knell,
ding dong ding dong bell.
This cannon was later printed in Pammelia, Musiks miscellanie, 1609, and appears to have been alluded to in the Taming of the shrew, while ‘Ding Dong Bell is the burden of songs in the Merchant of Venice and the Tempest.
Alternative names for the malevolent Johnny Green are Tommy O’Linne (1797) and Tommy Quin (1840)
Nursery Rhyme reformers have recently taken particular objection to Ding dong bell, claiming that children have been known to throw cats into ponds after being influenced by the rhyme.
Wednesday … Women, Picasso and Charles White
I was away yesterday so I prepared this post in advance and attempted to publish it on the calendar (?} in advance this didn’t happen this was disappointing. This is not a good reason to reblog as I hoped this might be away to blog daily when away on holiday when the internet can be a bit unstable.
I spend a lot of time looking at the print works of other artists; a bittersweet exercise because I know I will never be able to achieve such lofty heights.
Nonetheless just looking is often just enough not only for inspiration but to consider the stories behind the picture.
These three lino cuts are favourites of mine I gaze at the graphic power of every cut.
Picasso’s (1955) depicts his second wife and muse, Jacqueline Roque. Elizabeth Catlett (1952) portrays an anonymous sharecropper and champions the strength and dignity of working people. Catlett learned printing at El Taller de Grafica Popular, a workshop in Mexico City that sought to continue Mexico’s strong historical tradition of socially and politically engaged printmaking.
The other Solid as a rock (my god is rock) is by Charles White. After being discharged from the army in 1944 he spent two years in Mexico…
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Wednesday … Women, Picasso and Charles White
I spend a lot of time looking at the print works of other artists; a bittersweet exercise because I know I will never be able to achieve such lofty heights.
Nonetheless just looking is often just enough not only for inspiration but to consider the stories behind the picture.
These three lino cuts are favourites of mine I gaze at the graphic power of every cut.
Picasso’s (1955) depicts his second wife and muse, Jacqueline Roque. Elizabeth Catlett (1952) portrays an anonymous sharecropper and champions the strength and dignity of working people. Catlett learned printing at El Taller de Grafica Popular, a workshop in Mexico City that sought to continue Mexico’s strong historical tradition of socially and politically engaged printmaking.
The other Solid as a rock (my god is rock) is by Charles White. After being discharged from the army in 1944 he spent two years in Mexico with his then wife Elizabeth Catlett studying at the same workshop. The El Taller de Grafica Popular promoted the use of lino for its democratic qualities,the medium was (so they say) relatively easy to learn and execute and didn’t require expensive materials and withstood the production of large editions.
White moved by other notable students such as Leopoldo Mendez and Jose-Guadalupe Posada, became very skilled at lino cut with works like this one displaying ‘a sculptural solidarity and compositional dynamism’ due to the artist’s vibrant line-work.
Weekly Photo Challenge Room
I grew up on a houseboat! I have written much about this; so I will not bored you with the details. But it is enough to say, in the light of the prompt, that the effect of this rather precarious and limited existence has left me with a strong value of space (or room) and privacy. I am inclined to put a label of space and be confined. So there is the kitchen, garden, bedroom and my study; there are no blank or wasted spaces and every ‘thing’ and ‘body’ has to earn room or recognition!
This doesn’t mean I need to own space or room; on the contrary I enjoy change or movement I will go like a snail, nomad, houseboat-ee, to a safe sanctuary and make a room with an upturned box!
Coat Hanger Doll's House 