Sunday, July 3, 2011

Altering Ken's Paper

An artist friend Ken Munsie creates great sculptures using eroded timber, rusty iron and hand made paper.  He uses great stacks of textured paper in his pieces - one of the things that identifies his pieces as "a Munsie". You can check them out here for yourself. Ken makes all his own paper from recycled offcuts, card etc - he often has a vat of pulp soaking (and stinking?) away.

On occasions Fiona makes some handmade paper for printing purposes but thought why would she do this when we could source it from Ken - so Fiona 'commissioned' Ken to produce 50 or so A4 sheets for her. A few days ago we dropped over to Ken's studio to pick the paper up. The stacks of paper looked so good I couldn't resist photographing them with the trusty iPhone (and Ken's permission). So I thought I'd share some of the shots below.

Barry Smith© Ken's paper stacks
Barry Smith© Ken's paper stacks
Barry Smith© Ken's paper stacks
And one thing I know from experience is that layers and texture make good subjects for altering with an app or two. So you can see how the photos above can turn out with a little manipulation on the iPhone.
Barry Smith© Ken's paper  - slightly altered?
Barry Smith© Ken's paper  - very 'green'?

Barry Smith© Ken's paper  - layers?
And on the way out of Ken's I saw this flower; and had to photograph it and do an alteration job on it.

Barry Smith© Ken's flower 
Barry Smith© Ken's flower - altered

14 comments:

  1. I saw the stacked paper in my sidebar and thought, Yum! I love Ken's combination of wood and paper. A wonderful contrast!

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  2. Very interesting changes with a nice abstract language.

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  3. beautiful shots. both original and altered...some of your bright altered photos remind me of Andy Warhol

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  4. handmade paper has such a wonderful feel and texture to it! i love making them as well :) the stacks look just sumptuous!! man!! you guys really have fun with each other's stuff ... i am utterly jealous!

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  5. Last time I visited Ken's studio it was too neat by far. Glad to know he actually WORKS there. Nice job with the phone Barry.

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  6. gorgeous papers and so glad you captured them with your trusty iPhone!

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  7. R, N, Le, Li, JM & TL - glad you enjoyed Ken's stacks- and also how he uses the paper - talented.
    Le - can see the alterations would appeal.
    Li - the changes can have a a quirky beauty of there own - glad you are reminded of AW.
    B

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  8. crickey Baz ... thanks for the plug !!!!
    The altered paper images look great - they look on fire ...
    mmmmmmmm ... not too sure about my altered flower tho ...
    cheers - Ken

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  9. Those stacks of handmade paper make my heart melt...so wonderful!!! Hope Fiona has a grand time with that yummy paper...thanks for sharing Barry!

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  10. Thanks so much for getting those photos B - they are simply stunning and I am loving playing with the paper by the talented Mr KM, F

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  11. I wish you a happy winter is summer here in Spain and for a time close my comments on my photos, so take a break and spend more time with family. But I will continue posting photos every day. Greetings.

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  12. K, P, F, S & L - thanks for checking out the images of Ken's paper. Even as a person who does not use a lot of paper in my work I love the texture and piles of Ken's paper. I can imagine that true paper lovers could have paper envy - but then again I'm sure that Ken is open to offers of exchange etc. Go well. B

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Comments are welcomed - it is good to connect with fellow travellers.