Beauty between the showers

 

At the moment we are in a covid lockdown for three days at least. Fiona and I are finding it is a useful time to catch up on some of those tasks we have got behind on - for me -  making functional hammered metal items - ladles, leaf spoons etc.

We are also informed that it is likely to be rainy over the same period - and it there have been showers on and off - periods of cloud and fragments of sunshine. I was not able to walk this morning but managed to take a few photos between the showers - including the spent crucifix orchid suspended by a single strand of web in G's orchid house and the gorgeous trio of new leaves on our potted Ginko tree.

A few more joyful bits follow.

And of course there were a few hurried shots in G's orchid house - most of orchids unfurling.

So with the gloom of the lockdown and rain there was still beauty in abundance.

Every nook and cranny

 Over the weekend Fiona and I assessed and sorted every storage draw, every shelf, every container and every piece of equipment at Deckled Edge Press - a 12 month assessment, clean up and cull.

We found that over the last 12 months some things appeared to have bred - such as brown paper  and paper carry bags as you can see from the photo above of Fiona sorting and sifting.

Included in the assessment was art pieces that were in draws etc - see below.

Some of the groups were interesting.

Fiona measured and marked the larger pieces of metal and wood furniture.

We reviewed how many presses we use regularly; and came to the conclusion that the three in the photo below will be sold. It still leaves us with 4 Adana presses (3 8X5 and 1 3X5).

We also checked out every draw of metal type - we discovered a couple of duplicate fonts and we concluded that there were some fonts that we did not use. Barry checking fonts with Fiona.

A tiring but important and useful process. The next step is to hold a sale - moving on some art work, paper, equipment, ink and presses.

Olives without the oil!!!

 

I'm in the process of making a stash of silver-plated ladles with hammered 'bowls'. Fiona suggested that if I were making some smaller ladles ('bowls' about 4cm diameter) and micro ladles ('bowls' about 2.5cm in diameter) then I could make some with perforations in them so they could be used for ladling olives out of oil or capers out of brine. So that is what I have done with seven of the stash. The photo above shows the micro 'bowls' nestled in a couple of deeper cone shaped ladle bowls.

Photos of the bowls and perforated bowls in the rough.

Photos of non-perforated smaller bowls and perforated bowls - ground and polished.

The couple of deeper 'bowl' shapes.

Some of the larger bowls (about 7cm in diameter).

And the whole stash together.

The next task is to make 18-20 brass rod handles so they can be riveted to the bowls.

Not my fault - it was the overnight rain

 

We woke to a dull-dark morning (see photo below) - not surprising given we have just passed the point of the shortest day of the year. But what was surprising was the amount of beauty on display - though drenched in the moisture of a light overnight shower. 

The blossom in the opening photo was holding water so beautifully. The Camellia below just seemed to be holding and reflecting gentle sunshine.

A few other rain drenched blossoms.

Even G's orchids were drenched.

But the Gazanias from a few days ago were dry as.

What a joyful morning to walk.

A whole lot of printing

 

On Saturday I managed to really test the 3D printed plates I had printed at the recent 3D course by doing a series of 10 - printed 12 or 13 of course.. 

I did quite a bit of preparation on Thursday - chose paper in consultation with Fiona, cut paper, marked out a registration page etc. All set to go on the etching press.

I discussed ink with Fiona - we thought because it was relief printing I would dampen the paper and use water based ink that is usually used for lino-cut printing. But that did not work well - too uneven and ink bled.

So I ended up using a water based etching ink - which worked well as you can see from the photos below.

The prints are going to be tested as postcards  - so some letterpress to be added yet.

It has been a long time since I printed using the etching press - so I was pleased with the outcomes.