Fiona and I have been very fortunate with the weather during our trip - we have been able to walk a couple of times each day - which of course maximises the opportunity to see beauty and so be reminded of hope. I have bee amazed that a few of the birds have allowed us to get up close to them as you can see above and below.
The stone headlands, sea, sand and sky all tell their story.
Uplifted and intrigued by natural beauty.
Fiona and I are in Sydney doing a couple of weeks of house-cat sitting. This has given us the opportunity to catch up with a few friends, walk and check out the art and exhibition scene.
So no work being done by me in the letterpress studio or the workshop. Instead here I simply share a few images of details or fragments of art pieces that have caught my eye over the last few days.
Of course one keeps one's eyes peeled to pick up objects that might find their way into art pieces.
Some time ago I started the process of planning to print a concertina Daily Word booklet to complement my other Daily Word pieces.
It was quite a challenge to do the printing of one side of the book because I was using refolded Kardi paper concertina booklets. The type was set up in one of our galley presses because of the length of the paper and layout of the booklet - see opening photo.
To hold the concertina paper flatish it was necessary to tape it in place - see below.
Even so the paper moved slightly each time I printed. Still the outcome is not too bad.
I have now set up the type for printing the reverse side.
The second print run will have to wait until the ink is totally dry and I can get back into the studio.
There are times when we just want to celebrate rust, patina, marks and traces left over time. These are a few such fragments from the phone.
A friend asked me to 'recycle' aka melt the family pieces (christening cup and napkin ring) below and make something to share with siblings. We agreed that I would aim to make a pier of heart earrings and a couple of go gently hearts.
There was not a lot of metal in the pieces but from the silver napkin ring some earrings emerged - see opening photo. And from the silver-plated pewter christening cup three hearts were achieved. I love the accidental rainbow hue on the hearts.
Just goes to show that some bits and pieces can be given a new life and shared.
I did a test run to see if I could cut and carve a rustic looking cottage out of very hard rock; and yet leave it so that it looked like it was a struggle to create it or get it to emerge.
As part of my work on the injustice of the Scottish clearances and the fishing industry I want to make an installation of several cottages cut from stones from beaches adjacent to abandoned post-clearance villages along the north coast of Sutherland. I want the installation to reflect the hard work that the clear farmers would have had to do to create homes on the rocky shores of the north coast. They had to pay for these new homes!!!!
I feel the opening photo suggests both the rugged rock and the sense the cottage is emerging from the rock. Some additional photos below show parts of the process.
Tools - diamond saw, hammer and tungsten chisel. I think I'm on to something with this. It is always important to mask up properly and wear safety glasses and ear protection when doing this work - and in a ventilated area - aka - outside.
