Back at the press

 

Fiona and I were both at Deckled Edge Press over the weekend. I wanted to print my piece for Vinculum 77 - see below; but we also had to do a bit of remedial work - cleaning mould off some of our wood type and other wood bits. The 6.8cm wood type above cleaned up well and is ready for action. I just love the ink colours that have impregnated the wood - I know I have shown this before but still worth sharing I think.

A little more on the Vinculum project - Fiona and I were offered the opportunity to prepare work for Vinculum 77 2022 - which will showcase work of letterpress folk. Vinculum has be going on since 1974. The collective works of the participants each year are archived in the National Library of New Zealand. The work needs to be A5 in size.

I wanted to build on the NO TO WAR poster I printed before going overseas. This time NO TO WAR; but more importantly YES TO PEACE.

I have printed 80 copies of the poster - 60 quality ones are needed for Vinculum 77. A few images follow. I have included one showing the wear and tear on some of the wood type - but then again that transfers printing history to the page. The first image shows that after a discussion with Fiona I decided to use an even strong font for the YES TO PEACE section of the poster. Both fonts are 2.5cm high.

I also set a couple of pages of my Daily Words poetry book - front and back inner pages - this will be printed next weekend!!! Of course after the typo is fixed!!!

Another another drawer of cleaned wood type - the font I used for YES TO PEACE (2.5cm high). 

Though the wood type is prone to grow mould in sustained rainy weather; it is still beautiful to work with; and just looks gorgeous as well. 

Assessing the situation

 

I managed to get into the studio-workshop today - not so much to do any work but rather to assess how the workshop was fairing in all this rain, whether I had left it in a reasonable state before heading overseas and check some bits and pieces for an upcoming exhibition and making s few earrings etc - including a few sail forms such as above that might become a sculptural unbound book.

The rain on the iron roof of the workshop was just thunderous - but fortunately my workspace was dry - I took a video but it was too tricky to upload.; and I had done a grand job in leaving the workshop clean and tidy before heading to Scotland.

Following are some photos of the bits and pieces I checked out. 

Melted metal boat hulls...

Melted metal wrecked boat hulls

Boat hulls and sails

Sail forms

Earring-jewellery related bits.

I'm sitting this afternoon making a list of the pieces I will create for the Vessel exhibition.

Mauve morning and other matters

 It rained all night and we woke to a very dark, wet and grim morning. The light to the west appeared a misty naive hue; whereas the village lights to the north showed just how dark and bleak it was.

Fortunately F and I walked yesterday in misty rain so I used that opportunity to capture a few fragments.

We also visited G's orchids for the first time after returning to our Maleny cottage - there were a few bits of beauty to be enjoyed.

Given the grim weather, appalling politics leading up to our federal election and Russia's invasion of Ukraine it is good that we can hold onto fragments of beauty that continue to offer hope.

Keeping on moving

 

We arrived home very late yesterday evening - so after a short night of sleep the goal today is to try to get back in the daily rhythm and not sleep until this evening. Fiona says we need to be like sharks and just keep moving.

 So apart from the boring tasks of covid testing (we tested negative), unpacking, washing and shopping etc we decided to install a small rusted metal sculpture we brought for my birthday earlier this year - it arrived whilst we were away - a neighbour took delivery of it. It is a 300mm cube of rusted corten steel - quite structural.

The opening photo shows the line of sculptural pieces that now are installed out the front of our cottage - in the gravel area we installed when we arrived here.

A couple more photos of the cube and the other bits.

A photo of unpacked bits including slate, broken chisels, and Fiona's and my stones.

And of course a couple of photos from our back deck. 

Last visits

 

We are heading home but not before we did another trip to Talmine to see the wreck; and of course down to the cove to see the fishing shacks and the cove itself. Photos of Talmine above and below.

Photos of the cove and fishing huts below.

Light beauty

 

One of the beautiful aspects of our visit to the cottage is the changing light including the sun shining through a sea mist that drifted in when we were driving home on Sunday - see above and below.

A few more images from the top window of the cottage and the cove.

Stone bowl?

 

I wanted to see if I could carve a small bowl form into one the the grey stones from the cove. The photo above shows the finished item.

I started out by using the side grinder to cut into the stone; and then used stone cutting chisels to do the rest of the carving. See some progress photos below.

Another photo or two of the finished stone including one sitting on the cement apron outside the front door. The bowl form is about 65mm in diameter and 12mm deep.

What I did discover is that this stone is extremely hard. I learnt this through the damage done to the tungsten tips of the chisels. 

I will take these four chisels back to Maleny and grind and sharpen the. Still I was happy with the outcome of the carving.