This weekend I spent most of Saturday out running in the forests and to the lake. The purpose (besides for enjoyment) was to explore the area better and I made a pact with myself to run up every tiny trail that I found to find out where it went and to check out good places for drawing. The result was a short period of being completely lost! However, 16miles later and I managed to find my way home 🙂 I saw lots of jays, nuthatches, a woodpecker and a squirrel amongst other things. I also found a beautiful hazel coppice which I’ve done some little drawn monotypes of. I was pretty tired for most of the rest of the day but managed to do a couple sketches before  bed.

Today I went and had a proper look at the Resident Artists Exhibition in the gallery. It is an amazing space.

The prints are hung unframed and attached to the wall using magnets so they are undamaged but able to be viewed close up. This is such a great idea because often with glazed works you can’t see some of the velvety dark tones and texture that you find in many prints and with this method the viewer can also see the weight and character of the paper.

A lady looking around the exhibition asked me to explain the prints of the Japanese printmaker, Tomiyuki Sakuta.

I explained that the prints above are portraits of the artists that he met whilst on his residency here. She then asked me what goes through his head…couldn’t answer that one. She said she liked my bird prints because she understood them and liked birds. Fair enough.

This afternoon Christina and I went into town to catch the last day of an exhibition at Flaménska Galleriet showing the work of ceramicist, Ulrika Wallin, & painter/printmaker Yvonne Karlsson. http://www.flamenska.se/ Another lovely space and I met Tommy who I have had email contact with regarding my residency here.

It’s been a grey and dank day and both Christina and I felt like we were full of ideas but unable to get them out. I did manage to complete a drawing that I hope to use a as a base for a collagraph. I’ve decided to start with a couple small collagraphs to try out the materials and techniques before I start on a large scale piece. However, I was determined to have a go at making a pine forest reduction monotype as a companion piece to my birch forest so I went into the studio this evening and set to work. It was actually a lot harder than I anticipated and I forgot to eat before I went in so I ended up feeling hungry and tired but having to battle on before the ink started to dry out.

The last part of the process was to add the dark knots to the main trees and I did this by painting them in with printing ink. Unfortunately, I put a bit too much ink on the brush and the pressure on the electric press was a bit heavier than the other press so the dots got splodged. The resulting print was not a great success but nevermind, I’ve learnt plenty of things whilst doing it (one being to have my tea before I start work!).

It was raining really hard when I woke up this morning. Bearing in mind that water and sketchbooks don’t go well together, I decided to ditch my plans for another day in the forest and made myself a nice workspace in my room where I spent the day drawing and monoprinting.

I’ve been itching to do some reduction monotypes and so I had a chat with Ana about what materials I could use and she told me where to find some old litho plates in the intaglio studio and said to help myself. I’m not used to working with anyone else around and felt a bit shy so I went in this evening when everyone had gone home. I like working at night, there is a lovely sense of peacefulness. It took a bit of searching around to locate everything that I needed but the studio is really well equipped and beautifully laid out with lots of space to work so it was a pleasure to get started. I soon realised that the artists here do things a bit differently from me but I improvised and managed to get set up ok. I used my own water soluble relief ink and rolled a fine layer onto the litho plate before working into it with cotton buds and rags. I spent about two hours creating the image by taking ink away to make the light areas and I think the birch forest was a particularly suitable subject for this method.

Then it was time to use the medium sized press (which is still a lot bigger than mine!).

I really wasn’t sure whether the print would come out or not because I didn’t dare adjust the pressure on the press as printmakers are very particular about these kind of things 🙂 However, it was set up perfectly for the thickness of the litho plate and the print came out with all the detail intact.

Now that I’ve managed to find my way round the studio and make my first print, I feel happier about being in there when the other artists are printing too. I’m feeling excited about the possibilities and am already wondering if I could make a huge collagraph to print on the big electric press 🙂

I had another great day in the Ryda åsar reserve. I explored a trail that I hadn’t been on yesterday and it went through some beautiful birch woods (where I did a small watercolour sketch) and then through some glorious pine forest with hundreds and hundreds of different fungi.

They were all shapes and sizes and some looked edible but I thought I’d better not risk it. Christina’s advice of sticking to the yellow ones hasn’t helped that much as there are many different types of yellow mushroom! There are also purple ones, red ones, brown ones, white ones, spotted ones, stinky phallic ones and some massive bracket fungi.

Bilberries grow everywhere on the higher ground and I found the Swedish speciality, lingonberries (which I did try).

After a few more sketches and my picnic in the sunshine, I followed the trail to the road and took a tiny track down to Öresjö lake. It looks like a great place to go swimming but I decided to save that for another day and headed back along the woodland trails to home.

I’m beginning to get ideas of a few things that I’d like to try out in the studio but I want to spend some more time outside drawing and exploring first. It is so rare that I have the luxury of working in the field. Far too often deadlines encroach, admin gets in the way or I work to complete specific projects or print ideas and having this time to just draw and gather visual information is brilliant. Just what I was hoping for. Here’s a random sample of a few of my sketches and monoprints. They certainly aren’t masterpieces but they are getting me thinking and looking. The simple act of stopping and drawing something makes you really look properly and I find it quite meditative. It stills my mind and opens it up ready for new ideas.

I thought that I must have covered a lot of miles today so I went back and ran the route this evening using my Garmin and it turns out that it was only about 6 miles but I’ve now done twice that which will explain why I’m feeling ready for bed!

I’m currently feeling totally shattered! I was up and out promptly this morning to spend time in the beautiful Rya åsar (the forest nature reserve next to Ålgården). There are countless trails of all kinds. Wide hard tracks for cycling, smaller paths for walking and some lovely little tracks for wilder exploring. There is even a trail with streetlights along it for runners! In a glade of birch trees I found a lovely pond with an island on it and I love the pine forests with huge boulders and knolls covered in moss. I managed to do a few simple monotypes using my bit of perspex, roller and a tube of water soluble ink. Its a great way of sketching and getting some interesting textural effects and somehow seems less daunting than drawing in the conventional way although I did do a graphite sketch too.

The forest is so tranquil. Even though you can hear the cars on the highway as a sea of distant noise, the stillness of the woods with the gentle chirrups and tweets of the finches make it very restful. The forest floor is covered in toadstools and fungi and the leaves are beginning to turn so autumn is definitely on the way. Weather allowing, I intend to spend the day up there tomorrow and try to make some more prints and sketches. I’ll post a few on here if there are any that I’m happy with.

After eventually finding my way back to Ålgården (might take a compass & map tomorrow!) I was just in time for a lovely lunch prepared by Björn and shared by five of us. That was a nice surprise. I’m planning on cooking for everyone soon and am now wishing that I was more adept at creating culinary delights. Fuelled up and feeling confident, I braved heading into town and finding my way around the city. I have come to the conclusion that the Swedes have cracked making a busy town centre people friendly. All the way into town were subways and paths with separate sections for walkers and cyclists that kept everyone safe from the traffic. They also have numerous parks which are each themed for different activities, public ice rinks, swimming baths (outdoors and in), swimming lakes, playgrounds (including ones designed for autistic children) and lamplit running tracks (even in the parts of the forest!). The photo below marks a walkway but it has given me an idea for my bookmaking course at home. The theme is ‘worn surfaces’.

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I’m very fortunate to catch the end of the Borås sculpture biennale and the city has some really interesting artworks to visit. I particularly liked ‘Kyss’ by Eva Markland:

I’ve seen a few different birds today including a nutchatch, some finches that I have yet to identify, a wren and a flock of fieldfares enjoying a feast of rowan berries in the city centre!

Anyway, after wandering up and down many streets and having a quick stop for tea and cake at the Kulturhuset, I managed to locate an art shop to buy some materials and headed back home.

Only a few days to go and I’ll be jetting off to Gothenburg to begin my residency at Algarden in Boras. Better start packing!

Hello,

I’m currently getting to grips with setting up this blog which I will be using to write about my printmaking and other related thoughts. Please bear with me whilst I wrestle with the technology, I’m better used to applying ink to plates and winding a press not creating widgets and links! Do come back and visit. I will be up and running by September 2012 when I will be undertaking an artist’s residency in Sweden.

Hester.