In my studio: artist's book in progress

Pine Page

Whilst I was away in the depths of the North York Moors the other week, I decided I had to make some art.  It was wonderful staying in the woods, feeling totally surrounded by nature and seeing the effects of the weather subtly changing the landscape over the space of a week, as more trees lost leaves and the colours turning more brown.

Moss page

 

I had taken a small, long, narrow sketchbook with me, bought at the Festival of Quilts from Oliver Twists, which I had already painted with some leftover blue and yellow procion dyes (not very natural, I know, but if I’m honest, I like my home comforts and will never be a complete nature-girl). 

The bound sketchbook

As the kids explored the little stream and how to dam it, I collected as many different leaves, berries and grasses as I could find.  I bound them into my sketchbook and left them.  My binding wasn’t terribly tight, so when I got home, I pressed in R’s Black & Decker workbench.  It has left a great imprint on the corrugated cardboard cover.

Rowan berries

Being rather impatient and slightly concerned that it would be rotting rather than pressing in our frozen garage, I rescued it last week and had a look at the result.  As you can see from the photos, there has not been much colour transfer, but I have lovely indentations shaped like the pine kernels (not sure what the right word is – can someone tell me?).  The moss also sucked the dye from the page, giving a beautiful effect.  It hasn’t given me a finished sketchbook, but it is a great step on the way to an artist’s book.

Fern on page

 

Effects of brambles