Flamin' 'Eck...

it's June...  already. I thought it was more than time for me to give the studio a Good Going Over.  Now, I'd like to say that this was a 'before' image, but it's actually a 'during'; I haven't got as far as 'After'.  A combination of sloth, heat and the feeling of being overwhelmed got to me, and they, combined, are bigger than the need to clear up, or even to get to work...

During is dreadful.  It actually didn't look quite as bad as this before I started, but I'm moving furniture as well as stuff, and it takes a lot of clear space to turn the big table at the back (that's it after the move).  It's now clear of stuff, is the table, and there is a clear path from said table to the door.  Yes, I have three easels.  Yes, I do use them all, though it's a while since I used all three together; two has been my limit for a while.  The bags are full of Stuff, there's a collapsed loom and a spinning wheel in there, too.  Whine.  I think this will take most of the week, just to sort out.

But there is an upside to sorting, clearing and tidying.  I knew, in the back of my depression fuddled brain, that I had far more lino blocks than I could lay my hands on... and look what I found...

I'd forgotten all about the wood block (front left).  The reason I wanted to turn the table is that there's a press on the far end of it.  I seem to have been making prints quite a bit, recently, so wanted to have access to the press.  I'm quietly working out what I want to do, and what I want to stop doing.  Oil painting, I think, might be one thing to go.  Whilst I love the texture of oils, I don't like the associated smells and the general complexity of it all, not to mention the long wait for the damn stuff to dry.  I had cut down on the oil paints considerably about two years ago, so gently moving them out will not be a problem, or indeed a heart wrenching thing to do.

Meanwhile, might take the blocks to the Hub tomorrow, and let the guys try out block printing and monoprinting... it would be fun.  We want to make a large floor cloth for one of the rooms...maybe printing would be a good way of adding some pattern.  (for those of you who don't know, I volunteer twice a week at a centre for adults with learning difficulties... we love trying out new things!)

Happy, Happy Dancing.

Thanks to a very generous and talented friend, I have a new toy. This lovely thing is a press, and it works like a charm. I've already taken some prints off it using lino blocks, and the next thing to try will be some etchings that I made in Inverness. Just in case you're reading this, thank you, thank you, thank you!! I could tell you who made it, but then I'd have to kill you...this was a limited edition of two, I'm told, so Anonymous will have to remain so.

A good time was had by all concerned in Edinburgh and Livingston, I feel refreshed by the short break, though the three mile walk nearly killed me...who put that mountain there...sigh... I slept most of yesterday, but this afternoon, I am hoping to print the screens that have been sitting there for a couple of weeks. Always allowing that it doesn't rain, of course.