Fuchsias

I have a lovely fuchsia plant growing on my balcony and I have been collecting the blooms and drying them. Wanted to cook them up and embed them in the paper fibres...
Alas no...to much organic mush.....

Another workshop...

This was a workshop at one of my favourite places.....
Colchester Institute

Work shop

April 24/25th .... was invited to run a workshop at the Regional Print Centre in Wrexham...had a great time...lovely students...great facility....

http://www.regionalprintcentre.co.uk/2014/06/gwneud-papur-gyda-mandy-brannan-papermaking-with-mandy-brannan-24-250414/

Hyacinth experiments

 Well.....under processing and then over processing....add some iridecent pigment and the results are here.....

gift of flowers continued...

wow ... really amazed at the amount of flowers given to me this year ..

... these were given to me by another work colleague ... a pot of three hyacinths ... 

.....when the blooms had faded they became dry and developed into wonderful shapes.....

...not sure what I will do with them....right now just love the images...

start.....

Day off from work.......got to make it worthwhile.

Started to make the new colograph plates for the work that hopefully will be ready for the Book Arts fair in Leeds..

I will give myself until the end of the month (not really much time because of work commitments) to get the book finished (edition of 3) and several frameable pieces.... then I have Feb to work on the books that are sold out....

bringing it all together.... it's about time!

For the past 5 years – including the year spent at Camberwell on the Book Arts masters course, I have wrangled with the frustrating duality of my practice……the craft of papermaking and  fine art/visual arts aspect …. both seem difficult to bring together.

The papermaking side has continued to bring me in enough revenue and appreciation from people who purchase/order to keep my production enjoyable….but bringing the paper into the realm of my arts practice has been more of a challenge.

While on the MA course I was told to let the papermaking go…… eventually this was done and I was able to concentrate on my visual language within the aspects of architectural elements that enabled me create a personal narrative that looked to individual architects’ writings.

But before I let it go I had spent one day a week in the printmakers studio learning about etching and used my papers with the chine colle process to print etchings of the Axe and one of the building opposite. so they are reflected in each other’s windows (as they are in reality). This process has stayed in the back of my mind since and this summer I learnt how to create a collograph plate. 

http://mbsbookarts.blogspot.co.uk/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00:00:00Z&updated-max=2009-01-01T00:00:00Z&max-results=30

I won’t bore you with the many aspects of my full time job that have been influential, exasperating and positive….but time does enable us thinkers to process everything….put it in to a context….one that does not become immediately understandable…but that eventuality creates that moment that sends you down a path. Time is needed to get it sometimes/always/maybe/maybe (if I had not had a full time job maybe I would have found a new pathway sooner) all experiences have a reason….. 

So…what’s all this about….. If you have read my book arts blog then you will know that I have been researching memory and epigenetic changes within DNA structures.

Experimenting with the collograph/chine-colle process – using them to create work that tries to show how certain memories/learning/actions may alter/shift DNA and be passed on to offspring.