fresh ginger tea mix

As part of a collaboration project in my college course I somehow got appointed "hospitality manager" (among a number of other things). Last week people involved with Grizedale Artist Residency in the UK were at IMMA (Irish Museum of Modern Art) and we hosted them in the Statecraft project spaces, letting them know about our project and giving them some mint-lemon-honey-ginger herbal tea as refreshment. It was a little bit hairy grating fresh ginger on site, so at the weekend I decided to do a bit of advance prep work for the hospitality station. I found out there is less wastage if ginger is peeled with a spoon!

I grated the ginger by machine. But the machine always leaves some end lumps when grating.

So I switched to the chopper blades and added a bit of honey.

This is a standard honey jar, almost half full with the ginger honey mix. I brought it in to class at IMMA and made some tea. Per cup I used about a third of a tsp, a little bit of lemon juice and a mint leaf. I didn't add extra honey, as I don't like things too sweet. The tea was just right!

Collage Cards 2

I have been trying to process everything from the Grey Box find of last year, and make some sense of all the various items found in it. There were so many miscellaneous sketches and cards - the cards often acting like sketches. Sometimes the card came first - as in this abstract xmas card from 1982 (I think). For a series of individual cards I painstakingly attached tiny strips of gold tape and silver paper ovals (that for me were a development from my stem-less tulip paintings); the colour was added with wax crayon and burnished. I made about 30 of them of them I think, taking care of my xmas card list...

Continuing the theme from the xmas cards, I created small works in the following year on wood blocks that I had readily available (off cuts from various projects). As I gave a number of them away as gifts a few small pieces survive, along with this piece that I kept for myself. I did a couple of larger paintings on sheets of plywood while at university, but these are no longer in existence.

From 1983 (and for several years) I had many watery dreams of figures and dolphins and this imagery made its way into many drawings and paintings. Though undated, I think this oilstick drawing dates from 1983 or 1984 and is probably one of the earliest appearances of the gold tumbling figures in the water.

I had been on holiday in Ireland in 1987, visiting my parents, and became enamoured by watching individual rainclouds in the distance over the sea and images of these clouds made their way into my watery paintings, like this one "Meeting", oil on canvas.

In 1988 I used the image of the gold figure tumbling above the water as a design on a St. Patrick's Day card for my new boyfriend (now my husband). I found stripey paper to use as gold rain and I added the green stars as a reference to a line in William Carlos Williams poem "Our Stars Come from Ireland". 

As well as making an appearance with other elements in numerous paintings and drawings, the rainclouds also appeared in their own right on a birthday card for my Dad in 1989.

The rain became a little more menacing I guess in this postcard from 1989.

I moved to Ireland in 1988 and started work on a completely new body of work as I had left all my dream paintings in Toronto. This new work consisted of a large group of figurative drawings where I covered the paper in graphite and used an eraser to draw. Later works in this series got more colourful as I drew with large oilsticks. This body of work became my first solo show, at Temple Bar Galley & Studios, Dublin in 1989. 

In February 1989 I used the theme in a Valentine postcard sent to my boyfriend in Toronto.

I have always loved the stone walls and stonework ruins found everywhere in Ireland, totally different architecture than I had grown up with in Canada. I was back in Toronto when I sent this Mother's Day card to my Mum in Ireland in 1990.

At the time, although I was back in Canada, I started work on a series of paintings based on windows from ruins which were part of my life in Ireland. I exhibited a number of these paintings in a group show at Cedar Ridge Creative Centre in Scarborough in 1992. I brought the series with me to Ireland when I returned in 1993, completed more in the series and started a tour of the large group under the exhibition title "My Tower of Strength". The exhibition opened at Siamsa Tire arts centre in Tralee, Co. Kerry and its last stop was The Courthouse Arts Centre in Tinahely, Co. Wicklow in 1998 taking in a number of galleries in between. This painting, "The Holly & the Oak", is acrylic on canvas, 122 cm x 91.5 cm (4' x 3'), 1992 is in the collection of the Office of Public Works, Ireland. The window is structurally based on Raheenacluig - the church of the little bell - a ruin on the side of Bray Head, in the town where I live.

Paper doll cut-outs!

Before I was old enough to go to school, I remember my Mum making me paper doll cut-outs to play with. Her little drawings were formulaic and I remember how she would start with 3 incomplete heart shapes which would eventually turn into a hairline, bathing suit top line and then a bathing suit bottom line (where the legs joined the torso). The paper doll had points for hands and feet and the legs were joined. But I was fascinated by how the end product was always a paper doll that she would cut out and then put under semi-transparent writing paper in order to trace different outfits over the figure, which could then be cut out. I loved these cut-outs and she only stopped making them for me when I was about 7 -- she told me I could draw better than her and could now make my own. Perhaps my Mum was just too busy (I am from a family of 10 kids, and I have 2 younger siblings) but I was quite confident also that I could make my own paper dolls. 

I most certainly did make my own over the years, but I also enjoyed ready made cut outs. Recently I was telling someone about my Ginny Tiu cut outs which I remember as my first store bought cut outs. I loved Ginny Tiu, a child piano prodigy from Hong Kong who made regular appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in the 1960s.

 At Xmas time in the 1960s one of my favourite surprise gifts was a miscellaneous box labelled "Time for Play" and it had a big clock on it. The contents included various games, puzzles and learning cards (such as how to tie your laces, how to tell time) but I remember more than once the box included Midge cut outs. Midge was Barbie's best friend, or at least she was in the 1960s!

One of my sisters and I made cut outs out of just about anything. We always looked forward to when the catalogues (for major dept stores in Toronto -- Eaton's and Simpson's) went out of date because then my Mum gave them to us to do with as we would. We would spend ages in our room cutting up the catalogues -- not only did we have a great population variety, but we could build flat dream houses. [With store bought paper dolls we always removed any tabs as we played with cut outs horizontally not vertically -- i.e., flat on the floor.]

I remember one time my sister and I cut up another sister's Rupert books. We actually didn't think she would mind, as we only cut out the characters that appeared in the page corners where you turned the page, Even though all the print for the stories was completely intact, we were still in big trouble...

So a few months ago I re-discovered what I now refer to as the "Grey Box". I was looking for some papers and opened a file box to be surprised that it was full of sketches, drawings and doodles which had somehow escaped the numerous purges and house moves I have made over the past almost 35 years. I was especially surprised to find two sets of cut outs that I made when I was around 17, occupying myself while I was sick in bed.

This young girl must have been my alter-ego as all the clothes are copies of the clothes I owned, except the green table-cloth dress which is based on a party dress belonging to one of my sisters. I say "alter-ego" because I considered the pose elegant while I thought I was clumsy and the figure is a blonde while I had dark brown curly hair...

These "medieval" cut outs were made around the same time. I think I was sick for a week (don't remember what was wrong with me!). I gave everyone names from Arthurian legend so Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall was the red haired man in green and blue, while the young fellow in the brown laced "leather" with puffy yellow sleeves and grey-green cape I named as Ambrosius (for Merlin's father according to writer Mary Stewart anyway!). I don't think I was naming people accurately for the legends, just the general character and names that I liked. I know at least several were just my imagination.

A few years ago there was a big Bowie "fashion" exhibition in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. Although I didn't get there myself, my cousin in London did, and knowing how I was both a Bowie and a cut out fan sent me this memento.

Collage Cards

With Valentine's Day just a few days after my wedding anniversary, my husband  & I celebrate the days together. As artists, both of us have been making cards for years. Sometimes I go with the simple and obvious -- like this year's card of hearts:

Whereas last year, at this time, I was working on my large painting, Fractured City, so the cityscape / sunrise mostifs kept appearing in my collage cards.

Before xmas I had been working on some video footage of people jumping and skipping, for my current work research. So the white tights and black shoes of one of my niece subjects appeared in a few cards (several family birthdays around that time).

 Here are several collage cards from last year that again utilised the cityscape / sunrise imagery. I have a box of various colours and types of paper that I use for my ripped-paper collages. I am always saving or finding bits of paper that I think are interesting. The paper for the background "sunrise" in this birthday card was a pre-painted silver-leaf square on thin rice paper; I bought a stack of this paper in Toronto's Chinatown nearly 20 years ago for $1! The "lit window" squares are ripped from green tissue saved from a xmas cracker party hat. I think both the dark blue and purple might also be tissue from party hats too.

At Easter time last year I was being more literal with my portrayal of the sun as circular -- it made me think of an egg yolk. The sky is again that Chinese paper, but an "error" as it was not prepainted. The purple stripey paper and the purple "windows" are from bits of pseudo stained glass craft paper, leftovers from my daughter's childhood supplies. They are a tough paper and I like ripping them to create a natural white ripped edge.

Chinese New Year

Kung hei fat choi! We happily celebrate Chinese New Year every year. We used to live near Chinatown in Toronto so it was always a big deal in our neighbourhood. As usual, it is a family celebration with my Mum joining us. I always make a souvenir menu for her and this year, since our printer is out of commission, it was done by hand. I got a box of linoleum for xmas as I wanted to do some lino printing, and I have been sharing them. For this occasion, Year of the Fire Monkey, my husband (James Hayes) created an image based on a "netsuke" monkey carving and kindly made a print for me to use on the menu card cover.

We celebrated a few days early, as Saturday was more convenient for us! Dinner was delicious! By the way, "mei wei" means "delicious" in Chinese. "Gift tea" is Jasmine tea which is tied in the shape of a flower and made in a glass teapot so that you can watch the "flower" bloom as it is steeping. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of this.

I  tried my hand at some calligraphy to include the character for monkey with the card (opposite the menu).

Lino Block Prints

Along with my pasta machine that was converted to a mini printing press, I also got a box of linoleum. They were cut down to size to fit the pasta machine, but actually did not work as the lino is too thick. Nevertheless, from plenty of previous experience, I know that a lino block can be printed using a wooden spoon. As a tester block though, I was keeping my image simple -- two lower legs and feet drawn directly onto the lino representing an image from my ongoing "The Skipping Project". With a larger surface to cut I would use a bench hook for safety.

It is important to have a firm grip on the cutting tool, using both hands (one as grip, the other as guide), Always cut away from yourself.

Paper is prepared in advance and

soaked. Pat damp-dry. I just use clean dish towels.

Spread some ink on a glass or plexi work surface and roll evenly.

 Roll ink onto the block.

 As this was only a test piece I didn't bother with registration, but normally when making a print I have two sets of registration marks: interior marks to place the plate on and exterior marks so that I lay down the paper leaving equal margins. The back of the paper on the lino block is rubbed firmly with a wooden spoon while making sure that the paper does not move.

Aside from the uneven margins, I was happy with the tester. I was using particularly heavy paper so I could have applied more pressure in rubbing in order to get a darker black on the shoes.

Pasta Machine Printer

 Before xmas one of my classmates told me about pasta machines being used as small presses for printmaking and I was intrigued! A google search gives you all the information you need, it's really very simple: the pasta machine acts as a press for small works. Follow all the usual steps for printing. Here felt is cut to size for the pasta machine.

Paper must also be cut to size.

Soak the paper and blot dry. The time for soaking varies depending on the weight of the paper. It should be damp through for printing.

Use a perspex or glass surface for spreading ink.

Roll out the ink evenly before rolling onto your printing plate. I was using an engraved copper plate as the test. Once the ink is rolled on the plate, it must be wiped off leaving the ink in the engraved lines on the plate.

 A felt, paper backing (so felt does not get dirty from the plate), plate, printing paper, felt sandwich is fed through the press. The whole sandwich is then caught at the bottom. My pasta machine needs to be modified a bit at the base, so that the plate sandwich does not get stuck between the table and the machine when making its exit.

Some experimentation is needed -- I started off on the most open setting (7) and there was not enough pressure on the plate.

I moved down to setting 3 and there was too much pressure, hence the crease in the paper. Though it is not as easy as I expected, I will do some more work on it -- I am pleased though with my new press!