Re-Pool (2 pools)
These came after the Re-pool Series'. Simpler rock shapes appeared from my drawings, and I had fun playing with the diptych format, the play of two opposing or related sides. The sense of journey or narrative present is looking from left to right over the line in the middle, contrast of shapes or colours on the two sides of the divide.
Re-Pool
This series of prints all relate to drawings in my sketchbooks, or rockpools, puddles, rocks. They are all started with a line drawing taken from the sketchbooks- but not just one drawing- I would take multiple drawings and select from any of them a line that I liked and that worked with other lines. I inked up two plates that were printed on top of each other and all of the coloured shapes, in print and coloured/ textured paper are added in the process. Working on the press I responded to what I had made and added to it to achieve these semi-abstract compositions. The title Re-pool refers to this remaking from other things, and the re-use of rubbings from somewhere else, elements of other prints, often of the same subject, and the re-invention process.
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Re-Invent
After the Re-pool Series I worked again from sketchbook drawings and re-used elements of other prints to make these new works. The title refers to the process of re-using drawings, print, rubbings to make new images.
Tide
I first took etching plates up to Scotland with me about 20 years ago, pre-prepared with a hard ground. I would draw directly on the plates in the landscape, then take the plates back to London to etch and print them. This Tide series started in the same way- I had drawn some marks, but then put the plate into the sea, and allowed the movement of the plate against the stones and sand to make the marks. Made over about 7 years, this series of prints are drawn by the sea, and also by me, as I decide how long to leave them there, and then how long to etch them in the acid. They are drawings made by process. If you look closely they look like the see, they have marks in them that describe repetion and movemt, and yet are like excavations of natural forms as well.
Rock-Line
Responding quickly- trying to sum up what I see in the minimum amount of marks. These prints were drawn directly onto the relief block and cut in the studio. They were hand-printed because I wanted to reflect the colour and natural-ness of the landscape and leave the action of making them apparent in the ink surface. They were too flat printed on the press. In effect, they continued to be drawn in the printing process.
Road Track Pool
After making the Rock-pool (Square) series of prints I wanted to pare the images down and use fewer elements. The cardboard pieces represent the man-made, the studio, London. The chine collee, made from rubbings of the rocks in Scotland are elements of the natural landscape, jostling against the city.
Rain
When you work as a printmaker there is always something new to learn. And when something happens, an accident, or a leap of intuition that takes you to something new- that is exciting. When you work in Scotland, you have to contend with the rain. I have managed this in painting sometimes- unless it rains really hard you can continue to put oil paint on board. I was working outside, and it started to rain. Using water washable ink- these prints were the result. They talk about what it is to be out there in the landscape, and prey to the weather. Process reveals the image.
New Year Journey
We were travelling at New Year through mountains and I was drawing on the Index Cards as we went along. These small monotypes were made in the studio afterwards- remembering the feeling of travelling through the landscape.
Floor
When we set up our print studio, one of the ways in which I could make myself at home there was by drawing my surroundings. These prints are drawings of four sections of the floor which is very rugged and uneven. They are of course just my view of the floor, and reflect my interest in texture. They could be of rocks in Scotland- I like that.