I've been printing :-) I thought I'd show you my low tech set up. I use an old piece of glass from a cheap picture frame to mix the acrylic paint and roller it onto my little rubber roller which I then roll onto the print plate... in this case it is a stiff bit of cardboard (cut from a lever arch folder) and I have used rubber bands to get the lines pattern for printing.

Now, I reckon I'm playing a bit dangerously with that flimsy piece of glass, one day it will shatter spectacularly while I'm carrying it to the sink or while I'm washing it. I need to get a piece of reinforced glass with nice ground edges made up. Actually, I'll call a glazier this week.

This is the 'print plate' after a fair bit of use

It is now totally destroyed as I wiped it down at the end of the session with hopes of recycling the cardboard for another session.

This is the fabric I printed, I'm sandwiching it up for quilting. It is is such a relief and joy, after a year of concentration on applique, I just love the quickness of printing :-) Sorry for the totally crap photo I'll post a better one when I'm finished quilting the piece.

I'm feeling a little stressed tonight as I have been ringing around trying to get some accomodation at Mt Hotham for next weekend. Of course everywhere is booked out so we are onto plan B. Off mountain accomodation at Omeo.

This is a lizard... or something like it, I haven't printed this linocut yet.  I am currnently working on a little book of drawings which is stuffed full of these weird creatures, I'm not sure where they are coming from, but I like them.  I'll post more about it later.

Things are a little crazy here at the moment.  Today I hope to remedy the crazyness as I'm going bush to do some charcoal drawings (then to an opening at ARCYinnar...perhaps more on that later too).

I printed some more last night.  This is a lino I did back in October 2005 and blogged about here.

This is a photo of the lino printed onto paper using the same rubbery acrylic goop I used on the fabric.

I like the range of paint colours I have achieved with the acrylic and acrylic medium, but I've got to remember to wipe the lino down every so often or the prints get a bit blobby.

Here are a few links I have come across lately:

Housemartin: a blog featuring the yummy floral artistry and home styling of Pam of Oregon

Mrs Eliot Books:  Little wooden books created by Francesca of London; and

~>O<~ : Textiles, design, fashion and style by Lena of Brooklyn

Papierwelt: Beautiful objects made from paper by anon.  The site is in german and english.  I love the blog description which is 'Schmuck aus Papier und anderen freundlichen Materialien', which babelfish translates as "Decoration from paper and other friendly materials" :-)

This is my first etching and it turned out pretty good for a first try. I think. I picked these leaves off a big daisy bush in Jenny's garden and my newly aquired drawing skills came in handy for getting the image together.

This was my attempt at sugar lift. I had no real plan for this one, just sort of started painting the stuff onto the plate, I'm not sure I like it, but I think I've managed to get enough texture to make it reasonably interesting to look at.

I did a printmaking workshop with Jenny Peterson today at her studio in Boolarra. She has a lovely house and studio slightly out of town. I was her only student today, so I could take things at my own pace. Which was good since I was feeling the effects of the big Christmas party last night. We also had a BBQ with some of Riscy's collegues tonight. I am pretty tired though and the drunken bullshitting and talk about work started to grate at me so I'm relieved to be home.

This was my attempt at sugar lift. I had no real plan for this one, just sort of started painting the stuff onto the plate, I'm not sure I like it, but I think I've managed to get enough texture to make it reasonably interesting to look at.