I have had so many things to post this year, that I never quite got around to posting. So I will do a quick scan through the photo gallery and see what I can find.
Mainly I have been preoccupied with an embroidered piece for a group show in July. We had to get our draft writing and photos in very early as there is a book to be published to accompany the show. Very exciting indeed. So sorry no finished shots until the exhibition is open. However I did make a short video of me stitching on this piece.
When is a texture a pattern and vice versa? In my latest gelli printing video I play around with printing textures onto cloth. I spent a lot of time mucking around with a piece of ratty old hessian I found in our garden shed, which only goes to show that it doesn’t take a lot to amuse an artist.
Fun with hessian!
Here is the short promo I did for the longer video.
My lock down project appears to have become filming and learning to edit video footage from my smartphone. It is certainly a challenge as it turns out I can’t find a local adult education class for the editing suite I want to learn – Da Vinci Resolve- however with the help of YouTube I am muddling through. I am trying to locate a good online class instead.
Filming a video with my jury-rigged studio set up.
In the meantime I am having fun exploring the video options on my phone and then seeing what I can do with it.
I tried to load a video here but apparently my pay level doesn’t allow for videos on WordPress 😪. I may never make it to Hollywood but I am having a lot of fun.
Oops I should be better at marketing. I forgot to say that you can find me on YouTube by searching for ‘leonieandrewsart’ or following this link.
I have been doing a lot of gelli printing lately – that’s using acrylic paints on a gel plate – a type of monoprinting. During our most recent lockdown it’s kept me happily away from the street. I have been working on printing onto fabric which is a bit different to printing on paper.
Some of the various paints I use for printing.
I trained in screen printing at art school which is similar, but not quite the same as gelli printing. While I find gelli printing has some limitations, it also has many pluses. I like that it’s so simple to set up and print and I certainly don’t mind not having to transfer images to my screen (a multi-step process which was my least favourite part of printing).
I am also using up a whole stack of acrylic paints, some better than others. By also using a textile base (a clear paste) with the acrylic paints, these paints are easier to use on fabric and give the fabric a better “hand” that is make it more flexible and feel better after printing.
The ‘studio’ at the end of my kitchen. Inking up my plate with my rag for excess paint on the side.
I am focused on using the simplest of marks and materials for my prints. Most of my fabric is upcycled from clothes or old bed sheets.
I am really happy about the colour combinations I am achieving in my prints, particularly when I make simple two colour prints.
Some of my recent two colour prints.
In addition to all this printing I also decided to revive my, somewhat moribund YouTube channel by uploading some introductory videos on printing on fabric with a gelli plate. You can find my channel here.
WARNING this post contains a nude portrait. (It’s OK, it’s not me).
It seems there is a trend amongst my artist friends to be doing self portraits. So I am jumping in, along with Carol Haywood and Rose Davies to share my recent versions.
I started drawing myself in March and then quickly fell by the wayside. I recently got re-inspired by Jennifer Higgie’s book the Mirror and the Palette, looking at the herstory of the self-portrait.
Highly recommended, fascinating and a darn good read.
The portraits of older women artists are often the most experimental. Perhaps the most visceral portrait I know is by Maria Lassnig, (1919- 2014), painted in her 80’s, it really sorts the women from the boys. I saw it in Amsterdam in 2019 and it certainly hit me in the gut.
Oder du ich (You or Me) Maria Lassnig, 2005, oil on canvas , private collection.
Alice Neel has also painted an unapologetic nude self-portrait in her 80’s, which is on display in a current retrospective of her work at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. See here for a online veiwing of the exhibition.
You will probably be relieved to know that I don’t have the guts of Lassnig or Neel to do nude self-portraits. Maybe later. Maybe when I turn 80.
So here are the portraits I have made so far. Most, with the exception of the watercolour, have been sketched on paper roll from Ikea.
Self-portrait. Acrylic marker and brush pen.Self-portrait with watching painting. Pencil.Self-portrait Night repair. Collage and brush pen.Double self-portrait. Gel pen.Self-portrait with blue lips. Pen and ink, acrylic marker.
leonieandrews 