An unintentional outcome

I recently had the chance to try my hand at Gelli printing, a form of printmaking which encourages creativity whilst using relatively simple and inexpensive materials.  

The original Gelli Plates are made by US firm Gelli Arts from non-toxic, vegan-friendly synthetic gelatine but this brand name has now become a catch-all term.  Think Biro or Hoover, but for monoprinting!

The afternoon printmaking class was held in The Shop at Daviot, a lovely local cafe where I'm more likely to be found enjoying an Americano and a wodge of sticky ginger cake, whilst perusing the shelves of arts and crafts.  

Shop owner, Karen, had engaged art tutor, Fiona, from CreateWithUs to show us the ropes.

We inked up the squidgy pads with acrylic paint then aesthetically arranged a selection of pressed leaves on top.  Clean paper was gently smoothed over this by hand and the paint transferred, leaving a stencil outline of the leaves.  But the magic happens when the leaves are removed from the pad and a fresh sheet of paper is applied - a ghost print appears.  I was having so much fun, I forgot to take a photo of any of mine at this stage!

Fiona showed us how to overlay the first print of one stencil layout, over the ghost print of another, resulting in a variety of colour combinations and patterns.

Some were bold and some were subtle.  Sometimes the colour wasn't as expected.

All were a surprise as the paper peeled away from the printing plate.  Such a fun craft!

Fiona encouraged us to embrace this experimental experience suggesting we cut out the bits we liked if some areas of our prints were more pleasing than others.  She provided us all with card making materials and I made a few (which I'll doubtless send to creative pals who understand my need to constantly make stuff!)

I'd have been content to leave it at that, having thoroughly enjoyed my crafty afternoon.  

When it comes to knitting, crochet and mosaic, I know I'm product-led so I'll happily work to the end of the project as I really want to see the finished product.  With a class of this nature, I'll embrace the creative process and not focus too much on the outcome.

That was until Lesley came to visit....

Painter and fibre artist, Lesley, made this vibrant felted scene, inspired by my photo of Bennachie, at my kitchen table in 2019 - read more about it here.

As well as selling her pictures in galleries in the Borders, Lesley creates lampshades from her images and has recently had cushions made for her as well.  She very kindly brought me a gift of this Bennachie cushion, created from the artwork she'd made in my house.  It perfectly compliments the colours in our recently refreshed lounge and I love it.

When Lesley saw this monoprint in my pile of papers from the printmaking workshop, she suggested it would make a great cushion.  It was one of my favourites, I have to admit.  

After taking a good quality photo of my print, I submitted it to www.my-picture.co.uk, the firm Lesley uses for high resolution photo printing.  I ordered a 40cm x 40cm plush cushion and opted to have the image printed on both sides.  Though production is based in Germany, my cushion arrived in a week and the postage didn't break the bank.*

Now - where does it look best?

Find out more :

The Shop at Daviot 

Fiona Chance artist

Lesley Johnson artist

My-picture.co.uk

*my cushion cost £21 for a two sided plush cushion and postage was £6.  There was a promotion on at the time but the company seems to have regular discounted prices so it's worth waiting for these.

Sea Treasure

Who can resist picking up shells and pebbles during a bracing beach walk?

The Dhorlin (causeway), Davaar Island, Mull of Kintyre

Certain beaches, though, yield more than just sand and seaweed.  Tumbled and tossed in the waves, smoothed by abrasion with the rocks, bottles and jars cast into the sea as trash end up on the beach, smoothed by time and frosted by salt, as the treasure known to beachcombers worldwide as sea-glass.  

When I spotted on social media that artist Shelagh Swanson was holding a workshop to create mosaics from sea-glass and sea plastic in Fittie Community Hall recently, I couldn't wait to sign up and my pal, Carol, decided to join me.

I had taken along some sea-glass I'd collected myself from Davaar Island causeway and Stonehaven beach.  My husband thoughtfully found some sea-glass for me on Crail seashore in Fife on our most recent holiday.  I wanted to incorporate that too if I could.

After Shelagh welcomed us to the class, a large tub of sea-glass, sea pottery and pebbles was tipped out for us.  What fun to scrabble through and select our precious pieces. 

Though this tub of sea plastic looks appealingly colourful, it was sad to learn how little time it had taken Shelagh to collect it from her local beach.  That, too, was provided for us to add to our pictures.

After selecting a frame and removing the back, Shelagh suggested we sketched a design on paper and laid our sea treasure on top before gluing it directly onto the glass.  I took some clipart images I'd printed with me for inspiration as I wanted to create a tree with sea-glass leaves. 

This piece of salvaged rope untwisted cooperatively into branches and roots for my tree and I selected tiny fragments of lime plastic and wee bits of green sea-glass for my leaves.  

Gluing the pieces into place was pleasantly therapeutic.  I snipped the threads of yellow rope and used them to augment the tree roots.

I kept dipping back into the tub of sea treasure until I'd found all the bits I needed.

Shelagh was always on hand to encourage us and finesse our designs.  You can see Carol's picture in the background beside mine.  Her sea pottery vase of sea plastic flowers was taking shape as she worked beside me.  Once our compositions were all stuck down, Shelagh glued our frames into place for us and our art works were complete.

It's always a joy when the class shares its artwork and everyone admires what everyone else has made.  They all kindly allowed me to take a photo of their picture.  Some people painted on their glass.  Many had nautical themes.  All are unique and wonderful.

Carol and I, very happy at the end of the class 

Here's my finished tree in the Community Hall propped against its soothing blue walls.

.....

Whilst I was at the workshop, I remembered having fun during a crafty morning spent with my cousin, Stephanie, last February at her home in Fife.  

She and her family have turned beachcombing into an art form! 

Selecting pretty pieces from their extensive trove of sea pottery and sea-glass, we both created pictures.  I made a wee bird whilst Stephanie created a lovely vase of flowers.

I might just have been influenced by the flock of pretty birdies in Stephanie's house.

But I never framed my sea pottery bird when I got home.  When I looked at it, it always felt unfinished.  Incomplete.   

So I took it to pieces, soaked off the old glue and decided to re-make it, just as we had at Shelagh's workshop.  

I attached the pottery directly onto the glass with clear adhesive and added a wee twig for my bird to sit on.  A few sea-glass leaves completed my composition.

I'm much happier with my sea pottery bird now, seen here with my glass cooker splashback behind it.

And he can join my tree in my personal gallery of sea treasure!

A visit to the shedio

When my husband, Geoff, asked for a picture by his favourite artist for his joint birthday/Christmas present last year, you'd have been forgiven for thinking I might've baulked at this, believing I'd have to sell an organ to purchase an old master!  However, his favourite artist is someone we've been friends with for over 20 years - talented Borders based maker, Lesley Johnson. 

To facilitate Geoff's picture choice, Lesley invited us to visit her "shedio", a tiny creative space at the bottom of her garden in Peebles.  With a husband and two teenage sons mad-keen on mountain biking, Lesley doesn't even get the whole shed to play in as two thirds of the space is storage for bikes and outdoor gear!

But Lesley packs a lot of kit into her shed/studio aka "the shedio".  When she's not teaching chemistry, she produces artworks using various mediums and tools, favouring texture gel and copper ink applied using implements as diverse as a pastry brush and old credit cards!

The sewing machine allows Lesley to embellish her textile pictures which are made by wet felting colourful merino wools.  She also uses her hand produced fabrics to make tea and cafetiere cosies.

Transferring her designs to fabric enables Lesley to create beautiful lampshades for these bottle lamps.

Lesley's inspired by light, colour and texture, local hills and countryside in the Borders and by Scotland's stunning coastline.

Botanical images often feature in Lesley's artwork with seed heads being a favourite subject.

Her delightful family home is like a mini art gallery so we were able to appreciate her own pictures which adorn the walls prior to Geoff choosing something for himself.

In the end, he didn't choose just one picture, but two of Lesley's originals made their way home with us to Aberdeenshire.

This is entitled  "Treelines" and is created using acrylics and pastels.  We were agreed we really wanted it to hang where we'd see it all the time so it's in our bedroom opposite the bed.

"Blooming Heather" is a smaller work in acrylic and ink on paper - it's hanging in the hall.  Here they are in situ.

Thanks, Lesley, for such a wonderful and inspiring visit to your shedio - we are enjoying our new artworks every day!

You can contact the artist yourself by following this link to her Facebook page.