Deceptive chair from designers block blog

Hanging Canvas Seating - Take a Close Look Posted: 25 Apr 2013 07:28 AM PDT   This is seriously weird. Shown at Milan Design Week recently, it's a canvas that you can actually sit in. I love quirky designs like this. By Yoy, found at Yatzer

The Cloud That Will Make You Smile - Well Not Me Posted: 25 Apr 2013 07:28 AM PDT This rainwater collector is called - The Cloud That Will Make You Smile. Well it doesn't make me smile at this moment in time as I am sick of the sight of clouds and rain come to that. London basks in sunshine and Northumberland basks in rain. Just not fair. Found at 1 Design Per Day

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Shirley Grange

Preparations for classes

Busy week.  I have  exhibitions to fit in while preparing for classes.  I am going to be taking full allowance of pain relief if necessary as I am determined to get thru it.  This means I will be feeling very happy and even more talkative even though I will also suffer from dry mouth. which makes me drink more, which necessitates i am go to toilets at every available opportunity while i am out and about - a glamorous life.

Tomorrow morning I will pop into into wood frame place in hackney to check it out before going to Somerset house for graphics exhibtion, Pick Me Up which is only on this week and in same building the Courtauld for 'Becoming Picasso' exhibition.   Then off to school to photocopy work for screen printing and then etching class - I still have to draw on spare plate tonight for that.  

Wednesday Screen printing I will also have to prepare for tonight and tomorrow night.  This is where i am with the graphics ready.  I am preparing enough graphics for 2 A3 screens.  You don't have to fit this much in, some people just put a star or a flower in the middle, but as usual, i want to get as much in, to get the most out of all the processes I will have to do.  I will use the schools screens but will ask teacher for list of suppliers to get screens, and other small equipment.   Here is where i am and need to finish tonight so i can photocopy at school tomorrow onto 2 A3 sheets.

Screen 1 left side will be 3 rows of graphics i can use separately or on top of greek writing below etc.  One of these may be a photo formatted in half tone in photoshop but not sure i will have time tonight to do this.    Right side is a Tshirt design, main black ink design and above it second colour - red fingernails which will be done when black is dry.  It is done with 'registration' marks to ensure correct positioning.  I did the nails by tracing through on top of the hands then tracing this above to get on one page.  I think it would be much easier to do this in photoshop.

Screen 2.  I drew the skeleton head 4 years ago ( l loved it as my first good drawing done in ink without any thought, and gave me confidence to go back to art) and i had prepared it as pattern in previous screen print class but never printed it.  I can be printed as 9, or strip of 3 or just one head over perhaps the greek writing on the right.  Skeletans are very in, not really my thing, but i only print on old sleeping gear.

PS. 4 HOURS LATER AND EXHAUSTED AND ACHING SO HAVE USED OLD DRAWINGS TO FILL IN GAPS ABOVE.

Thursday morning I will go back to wood place if i need more time to decide on wood to buy, go to Royal Academy Print Show only on this week, then National Portrait Gallery for Man Ray portraits before my membership runs out which i am not renewing.

Then off to picture framing class.  I am taking a drawing I did of cafe owners child and they told me on facebook they would like a copy.  This is the simplest frame to make.  I also need to frame 2 canvasses i bought, the gold is one of a past teacher and the bright coloured one is by an 8yr old child i bought for £25 which was the only one left by him, all the others had been sold.  I think it has Hockney influence from his last exhibition though not sure the artist knew.  I am taking these to get framing teachers input as they are both tricky colours.

Drawing I will use for first,  simplest picture framing.

Gold leaf letter Canvas for framing suggestions from teacher

Childs painting for suggestions from teacher.  At the moment I  have it on table as I had been trying to adapt a clazed box frame I had.  The teacher mentioned spacers which is exactly what i need.  I will see if the wood place has them.  They will stop the painting touching the glass and another set will keep the backing at the back of the frame, as it had been made to sit just behind the glass for a drawing.

My table and other work room updates

Kim's talk of her work on her table, All About Me blog, inspired to go check my table's capacity for inclining top.  Unfortunately the 2 levers are on the side that raises which is against another table and so not accessible easily, pity they are not on not the lower which of course is the side you sit at and there are only 2 positions, vertical and horizontal, nothing in between.  The levers that have to pull out to release the top for moving are also very difficult as my arthritis wrists don't turn enough to hold both without extreme pain.  So, for now i have left if inclined with the back held up by other table and the front stopped from lowering further by a magazine on my filing cabinet.   The raising of the table has given me extra room round tables as they fit one under the the other.  I can move them as necessary.  I will try it for a while.  The incline is ok so things don't slide down much.  If i like it i may add a lip to lower side, perhaps one that can be removed if i am using the table for machine sewing.

This has been done over the last year.  I will blog when i have finished, don't hold your breath.

This table was £25 charity shop buy, brown top and chrome crossbar legs on castors.  As part of my project to blind myself by painting my flat and everything in it white, i used some old wall paint to paint table.  The paint had some yellowing.  I ended up doing 5 layers.  I finished with a coat of PVA for protection.  I will eventually do a coating of white again from new batch of paint and another PVA coat.

PS. SEVERAL HOUR LATER - I HAVE BEEN USING TABLE ON THE SLANT AND LOVE IT.

These photos were taken on phone, then i used phone/android/ipad app called Skitch to annotate which also links into Evernote the notetaking app I use often on phone and ipad for lists, reminders, addresses etc.  Its quicker than opening photoshop for annotation of pictures.

The cabinet below was Ikea £25.   Thought it would be difficult to assembly but was designed beautifully for assembly and I enjoyed it.

You can see in the background that I still have a lot of shelving to paint white.  I put it off as it takes so long, so many surfaces, one pva to make paint stick to laminate, 3 coats paint and  I think i will finish with PVA which I haven't done previously so thats another coat - i may combine pva with last white coat to save time if that works.

And with all this table space , i end up preparing for classes this week lounge, as i did it while in bed or watching TV.

Ikea clear boxes with lids and carry handle boxes
Although I thought it would save money and look nicer by covering old cardboard boxes i had in my own design paper, there is no getting away from the fact that finding things is easier in clear boxes and that a sturdy carry box means i can bring a box of one media onto the table at once be it watercolour, inks, etc.  The only area of shelving i have left is the little bottles of arcrylic as i have them organised in colour groups that are easy see, decide on and get off the shelf.

4 boxes with carry handles - pencils and pens, watercolour, inks,  drawing accessories rubbers, sharpeners etc.

Print section - inks, stamps, etching plates, printing inks, also clothing and china inks.

New classes this week.

I already blogged about Etching on Tuesday.

Wednesday was Screen printing. While most classes are 2.5 hours this was 10-4. And i was tired by lunch time. Another nice teacher. More complex machinery than when i did it at Mary Ward centre where we used a 150W bulb and our watches for timing, to react the photo emulsion. Here its a huge machine that sucks out all the air and times the whole thing. Iprefer light bulb as is something that can be set up at home.

Thursday was picture framing. Hysterical. Chaotic. Teacher is italian in about his 80s. While he is trying to give us an intro talk, his advanced pupils, mostly middle aged women who have been with him for 20yrs, were talking loudly right near us. We all kept looking at each other wondering when he would tell them to shut up. It didnt seem to worry him. Finally he saw our looks and told them to keep quiet. I have had classes like this before. A talented ecentric. You dont learn quickly, just a few gems per class. We sawed a piece of wood in mitre saw and then used planer with a leaver action to smooth it. Class was 2.5 hrs. Sawing took 5 mins. Intro talk took 20mins. Then he looked at artworks bought in and suggested type of frame - he had some lovely ideas which is what i want - color combinations, proportions, styles, methods and hopefully how to cut mounting card. I hadnt taken anything as i didnt know to. Then he disappeared so we drifted out during the last hour. He told us where to get wood for next week. Its at a huge place near me so i will go check it out tomorrow. They are suppose to be very rude. I will get cheapest, plain wood for a little drawing. Keep it simple. Then i will go onto 2 canvases i have that need framing. Most of equipment is cheapish and at B&Q. I may not make my frames in ghe end, but i want ideas. I have quite a few old frames and need to cut mount cards to make them fit pictures.

Frid. Was my usual life drawing.

Homework. I now have to draw on etching panel, get drawings read to fill 2 screen prints and get wood for framing. Exhausted just thinking about it. Did bit yesterday but was still getting over stiffness from the week. It is too much but only 6 more weeks when etching finishes, then another 3 before its all over so will try to keep all classes going. At least i am doing more art which feels good.

Etching class - fantastic teacher showed me great drawing method

Term 3 started.  It's been a while since i tried doing a few classes per week.  Worried it may be too much.  But, today anyway, the sun shone and my arthritis reacted well to all the painkillers.   Its been a very good day, the most upbeat I've felt in months.

 It was a 2-1/2 hour etching class.  I was a bit nervous as from previous classes, i know it can be complicated and one needs to be careful because there a mild etching acids etc.  On arrival I wondered why i was there, it seemed too much hard work,  but teacher was good and eased me in.  He showed me a method I had used but it seemed better this time, probably because he explained it really well - it was a WOW moment.

Its a perfect method for drawing.  His explanation wowed me because i finally got it - you draw into the wax you put on the zinc plate.  The wax reacts to how much pressure you apply with your pencil.   He got me to draw a light, medium, and heavy line.  The acid will start eating into the metal straight away say 30 mins, on the heavy line because you have pushed most into the wax and left little there.  The medium line will take longer so after 30 mins it will be more lightly eaten into by the acid, and the lighter line even less.  So, you can draw freely and get every nuance of line.   He showed me a great method of drawing onto the wax by using masking tape to lay butchers paper above the plate, draw onto the paper so you see you drawing properly.  This was absolutely fantastic.  Hadn't learnt this step before.

I had gone over previous notes and works yesterday, but when he said what did i want to do, i had no ideas.  Fortunately i had a drawing in my notes that i love by Honoré Daumier which i copied.  After i drew it, and was waiting for acid to eat into plate, i had time to compare drawings, seeing the mastery of his lines.  I practiced a few more drawings.  The teacher set up another plate for me to take home and do another drawing.

The drawing by Honoré Daumier showing wonderful use of line to show personality and garment movement.

My hurried copy drawn onto butchers paper placed over the zince plate coated in soft wax by placing the plate on hotplate, rubbing block of wax on the warmed plate, rolling it evenly, letting it cool to a smooth thin layer of wax which you can draw into.

The reverse of the drawing shows where the lines i drew have picked up the wax from the plate in exactly the thickness or thinness  i have drawn.

The zinc plate after it has been in the acid bath for 1/2 hour.  Next week i will ink and print.  That's when the hard work starts - right amount of ink, scriming, polishing, putting thru press, see print then go back to plate, remove any marks u don't want with varnish stopper, add other marks you may want, put back into acid bath - and so on till  you get what u want - its dirty, hard work.  I will have to take my time and it will challenge my patience, perserverence and desire to want to get things just right - like the million rewrites you do to a first draft.

Second plate to take home to make another drawing.  It has a hard ground - wax that is harder, applied in same way.  I will see what it is like to draw into.



While waiting for the acid to work, i had time to retry the drawing which shows I need to practice a drawing first before i try it on the next plate.  I may do a portrait of a friend.

Went to non-religious Sunday Assembly in Islington

St Pauls, corner Ball Ponds Rd & Essex Rd. Started few months ago. On once a month. Is growing. In other countries like oz i think but i think London kicked it off. Co founded by 2 comedians. Met people from Kent, Exeter etc. exeter one meets weekly, started 3 weeks ago, Friday evenings. They came from all over to check it out, to help set up their own. A talk by writer Sarah Dunant, linked by inspiring funny snippets from comedian, fun songs, introducing oneself to those next to you, donation collection, tea and cake afterwards. Other groups like 'London Philosophers' and 'Good for Nothing' and request for volunteers to help run things. I might make cake!

Sun was out and arthritis responded to pain relief really well, so a great day.

Videos, singing 'Don't Stop Believing', and 'Always look on the bright side of Life', and laughter.

Inspired by RA Manet portrait exhibition

Done from my imagination in 20mins, in RA cafe, using Procreate on Ipad, after seeing the Manet 'Portraying Life'.   As usual, i should have left it as i finished and liked it.  But, when i reopened it, i added a few touches which lost the original spontaneity.  Knowing when to stop - so important, so hard.  Still, its freer than some of the stiff sketches i've been doing life drawing from an actual model.   I've noticed this before - ie.  that drawings from imagination don't get bogged down in trying to 'copy' from life.