More Adventures with Alice

A few weeks ago I started to tell you about my adventures with Alice. This was a weekend of mark making on an island in Essex, organised by Alice Fox. We had such fun, but what made it stand out  (a part from being with such an inspirational and lovely artist!) was that it stretched me. My go-to  tool for recording is often my camera, or a pen to write down words. This time Alice encouraged use of marks.

On our first morning Alice gave us a list of ideas. These included making marks with natural materials and found objects, as well as our favourite tools. I opted for a thick graphite stick most of the time. We were invited to record a list of different sights and sounds, vague enough for personal interpretation, and challenging enough to stretch (I'm still working out how to record colour, other than words!) One of my favourite pieces was the map of my early morning walk, which I spoke about in the previous post. Here I had held the graphite stick on a wedge of folded card, and the movement of my body directed the marks. This time I thought about how I could record sounds, and decided to do it in a similar way.

Standing in the water I closed my eyes and just listened....

Wellington boots kept my feet dry, and at brief interludes it was important to check my footing because it was an incoming tide. As well as checking the depth of water, which was fast riding, I needed to make sure I didn't sink too deep in the soft mud. Otherwise, I just shut my mind to everything other than the sounds. Of course, I could have sat on the bank where I didn't have to think about my environment, but standing in water made me feel more connected to my surroundings, and part of it. My experience was better for it.

I came up with the idea of recording the sounds by letting my pen react to the sounds that I heard. There was no thinking or planning; my hand moved intuitively and I really enjoyed this. It's something I will do more of in future. Before this weekend I lacked understanding about making marks, and now I know that when I look at these marks again, I am transformed back into that time and space,  and that they have emotion attached. 

The two pages will be joined together to create a simple accordion book, with a cover. Ideas also include making a separate book with a few photos taken at the time, and some words of explanation; with a small wallet to keep the two together.

During our weekend we also did a collaborative project. 
While sitting round the large table we were invited to make a mark
on an A3 sheet of card - something that had meaning to us this weekend. I chose my early morning walk, with it's irregular line that marked my route and journey.  We then passed the sheet to the next person, and we repeated our same mark on the sheet in front of us. We continued doing this until we received our original sheet, with a mark from every person present. 

Alice showed how to fold the card and cut along the lines, so that when folded it created a small book.   We ended up with lots of interesting marks on pages, and each of us spoke about our experience. Hearing why some people chose the words or marks that they did added meaning to our piece of work, and even though everyone repeated their mark, each book was entirely different.

One of my pieces of work was inspired by looking at the landscape.

It took several attempts before the abstract shapes of the tree line and mudflats revealed themselves, and I discovered that this free expression takes practice and playfulness for it to shine. I have way to go, but enjoyed the experience! In the same spot, I watched birds swooping and others wading in the mud. More random marks recorded this, and back at the house I added feather prints.  

A lot of our work was on pieces of folded card, small enough to carry on our field trips. Later this gave us opportunity to use these in a variety of ways and I recognised different projects coming together. In this next one I sewed the landscape and the bird flight pages together. As with other work this is still in progress. I may add a cover and have a question mark about including a hint of colour.

I mentioned at the beginning about making marks using natural materials and found objects.  In this next book there are pages that have texture - rubbings from wood, the crazed paintwork of upturned boats, metal, and rust.

I recorded what I saw and heard in words and in marks, and discovered that flowers add beautiful colour when rubbed onto paper.
I had not tried this before.

Inspired by another in our group I also took prints of mud. I discovered this is not as easy as it sounds, although to be honest, I did not spend time and patience experimenting like the lady in question. She had sat the same spot for an hour, watching the change in mud as the tide went out. She took numerous prints, and some were really subtle and delicate, with signs of movement and flow. The mud I chose was quite dry, and to make an impression I had to apply pressure. It lacks the delicacy of her prints, but it left the mark I was looking for and later I used wax to seal some of these pages. This encaustic art has a lovely texture and I have since used some of these pages to make covers for small notebooks.

I mentioned that there is a lot of mud and that it can be dangerous to go off the footpaths.  One lady found this to her cost. One foot wrong and she slipped onto her back. With no foot

or hand holds she was stranded,  with arms a loft holding her expensive camera!  I was in hearing distance had she shouted, but out of sight and with panic held under control, she somehow managed to turn and lever herself out of this thick  quagmire.  I had previous taken a photo of this broken warning sign and drawn it on one of my sheets of paper. I even added smudges of mud, though not intentionally! This page took on new meaning after this ladies experience and I discovered new found respect for the sign and warnings. It's easy to get blaze' when an area becomes familiar so I was grateful for this reminder. 

I'll be back with part 3 because I still have more books that I  made that weekend.  And I'll leave you with my favourite view of the mud, with the sun reflecting at the end of another glorious day.....

Adventures with Alice

"Let's get together again" we said.

We had loved the four day Summer School with Alice Fox and didn't want this time to come to an end. And so I suggested a house that we could hire and lured Alice with the thought of being on an island. Luckily it worked, but because of Alice's heavy work schedule we had to be patient... so it was eighteen long months later that we headed out across the causeway. 

 There was beautiful daffodils to welcome us...

And cosy chairs around the log fire.

And it's here our adventure began.
Alice called it: 'Personal and collaborative responses to landscape'.

We called it magical.

We were surrounded by a wide expanse of marsh and mudflats, and a horizon that stretches forever. Alice had warned us that much of our time will be spent outdoors, what ever the weather. And so we had come prepared with waterproofs and thermal layers; most of which remained unpacked because the weather took a turn and blessed us with clear blue skies. We were glad of our jackets and hats though, as there was a chill to the breeze and this would be felt when we sat quietly observing, sketching, or writing. Alice encouraged us to spend time alone, to use this time to explore our creativity and sense of connection. And we all welcomed this permission. Because while it is good to have company and to spend time with friends, it is a different kind of experience, alone.

After exploring and unpacking (done in that order for some of us!) we met back at the house for dinner. That was when we discovered
another talent of Alice's. Her home cooked meals became a highlight of the day, and quick trips back to the house for tea were just an excuse for a slice of homemade cake that would make a master baker proud! I was excited to have this time and opportunity to work with Alice again and I had not given much thought to meals. These turned out to be understated and Alice got it absolutely right in her choice and menu. We felt very well looked after, and this added to the weekend's memory and experience. Our first day ended with Alice showing us examples of her work. I was inspired and buzzing with ideas and went to bed fully sated, excited for a new day to begin.  

Some of us got up early to wander the island before breakfast. Ideas were already bubbling, and inspired by Alice's mark making I tried not to use my camera as my automatic way of recording. Instead I folded a piece of A3 card, with the idea of making a book of my walk. I set off with the card folded in one hand and a graphite stick in the other. They made contact as I walked along the sea wall.

Frequently I ventured off to explore the marsh.

  
This landscape might look bleak and dull, but look close and you find hidden surprises.

As a photographer it is hard not to frame and shoot.  But I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone and to try something different; so I used Alice's encouragement to make marks. I sketched, did rubbings, and sometimes sat to write down my thoughts and observations....

Back at the house I added colour to some of these.
This book is still work in progress, but shows some of the recordings I made on this early morning walk.

The next photo shows my meandering; the marks made with graphite stick held against the card. Their random, uneven lines are a

response to my unsteady footsteps as I explored the sea wall and marsh. I love this irregular shape that captured time and place. But what I discovered, when I unfolded the card at the end of my walk both surprised and intrigued me, and it still does. 

  

You see, to make it easy to draw, I walked with the card folded into a thick wedge. I started at the house and marked this with a X. I did not plan or even think about where I was going with this idea, it was just an unconscious piece of work that was experimental and fun. While I drew I looked where I walked - this was important if I was to keep myself safe. The mud is deep and potentially dangerous, especially as I was on my own. Each time I came to the end of a fold I turned the card and continued it onto the next page. 

Why was I surprised and intrigued?

Because without any intention or plan, my marks ended exactly where they began. I had no way of seeing what came on the page before or after, as the card was folded for the whole walk. If the mark had ended at a different edge I would have flipped the card over to continue. I could have ended with a blank space, or with my mark somewhere else completely different on the A3 sheet. I was surprised to find my mark back where it started. Just like my walk.

 A  cut across the centre fold meant I could make a simple book structure. Inside you get a glimpse of my rubbings and sketches.

This had started out as an experiment, just to satisfy my excitement and eagerness to get started. I was already bursting with ideas but after breakfast Alice planned to talk about what our time together would look like.
I'd better tell you about that next time!

ALICE FOX - LOST AND FOUND - FOUR

In my previous posts here and here I showed two books that I made during the Summer School.  Today I thought I'd share some another technique that we used - eco printing.  I have used plants before to create prints but not in this way, so I was excited to see how easy and effective this was.
 
Alice had collected a wonderful array of plant life and also encouraged us to go outside to forage.

But first she demonstrated the technique:

We folded a sheet of thick cartridge paper in half lengthways, then in half again, and again. Then we unfolded it and in between the folds we placed leaves, petals, and onion skins. 
 

Finally we secured the folds together using bull dog clips. With the paper tightly folded and bound we put it into a bath of green tea to soak thoroughly.   

Then it went outside under cover with all the other pieces that we had prepared..... 

Skip forward to day three! 

It takes time for the plants to do their magic and because the layers are so thick and wet patience is needed. Finally Alice gave the go ahead for us to open our pieces! Imagine our excitement!

There were squeals of delight as wrappings were removed.  Some of the fabric and paper was still wet so this was hung on a line or laid out on the path to dry. Luckily the sun was shining and it is best to allow natural drying process, but in some cases desperation took over and we used sources of heat to finish of the drying process.  A heat gun, iron or even hair dryer would do the trick but you have to be careful if your paper is embossed or you want to retain the textures. 

Here I am unwrapping mine:

  
Did you notice the string and label on my wrapping? Well I liked the way they took on colour and I went on to use them on another project linked at the start of this post. On other eco-plant prints we used string as a binding. When removed I discovered this left marks which can add to the design.  But I digress! 

I need to unfold...

 And here is my finished print.   I especially loved the effect of onion skins and when I am in the kitchen I will save all these in future so that I have a ready supply. 

Another technique we used was printing with ink and a brayer. I decided to fill in some of the white space using found items such as feathers and leaves, and because I didn't want to use the holes in the way I originally planned I cut these off. I also cut my page into  strips and stitched these together to make one long strip.  Alice's love of needle and thread is catching! 

I glued the strips of holes onto some of the pages as I liked the detail they added. I plan to add further stitching too, to add texture to the prints.  And I am thinking of adding some text, handwritten, perhaps following the contour of the print...

 

But for now I am letting the ideas germinate because like the eco prints, these are sometimes best given time to develop. 

I will be using this technique often in future and love the idea of creating prints anytime, anywhere. All I need is paper, plants, and something to bind them. Oh!  And a mug of tea (no milk thank you!)  

I still have more from the Summer School to share but I have other posts waiting too.  So I hope to see you again soon, thanks for popping by.

ALICE FOX - LOST AND FOUND - THREE

I'm back to share more about the Summer School and if you missed my previous posts you can find out more here and here. As I love making handmade books I thought I would share another that I made. 

Again I painted a sheet of thick cartridge paper with green tea and covered it with rusty objects.  This time instead of using tissue paper I covered it with a piece of cotton fabric.  As before this produced 2 designs in one process.  Don't you love that?!

And here are the resulting pieces:

The cartridge paper

The fabric.
I have put this aside to use for another time.

If you are a regular visitor to my blog you may remember that I went to the Shetland Islands earlier this year.  I took over 4,000 photos and the promised posts are slow coming as I still feel daunted by sorting these out and knowing where to start. There are SO many memories and stories, but that is for another time and I have not forgotten.  But the reason I mention this is because this rusting
effect reminds me of my trip.  Lots of my photos are of rusted objects (yes I know some people take scenery, and I took those too!) and leaving home I selected a few of these photos and printed them on to tracing paper.

I loved the rust print on this cartridge paper so when Alice Fox suggested we experiment with simple book folds I knew exactly what I wanted to do. I had made this structure before and knew these photos would be perfect, so instead of a sample I went straight in to produce a finished book.  And here it is, one side of the paper folded and cut:

 And the other side:

Below is the cover, when the book is folded. 

I need to add a title and I will continue to work on this book a little more. I may add a few words or a poem and this is my usual style of working.... make a start and then let ideas germinate. Often the book directs and I follow.  I love how sometimes I do not know the outcome until it reveals itself. 

 

On to the cover I have glued a piece of a photo.  Remember it is printed onto tracing paper?  The transparency allows a blending of background and image and if you look close you might be able to make out a section of a large  bollard on a quayside, used for tying up ships and boats.  This is meant to be Bookart rather than a book of photos.  It may feature in an exhibition of my work in November but that's another story so more about that another time.

On the back of the printed side I have glued more photos.  I love how the book forms interesting shapes....

 And when you fold it, you can turn the pages.  See - it is a book!

In the last photo you can see a better image of the bollard shown on the cover.  As mentioned earlier this is a book structure that I have made before but I enjoyed the opportunity to experiment with the design and develop new ideas. There are still more posts to come... did I mention that this Summer School was amazing and that I came home with a bundle of books and printed material to work on!

ALICE FOX - LOST AND FOUND WORKSHOP - TWO

I had so many photos and projects from my recent LOST AND FOUND Summer School that it is hard to chose which ones to share.  But as I showed some of the rust printed fabric and paper in my previous
post today I will show one of my completed projects: a small book that uses an Australian Hidden Piano Hinge.

I have used this binding technique before and love it's versatility. You can use different colours and patterned card to create effects but I won't provide a tutorial on this occasion as I am focusing instead on the materials I used.   

First I liberally painted a sheet of thick cartridge paper with green tea and placed rusty objects onto the surface. I made sure the objects were in as much contact with the paper as possible and covered it with a sheet of tissue paper which had also been painted with green tea.  This meant the rust would transfer onto both sheets of paper (two for the price of one) and that the tissue would help to stop the paper from drying too quickly.  This gives more time for the rust to create its effect and I waited a couple of days.  Luckily I had lots of other things to get on with so I wasn't too impatient!  And this is the result.  Can you see a spanner, and other marks left by the rust?  I discovered that the overall effects can be pleasing.....

 

But when cut up they can be even more so....

Alice uses a lot of stitch in her work and encouraged us to experiment. Here I stitched around a small white area to create texture. 

 

Remember the spanner?  I wanted to make a feature of this. 

 

So I cut the sheet into 2 strips and folded them lengthways. Then I cut 2 sheets of plain paper to fit inside, forming a signature.  

 

I made another 3 signatures using complimentary papers. 



 Then I created them into a book using the rust printed papers as front and back covers.


We added binding and name tags when making some of our other prints
and I loved the way these took on colour. I wanted to include these so I used the thread to stitch around the hinge binding and left the name tag attached. 

And on the back I added more stitching, using thread to match the colour of the rust.

I enjoyed making this book and I will add the Australian Piano hinge design to my list of upcoming workshops.   And there are other books that I made at the Summer School so I will be back with more.  Thanks for looking in!