Happy Thanksgiving

A happy thanksgiving to American family and friends.

Apparently these decorations are the type of thing young American kids make for Thanksgiving.  The tail and wings are made from hand shapes, and the body from footprints (needless to say, I made these smaller than my own hands and feet!)

Birthday bunting

Birthday card for my god-daughter, machine stitched fabric scraps on textured paper.  The design was inspired by Just Another Hangup's makeup bag.

Peapods

This is from Day 2 of my print-making workshop, more lino-cutting. 

The image is from an Elizabethan design book: apparently peapods were a popular design motif at that time, in common with other plants and flowers. 

Plants were often used not just for their aesthetic appeal, but as metaphors for all elements of life.   In keeping with the more bawdy portrayals of Elizabethan society, peapods were reknown for their phallic symbolism.  I can almost hear the Blackadder theme music striking up. 

Print-making

Spent yesterday at a print-making workshop.  Covered mono-printing, dry-point etching, lino print and the theory of woodcutting.  I much preferred mono-printing and lino (dry-point etching is like someone dragging their fingernails down a blackboard, and woodcutting seemed like way more effort than lino).  And top tip for lino cutting - heat the lino with a hairdryer or on a radiator for five minutes.

Here is my first lino sample, design inspired by stuccoes at the Alhambra in Granada.