So, armed with a memory stick full of photos, I attended the
South Hill Park Arts Centre in Bracknell to do a digital media workshop making a fresco with the wonderful
Janet Curley Cannon.
On day one Janet gave us a talk about digital fresco and the techniques developed in Digital Art Studio by Lhotka, Krause & Schminke (one of my favourite books, and the main reason I bought my large-format printer).
Janet also gave us a whistle-stop refresher session in photo-shop techniques and I used the following five images:
.........to make this digital collage for the fresco.
This was a really useful part of the session because I'd forgotten some of the basics of using layers in this way.
We then painted a mixture of InkAid digital ground and acrylic flow medium onto a sheet of mylar, and left it overnight to dry.
On Sunday it was time to print the image, and I had another useful session from Janet on using the Epson large-format printer with photoshop, and printed onto the digital ground.
The print was then left to dry whilst we prepared the fresco panel. We made a well with gaffer tape around a supported plywood board, then poured a mixture of rabbit-skin glue and white marble powder onto the board.
When the surface was tacky to the touch, we transferred the print from the mylar onto the fresco panel. It was really exciting and a bit like magic, watching the image slowly release from the mylar.
It's a lot like a polaroid transfer, but on a larger scale. I love the additional textures that were created during the transfer process, and when dry it can also be painted onto with encaustic paint (or other media).
It was the best workshop I've attended for a good long while. I loved South Hill Park Arts Centre, which was lively and full of action, sound, and visual art in a beautiful building full of people of all ages; exactly as a good arts centre should be.
I had fun with the other participants who produced some amazing images and we really bonded well; it really felt like we'd been working together for ages.
Janet's teaching style was relaxed and informative, and I loved the range of skills she covered. I'll definitely be going back in the spring to do another of her workshops in printmaking.
My lovely nephew Ben, came with a friend and they helped me do a much needed clear of the veranda, which had become cluttered and abandoned.
Thank you Ben! We worked really hard and did a big trip to the skip, and when it was swept and washed down, it was perfect to use as a summer studio for my encaustic experiments. I should have taken some 'before' photos to compare it with, because it really was a terrible eye-sore!
So this is a view looking out of the conservatory onto the veranda. I relocated my sewing station here when my large format printer arrived and I couldn't fit my sewing stuff in my studio any more.
And here is the encaustic bench, situated near the trellis because you need good ventilation.
My hot plate arrived at last, so I got to work making a batch of wax/damar resin medium. I had to be patient because it took over 24hrs to melt it slowly (or it becomes brittle).
And here's my very first batch of medium! I was ridiculously excited when it cooled and hardened. Doesn't it look wonderful?
Here's the veranda from both ends. I'm really lucky to have this space, though it's only useable for encaustic until the weather gets too cold.
I've used the pallet that came with the printer, to do some experiments with different grounds. The white area is venetian plaster, and wet-strength tissue.
Dandy's best mate, Donnie Darko (otherwise known as Scrappy Do) came to check it out and give me a hard stare.
He can't help himself; he's a jack russel/poodle cross and he's really manic and intense!
New painting in mixed media; gold leaf, alcohol inks, pastels and graphite on vellum.
I wanted to do something with a waxy feel to it because I've been obsessed with encaustic art for a long time, and this obsession has now culminated in me setting up an encaustic studio on the veranda. The paints arrived yesterday, and I'm now awaiting my hot plate, heat stylus and hot air gun. I can barely contain my excitement!
Don't they just look good enough to eat?
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