Patonga Pelicans Drypoint Prints

Patonga Pelicans 14 x 17 cms
Drypoint printed in three colours and finished with Sennelier oil pastels

Drypoint 14 x 17 cms

When I return to Australia I'm always hanging out for the sight of my first pelican. Patonga, a little fishing village about an hour from Sydney, is my favourite place to spot them. I was told I'd get my best shots early in the morning when the local fish and chip shop owner throws out his rubbish. I waited in vain on Monday morning. Not a pelican in sight.What I didn't know, but the pelicans did, is that the fish shop is shut on Monday so they give Patonga a miss and go to Fisherman's Wharf further up the coast.

Next morning I was having my coffee at the local shop when I spotted the fish shop proprietor heading to the wharf with a bucket. I had no camera, no sketchbook. Then realised I had a mobile phone. In a state of bliss I got some pictures - bless my little Nokia 2700 classic - they are good enough to sketch from.

Reverse Piano Hinge Bookbinding

Spine of my first homemade RPH13cm x 18.5cm sketchbook

I have been struck over and over again by the generosity of printmakers. Artists I find are a generous breed in general, willing to share advice and tips but it is printmakers who have shown themselves to be super generous in giving a beginner a leg up and lots of advice and instruction, not to mention materials. Belinda del Pesco, bless her, is such a generous person. She shares her techniques with anyone lucky enough to find her blog and when I was stuck for mat board supplies here in Italy she surprised me with offcuts so I could make collographs. Then there is Sherrie York a.k.a. Brush and Baren who enabled me to make my first reduction linocut. Martin Stankewitz who provided me with fantastic insights into monotype printmaking and may eventually succeed in teaching me How to Draw a Tree. Of course there is always Rick Woodbury whose ongoing generosity includes a key to his print studio here in Tuscany!

Today I'm paying tribute to another Printmaking Angel - Wendy Shortland a.k.a Quirky Artist.

Wendy travelled into the city to meet me when I was last in Sydney and spent hours answering my questions about Solarplate Etching, Viscosity Printing and Bookbinding. Now she has given me directions to make a Reverse Piano Hinge Sketchbook. This was my first real attempt at bookbinding. I've made a couple of concertina fold books but nothing more ambitious. Now I am delighted to have been shown how to make a book that has a very pleasing Japanese-like spine, sits flat when open and has the benefit of being able to remove and replace pages.

Inside cover

Internal hinge with removable paper pin
These are in the middle of each of the 6 signatures

In my book there are 17 double pages where you don't see the hinge

This book was made from two sheets of Italian Grafia printmaking paper, a piece of coloured craft paper, a scrap of brown packing paper for the cover and two pieces of cover board, in addition to some PVC glue, with which I made a bit of a mess. The book is far from professional bookbinder perfect but I'll do better next time.

I'm not suggesting Wendy invented the reverse piano hinge method but I am saying a big thank you for refining the instructions and sharing them with this beginner.

Editors Note: For those of you interested in learning to make a version of this book, Wendy recommends Gwen Diehn's book Real Life Journals - Designing and Using Handmade Books, a copy of which I've just ordered for myself from Amazon.

Gwen also generously posted instructions for the EDM Yahoo Group. Everyday Matters is a great group well worth joining.

Beloved Sister

Patricia Bailey 1925 - 2011

I would like more sisters,
that the taking out of one,
might not leave such stillness.

- Emily Dickinson

Now we are 1

A Postcard From My Walk

6" x 4" my watercolour postcard to Liz Steel in Australia

One of the great things for me about 2011 is a postcard exchange by our Sketchercise group. It's called A Postcard From My Walk. Each month I will paint a postcard during one of my walks and send it off to another Sketcherciser, by this time next year I will have received, in return, thirteen beautiful little original works of art from all over the world.

You can see the delightful postcard I've received from my Sydney friend, Liz Steel HERE on our official group blog.

6" x 4" my watercolour postcard to Martin Stankewitz in Germany

Both the above postcards have been a challenge in that they were painted outside here in Castiglion Fiorentino (Italy) in the winter. Roll on Spring!

None of us knows where our next postcard is coming from so that's a surprise to look forward to each month.

Many thanks to Katherine Tyrrell (Making a Mark) for creating the wonderful Sketchercise Group and to Ronell van Wyk (Africantapestry) for her dedication in getting this exchange up and running.

You can read about all the artists involved and see their postcards as they arrive HERE on A Postcard From My Walk.