Ideas and experiments

Snippets a montage of ideas and notes   mixed media   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Where to start? I have so many ideas half baked, scraps of paper with little experiments, workings out, notes in sketchbooks....all jostling for attention. I've decided to take a little break from blogging for a few weeks whilst I get my 'house' in order. It's also time for a good literal studio Spring clean as well as the mental one. Believe it or not this is a tidied desk - I can't show you the horror that lies in the other direction!

Studio desk   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Along the Jurassic coast path

The Wind Whistled   etching   3.2x10cm   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

The Jurassic coast footpath covers 95 miles of beautiful scenery, stretching from Exmouth in Devon to Old Harry Rocks in Dorset. It is England’s first natural UNESCO World Heritage Site and if you have the chance to visit it you will soon see why.

This little etching is from a sketch, a first response, made years ago on one of my first visits. I was struck by the patterns of the fence posts disappearing and leading on through sections of the path. It's not the usual impression people leave with, it doesn't have the iconic romanticism of Durdle Door or Lulworth Cove or any of the other beautiful spots along this bit of coastline. I think it made an impression on me for being so ordinary and overlooked. I liked the pattern it made in the landscape.



This etching is available for purchase here.

Ammonite spiral solar etching

Ammonite   solar etching   14.5x20.5cm   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

This what I had been intending to print when I stumbled across the seahorse plate from the previous post...These prints are from a second solar etching plate that I made on the Printmaking Course at Arts University Bournemouth. (For an explanation of the process visit this post Sea urchin - solar etching.) I had decided to do another ammonite plate to be able to compare and contrast the technique and outcome with a small zinc ammonite plate I had etched in the traditional way. (Variations are shown here.)

After experimenting with the inking up and printing of both types of plate I think the outcomes are hard to distinguish between. Maybe the difference would become apparent when printing large editions with one plate wearing down quicker than another. My research hasn't come up with an answer to that, only that both types of plate are very hard wearing. I have enjoyed both processes and can see the advantage of solar etching for my circumstances in not having to use the acid bath to make plates. Whether I can make it work for me using sunlight and not having to have a light box to expose the drawing onto the plate remains to be seen, more experiments to come over summer methinks.

Ammonite   solar etching   14.5x20.5cm   ©2016Lisa Le Quelenec

Both of the above prints are available in my Etsy store Seasidestudiosuk.