Collections of pebbles and hag stones in monoprint

 

Collection I   collagraph monoprint   29x19cm   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

I have been experimenting and exploring again this time the shapes and textures in pebbles gathered locally. They are a geological history of this part of the coast whose history fascinates me. I often wonder at how different it must have looked with the Isle of Wight's Needles still joined to Old Harry Rocks and where was it exactly that the sea breached and eroded to form the two iconic landmarks that gives us the beach we enjoy today. Was it where Poole harbour is? Being the second largest natural harbour in the world could make it a possibility...or did that come later as the water found the lowest point to pool in and wash away the softer land? These are things that I ponder as I walk along the beach picking up pebbles and looking through the hag stones that have been pushed around by the tide. How much of this history has this pebble seen? Or this one?

Collection II   collagraph monoprint   29x19cm   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

My experiments have taken the form of collagraph making individual plates of each stone, choosing textures to describe each pebble individually and then intuitively placing them to print in different combinations. It has the element of chance and surprise for me that echoes the way that I gather the pebbles they have been inspired by. The process is long as each pebble plate is inked separately again echoing the process that formed the rock.

Hagstones ©LisaLeQuelenec

Colours are taken directly from the source material but are also reflected back at me on my walks as the lack of rain and very hot, dry weather are parching the land. I haven't known the river to be so low, even at high tide it doesn't look the same. We have warnings along the coast to be mindful that the heat may produce cliff falls - the process continues to shape the land just as it did to shape the pebbles in my hand.

Needles - Isle of Wight   23x20cm   ghost print and mixed media   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

Tradition says that the fairy folk can be seen through a hag stone but I have only spied a 'polar bear' ;o)  Have you seen the Wight bear?

All of the above prints are available in my Folksy Store.