New Prints available at RedBubble.

 

New images available at RedBubble. Currently there is a 25% discount sitewide so you can treat yourself to these or any other piece for less. The offer ends soon...

Prints available at RedBubble ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Room to Run   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

A distinguished Gentleman   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Moonshine   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Glinting Moonlight   ©2025LisaLequelenec

Headland and a Sudden Shower - etching and drypoint prints

 

Headland    etching 6x6cm   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

It certainly is starting to feel autumnal now with noticeably darker mornings and evenings. Occasionally more dramatic skies and rain showers and a mellowness in the air. I have been reprinting and restocking some of my older plates which are now available in my Etsy Store with prints from these edition at Folksy too.

I have been inspired to work on some new larger prints. I am still in the platemaking and testing stage but hope to have something to show soon. Below are the initial sketchbook thumbnails - these are tiny inch square sketches/ideas - I am working out how to translate them into larger images, how far I can push the boundaries of the plate size before the image is lost. 

Sketchbook thumbnails for the Heavy Weather Series ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

A Sudden Shower   10.5x5.5xm  drypoint etching   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

23 Sitting in Silence - acrylic on board

 

Sitting in Silence   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'When you sit in silence long enough, you learn that silence has motion.

It glides over you without shape or form, exactly like water.'

                                                                                                                       Anne Spollen

Available in my Folksy store.

Sitting in Silence   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

21 Blue at the Edges - acrylic on board

 

Blue at the Edges   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'The world is blue at it's edges and in it's depths. This blue is the light that got lost....'

                                                                                                                           Rebecca Solnit

Available in my Folksy store.

Blue at the Edges   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

16 Great storm - acrylic on board

 

Great Storm   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'...great storm,

put all your winds to work

blowing their horns,

Set the whole night

galloping with its horses,'

                                                                                               Neruda

Available in my My Folksy store.

Great Storm   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

13 The air was bright - acrylic on board

 

The Air Was Bright   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'The air was bright for looking:

Most far in blue, aloft,

Clouds steered a burnished drift;'

                                                                        Song for a Summer's Day - Sylvia Plath

Available in my Folksy store.

The Air Was Bright   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

5 Sunrise - acrylic on board

 

Sunrise   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

'...my ability to convey my experience of the sunrise would depend, first,

on my having mastered an abstract language and, second,

on someone else (the viewer) having mastered it too.'

                                                                                                                                 Anne Truitt

Available in my Folksy store.

Sunrise   10x10cm acrylic on board   ©2022LisaLeQuelenec

Watching the rain come in - watercolour paintings

 

Watching the rain come in   watercolour 20x16cm   ©2021LisaLeQuelenec

I love the magical light over the sea when a rain storm comes rushing in...

A Keen Breeze   watercolour 16x20cm   ©2021LisaLeQuelenec

 

Both paintings are available in my Etsy Store.

Sailing where the sea met the sky - watercolour

Sailing where the sea met the sky   watercolour   ©2020 LisaLeQuelenec

 

We have been treated to some beautiful sunsets this Autumn, absolute stunners full of firey reds and oranges with rich cerise and purples. Breath taking as they are, my favourite kind to paint are these more mellow late summer ones. 

This painting is available in my Etsy store.

Blue on blue - Moonlit sea watercolour

 
 

Blue on Blue    watercolour 28x28cm   ©2021LisaLeQuelenec

 

A full moon from back in the summer twinkling on the sea in answer to the twinkling lights of the town in the distance. I am missing warm mellow evenings it feels distinctly chillier now.

Available in my Etsy store.

After having a huge studio sort and refurbish, I feel like I have now properly moved in. It took a bit longer than I had anticipated and weirdly even longer for the space to feel like it was mine. It was too pristine and intimidating with all the new work surfaces and furniture - I didn't feel like I could make a mess. I had to give myself a talking to and just crack on. Now I have so many new drawers to store things I am still hunting around to find what I am looking for but it does feel so much more organised. What a lovely 'problem' to have.

 

Lockdown sky studies

 

 

Sky studies  10x10cm watercolour on paper   ©2020/21LisaLeQuelenec

 

 

During lockdown I spent a lot of time looking up. There were some fantastic coloured skies, the air seemed crisper and cleaner. Maybe due to a drop in pollution? I am fortunate to live within a short distance of the beach so could easily visit during the allowed exercise time/distance. It is only really now that I am starting to get used to seeing planes in the sky again and they are still alot more infrequent than before.

 

I started a series of 10x10cm watercolours inbetween the homeschooling, dog walking and in spare moments. I am starting to put these paintings into my Folksy store each measures 10x10cm and represents a quiet moment to forget about the stress of these troublesome times.

 

 

Sky studies  10x10cm watercolour on paper   ©2020/21LisaLeQuelenec

 

Sky studies  10x10cm watercolour on paper   ©2020/21LisaLeQuelenec

So I tried.......but I failed.....

Back at the beginning of November printmaker Sherrie York posted here about how she was going to return to a challenge of drawing 100 thumbnails in the month. What a challenge I thought to myself. I had read the post mid month and thought to myself I would give it a go myself with the aim of making it to 50. I have been a little undisciplined of late with my drawing practise and thought the challenge would give me the kick up the proverbial that I needed....

However 50 was a little ambitious I think at this time of year for me and I only managed 30 even though the maximum time I had spent on them was two minutes! How shameful - that's only an hours worth of drawing that I managed after all ;o)  I will do better this month (I hope) it's a nice challenge to get the juices flowing and a couple of these little scribbles might be the start of something in the future who knows...

Sherrie has posted a wonderful video of her Hundred which you can see here . I have to say they are amazing and show just what a skilled draughtswoman she is. Pop over and have a look. Now where is that sketchbook....

30 thumbnails for November   pencil on paper each one 5x5cm approx   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Start of the storm collagraph and mixed media

Ironically after days of storms I am posting this new piece whilst the sun is shining - a brief respite before the rains return. Whilst the sky is clear it is bitterly cold. My thoughts have been with the folk in the north of the country who have been flooded out of their homes and are awaiting the next round. I hope everyone stays safe, warm and dry.

With so much wild weather there has been a lot of sketching to try and capture the moments of contrasting cloud patterns and light. I have turned to collagraph experiments adding pencil on top of some of the deeper embossed textures once the ink has dried.

The start of the storm   collagraph monoprint and mixed media 19x14.5cm   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Arriving storm - drypoint with collagraph

We have had some spectacular weather the past week or so...lashing rain, howling wind, there have also been some breathtakingly beautiful sunsets. I love Autumn and all its changeability, I am looking forward to seeing the changing colours. It won't be long now I think.

The storms have been quite something and have been prompting some new work.

Storm at Sea   14x14cm drypoint with collagraph monoprint   ©2019LisaLe Quelenec

A mixture of techniques have been used to make this print - there are areas of drypoint and collagraph and due to the disintegration of the plate in the sky area each time it travelled through the press, each print has altered and arrives at the other side appearing quite different. I like the idea of the plate physically eroding like the coastline it is depicting in the storm.

This print is available at Seaside Studios UK.

Cloud monoprints and mixed media - an experiment with technique

In the clouds   foil covered plate on the left and monoprint with mixed media on the right 12x12cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Finally the ink was dry enough to take some photos and move onto the next stage..... Above are some results of a fun mornings experiment. I was short on time and needed to be inventive as I had run out of acrylic medium. I had had an idea and was desperate to get something down on paper but without the medium to seal a plate I needed a work around in my approach.

I had read a while back about a technique called foliography where by you lay down leaves, grasses and organic matter onto a plate and cover in tin foil before inking up and running through the press. I think the idea is that the foil adds strength to the delicacies of the plate and by not varnishing it you aren't adding any accidental brush marks that could detract from subtle veining etc in the plant matter. I wondered if this idea would work for me and thought I would give it a go.

Using a 12x12cm piece of greyboard I 'drew' a quick design with a hot glue gun. The glue dries very quickly and so I could quickly move to the next stage of covering the whole plate with some tin foil. (The one I had was quite a thick one, I think the thin stuff would tear a bit too easily.) Carefully as I wrapped the foil onto the design I was burnishing it into the recesses of the plate and smoothing out any little wrinkles that could hold ink where I didn't want them.

Glue gun design on mountboard (detail) ©LisaLeQuelenec

On the left is a close up detail of another plate I have waiting in the wings to be experimented with.  This one is on a scrap of mountboard so you can compare, I hope, the  difference in depth between the board and the glue. The plate I used for this experiment had some areas that were very thick like this one.




Then I inked up the plate with a brush and wiped with a rag, taking out highlights and sometimes adding a bit more ink here and there. Now to run it through the press (using dampened paper) .... It worked pretty well and I managed to get 5 prints before the glue started to move around and tin foil began to wrinkle under the pressure of the press.

So not a great technique if you wanted to make an edition but for very small sets or for monoprinting and generating ideas I think it has its merits. Speed of plate making being the most useful - I can see with a bit more playing how this could be useful to do in a workshop situation when you are always working against the clock.

One of the things I particularly liked about using the glue gun to make the image was the variety of mark that could be made manipulating the glue and the very deep emboss that could be achieved. This is definitely something that I will utilise again. I wish I had had the forethought to make an impression without any ink at the start - I have made a mental note for next time.

In the clouds   monoprint and mixed media 12x12cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

The ink on the prints took the usual ten days to dry so I impatiently waited to work back into them with colour pencil. After seeing the depth of the emboss I knew this was something I wouldn't be able to resist. It also meant that I could carry on experimenting and exaggerating the tonal and colour differences that began in the inking process. I now have more ideas to develop at a later date maybe in print or paint - I will let them percolate a while before deciding.

We have had some spectacular rainstorms the last couple of days and are forecast the same for the rest of the week. I was caught out yesterday walking the dog in rain so heavy that I couldn't see for a few minutes. It was really quite extreme. Watching the build up of cloud and the changing light before hand was quite dramatic as were the flooded roads on the way home. The rest of the day was pretty much blue skies and sunshine. more clouds to ponder....

The skies just lately...

The skies just lately   photographs   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

I have been enjoying looking up just lately. Evenings have been noticeably drawing in and the weather feels on the turn. The recently endless blue is now filling with some quite dramatic cloudscapes - much more interesting to record... I think there will be some clouds on my horizon.

Sky study sketchbook page   acrylic   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Sky study sketchbook page   acrylic   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Coastal collages and mixed media - a larger format.

Ocean View I   mixed media collage 30x30cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Working on a larger format and suddenly there is more air... space to breathe.... - they become more like my 'big empties'. The process feels longer, like pacing yourself for a days hike rather than a morning walk. Still I flit between abstractions and more recogniseable imagery...I am still searching for my answers.

Ocean View II   mixed media collage 30x30cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Ocean View III   mixed media collage 30x30cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

Ocean View IV   mixed media collage 30x30cm   ©2019LisaLeQuelenec

All of the above are available at Seaside Studios UK on Etsy.

Just walking the dog

Wet sand, reflections and silhouettes fill my mind and sketchbooks at the moment. They are inspiring a new mini project. I watched an interview on Youtube with Fred Cuming one of my all time favourite artists which is where the quote in my sketchbook has come from. He said;

'I might be the only person in miles of open space.

It provides me with endlessly fascinating problems

of conveying something which is about nothing

more than emptiness.'

Fred Cuming

You can see more of his work here.

Sketchbook page   watercolour and pencil   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

He sums up so eloquently what I am trying to achieve. Light, space, solitude and quiet. I often think of my sea and sky paintings as 'the big empties' and this feels an extension of that work. Maybe the addition of a figure exaggerates that notion. Time to explore...

Sketchbook page   pencil on monoprint    ©LisaLeQuelenec

Softly silently crept the tide

Softly, Silently   watercolour on paper 12x18cm   ©2018LisaLeQuelenec

Ssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh...........

A medley of work from the last few weeks....

A medley of work from the last few weeks ©2017LisaLeQuelenec

A virus has been keeping me away from work so I haven't progressed as far as I had hoped to with the gulls. I thought I would share a collection of some of the work that has been going on in the background whilst the gull experiments have been going on - all these pieces are available at SeasideStudiosUK

I'm not sure why a ball of string...it just looked like it needed to be drawn and one thing led to another...

String   drypoint 8.5x15cm   ©2017LisaLeQuelenec