A gentle tide - monoprint

 

A Gentle Tide   monoprint 9.5x9.5cm   ©2026LisaLeQuelenec

Ohhhh I do love monoprinting! It is such an immediate and responsive way to work and generate ideas. I love the diffused tones that can be achieved....drawing with ink .....the suggestive marks...the messiness of it all (at least when I do it).

This is one of my favourite ones from a recent monoprinting session. It has the movement of the tide that I was aiming for. It is available here in my Folksy store.

Surf Studies - mixed media on canvas boards

 

Surf Study I-IV   mixed media 10x10cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

A series of surf studies in mixed media. My attempt to capture the energy and sequential movement of the waves as they make their way to the shore. ...trying not to overpaint and overstate... to keep the sketchiness of a glimpse.

 

mixed media monoprint sketches ©2025LisaLeQuelenec 

These mixed media monoprint sketches from the Ran's Net project have been lingering in my mind and provided the starting point.

Surf Studies I - IV stage 1 ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

I started by scaring myself, going straight in with the darkest tones. The froth of the waves are made by preparing the board with scrim fabric, the texture of which lends itself to the shapes I wanted to capture. I wanted to keep some of the warmth of bare linen in these 'sketches' and knew I would find it hard to not overpaint.

Surf Studies I - IV stage 2 ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Stage 2, building up the colour and tones and deciding that I needed a little sky for the sea spray to fly against.

Surf Studies I - IV stage 3 ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Stage 3, tightening up the tones, working their push and pull, layer upon layer. Painting can be quite similar to watching the tide in some ways - advancing, retreating, pushing forward, knocking back.

All four pieces are available in my Folksy store.

Dusk Deepened - collagraph and mixed media

 

Dusk Deepened I - IV   Mixed media and Collagraph  12.5x12.5cm ©2025

Using the same printing plate I have made four images, each different, by working further with acrylic and printing ink. Much like a view changing with progressing light, in each image I have tried to capture a progressing moment - like a burst shot by a camera. I am fascinated by the way the same view from the same position is never the same because of the changing light through weather and season, a kind of homage to Monet's Rouen Cathedral, haystacks and lily ponds in a way. I have been looking and appreciating their multiple variations lately. The first in the set of four is available in my Folksy Store.

Dusk Deepened I   collagraph and mixed media 12.5x12.5cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Smuggler's Moon - print and mixed media

 

Smuggler's Moon  print and mixed media 12.5x12.5cm   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec 

One of the prints made and rejected from the previous post was too dark and over inked so I used the print as the plate and ran it through the press with paper over (like tonking an oil painting in a way). This resulted in a reversed image with some pleasing subtleties of texture. I worked into it whilst still wet which gave a much softer and hazier finish. Once dried I could add a moon for a feeling of the winter nights to come. 

Available in my Folksy Store.

Gathering I - III collagraph and mixed media

 

Gathering I - III   collagraph and mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Small changes in the inking of one collagraph plate, a progression of light in one view with mixed media. I am enjoying working without colour for a while....I feel that I don't need the distraction but I wonder if that will change....

These are available at Folksy

The Nine Daughters of Ran - first edition complete

 

Nine Daughters of Ran   print and mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

The first set of Ran's daughters completed, each daughter mounted onto A4 paper with handprinted and painted net that binds them and suggests the presence of their mother Ran.

My intention had been to bind the daughters into a book format, a concertina so that they could be viewed in a linear format as below in this mock up.

Nine Daughters of Ran   print and mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

I thought that this would be a good way of displaying the progression from calm to stormy waters, shallows to the deep. To be able to do this I think they need to be on a smaller scale and I should have thought through the practicalities at the beginning as needing to join sheets to make a long enough concertina became clumsy and distracting. If I were to exhibit and present this set I think they might actually work better framed individually so maybe this isn't as much of a set back as I made it in my  head.

I intend to do nine editions of the nine images using the same base lino blocks, each with different inking and different hand finishing - same sea but different tides - as each set of nine will be made over a long period of time I expect each to develop in different ways with different outcomes and I am thinking different ways of being presented. The idea of binding in a book isn't completely abandoned just yet and is probably something that I will return to, time will tell.

This first set is one that I will keep, a keystone for how the project will develop which may take some years. I am releasing them as prints on RedBubble  individually, in threes and as a print of all nine together in the formats below, they are also available as greeting cards.

Ran's Daughters Blóðughadda, Himinglæva & Kólga   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Ran's Daughters Hrönn, Bara & Unnor   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Ran's Daughters  Dufa, Bylgia & Hefring   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Nine Daughters of Ran   prints available at RedBubble   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

As a February side quest for the darkest month this project has grown considerably, I had no idea at the start I would be completing just a first round in May. I am hoping that I will discover more about the mythology surrounding these ladies and also parallels with other myths from around the world their commonality and differences; the sirens, selkies and mermaids come to mind and I am sure there are many others as I cast nets in waters outside of Europe. I am sure that these stories passed along trade routes with a bit from here and a bit from there added and missed along the way but with a core of similarities. Maybe you have suggestions that I could research I would love to hear.

Ran's Daughters - Bara, Unnor & Dufa

Bara - first experiment   mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

The tempo is quickening....the breeze grows in strength....something is brewing.

Unnor  first experiment    mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Dufa   first experiment    mixed media   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

A stronger current, colder, deeper waters, a more insistent tug to the depths.

textures and colour mixing on my ink palette   ©2025LisaLeQuelenec

Spring or sea glass greens - coastal collage and mixed media

 

Untitled   Mixed media collage on A4ish watercolour paper  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Sand and water ripples ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

So much inspiration in this photograph...the colours and textures especially. I'm not sure what people think when they see me taking pictures of soggy sand but I am quite happy in my world 😊 This photograph could be the route of a lifetimes work there is so much that appeals to me.

Untitled   Mixed media collage on A4ish watercolour paper  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Ripples in the sand ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Untitled   Mixed media collage on A5ish watercolour paper  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

I have always been drawn to green stones, probably because they are rare here, and have some lovely green serpentine from Cornwall. The very pale textured pebble in the photo I am at a loss as to what it is but would love to know. The mintyness is lovely.

A selection of minty green pieces are available in my Folksy Store.

Trying out a little video - after much messing around with editing this is my first effort!

Ripples and reflections ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Piddock made hagstones ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Hag stones made by piddocks are a bit more unusual here too, I normally find them made by tidal erosion. The perfect circles put me in mind of Barbera Hepworth's sculptures and one of my favourite quotes from her:

'Many people select a stone or pebble to carry for the day, the weight and form and texture felt in our hands relates to the past and gives us a sense of universal force. The beautifully shaped stone washed up by the sea is a symbol of continuity a silent image of our desire for survival, peace and serenity.'    - Barbara Hepworth

Land or Sea? - collage and mixed media

Untitled A4ish collage and mixed media on paper ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Pebbles colour inspiration ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

I am pushed and pulled on the tide.. is the series about the pebbles or the sea each new piece seems to change its' focus first land is more dominant then the sea....is this a metaphor.....? Edges, relationships, boundaries, liminal, erosion, words that are scribbled in my sketchbook.

Untitled A4ish collage and mixed media on paper ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Detail - Untitled A4ish collage and mixed media on paper ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Sand Ripples ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted! A virus got the better of me and then ten days of road trip travelling as far up as Edinburgh and Whitby to Liverpool across with a stop off in York has kept me away. So much inspiration on the trip and much beach treasure gathered.

I will be reopening my Etsy shop again soon. There has been quite a few changes since it was last open so a steep learning curve to get up to scratch but hopefully I will be ready in the next couple of weeks. Some of these new works will be available there.

Mixed media collage - tide patterns

 

Untitled   Mixed media collage on A5ish watercolour paper  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Untitled   Mixed media collage on A5ish watercolour paper  ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Tide patterns ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Sand ripples ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

Thinking about the patterns left by wind and water on the sand, how it forms ripples and carves hills and troughs - the traces left behind.

Worn by water and wind   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec

So many of my reference photos have dogs walking through, sometimes Lu sometimes randoms... I think she shows the scale rather well in this one though. The pattern has formed by dry sand catching on the textures made by the sea as it is blown across the beach. This photo was taken in Jersey where the large and rapid tides make large shapes. By contrast the photo below is much smaller in scale.

The trail of water flowing back to the sea, navigating the pebbles left behind   ©2024LisaLeQuelenec