Monthly Archives: November 2012

Surrounded by sick people = no art

We took Mum to hospital Saturday afternoon and the Dr told us he didn’t think she would pull through this time. I spent the night in the recliner beside her, and yesterday she was still critical. Today she is looking better, although the blood results fro her kidneys do not show any improvement yet. Fingers crossed.

Tony saw a private specialist on Monday and is having surgery this Friday for a 20cm (yes, cm) clot in his left leg. Huge drama there too…and huge thanks to my best mate, Sandra, for taking him in and looking after him when I can’t be there (the hospital is over 4 hours away)

So, no art happening at the moment, and not even a lot of sleep.

More Gelli Plate prints

I have been playing with Gelli Plate prints again, using a combination of ready-made stencils and masks I have cut from heavy laminating pouches. Some may get used as they are, others I’ll work back into then cut up and use in my art journals. It’s late spring here and already I am finding the Golden Fluid acrylics are drying quite quickly, I think I might need to start using a little medium to slow down the drying time.

Making vintage postcards

I have spent a good part of the morning making vintage-style postcards. For me it’s a good way to use up old supplies, get my fingers inky and brain into art mode, and then I’m inspired to write to people using my new postcards . Talk about win-win!

I try to write a few letters a month, with a fountain pen and awesome ink colours (currently using Lierre Sauvage), because so many people only ever receive bills in the mail, and email is so transient.

Pulling prints

Reading Martha’s recent posts about her experiments with Gelli Plates did two things; it rekindled my interest in print making, and it encouraged me to buy a Gelli Plate. Tony is working in Wanganui today on the ambulance, and left at 5.45 so I have had all day on my own. My sister Ailsa and nephew Rowan arrived on Friday to visit Mum, but left at 11am this morning. Incidentally, Mum was delighted to see Rowan and knew who he was almost straight away. On the other hand she thought the wool scarf I was carrying was our dog, Faith. Go figure!

Anyway…I did a bit of work that needed seeing to, did the washing and the dishes and so on, then out with the Gelli Plate and some Golden Fluid Acrylics, plus some stencils I had cut a while back, and some scraps of corrugated cardboard. I do seem to have a thing for hearts, stars and the stripes corrugated cardboard make at the moment.  I love combinations of teal, bright yellow, deep blue and bright green so thought I’d start with those. I got mixed results, partly because initially I didn’t think to mark where the Gelli Plate sat, so my registration was way off. These are not finished – I’ll probably work over the top of these by hand, adding text and more marks, but I think I’m going to love my new way of making prints. Thanks Martha!