I wanted to show a slightly more behind-the-scenes-watch-me-work kind of series, if you wish, that captures the process rather than just the end product. The beauty of a piece is almost always created during the doing rather than the seeing and I wanted to share a part of that here, with you, and so the journal element of this little corner of the internet was born. I hope you enjoy this series as much as I am going to enjoy sharing a little part of my mind with you all. Unsure on the frequency of these posts, weekly, monthly, most likely sporadically but I’m looking forward to it!
A significant part of being an artist is trial and error and figuring out which materials work best for each base. It’s a constant learning process where you are forever developing more skills even if you stick to the same medium professionally; it is important to take time to explore other styles and processes in order to develop your skills. Art is a never-ending, personal process of discovery in which every part of the artist in that moment is transferred to paper in the form of something new, a visual diary if you will sharing a piece of your heart with every brush stroke.
For absolutely ages now I have wanted to try my hand at block printing. I would love to create something amazing and see how the same design can look so very different each time; watching each be creating with its own flare and unique attributes. I find is so extraordinarily beautiful.I love the notion of block printing. For a while now my work has been primarily in some sort of digital medium; able to be replicated in such an array of formats, again and again such a contrast to traditional art with each piece being so very unique and stand alone one-of-a-kind pieces. I feel like block printing is somewhere in the middle of both of these; you are creating unique but similar pieces; able to replicate your design akin to digital but every so slightly different – unique but similar and I love being able to see how each piece manifests on paper despite beginning as the very same thing. My love for film and polaroid photography is also for rather the same reasons – I love art that is imperfect.
As you can probably tell if you’ve looked around here a bit, my artwork is almost exclusively based around the beauty and the wonders of those things in front of our very eyes – nature. Botanics, particularly. I think the subtle differences in flower petals are so wonderful, I adore studying flowers and plants in general I find them so fascinating. Incorporate the above and you have the most perfect equilibrium as both are essentially the same process into existence as each other both entering the world with their glorious imperfections. I’m always looking for ways to express my artistic style in different ways, even if it’s as simple as using the same material but a different consistency. Even small changes help develop your artistic scope.
The first step of trying a new medium is trial and error – experiment with different materials, techniques, etc and find what works for each unique combination. I find my most enjoyed projects are the ones that require a bit more of an experimental phase, learning the movement, quantity, etc of the product you are using is a skill mastered over time and seeing how different each piece is as your abilities and style begin to develop is such a beautiful process and the best part of being an artist. Yes, the finished product is always exciting to see but the process is so much more of a private thing shared normally with no one other than those with an eye into your studio space leading it to become rather an unappreciated part of art and design when in actual fact it is the most crucial element.
I really enjoyed working with block ink, I have worked with liquid ink many times but just switching things up even slightly really triggered that creative part of my brain. It’s easy to get stuck in a rut of using the same materials day in day out and while that works for many artists from a professional perspective, it’s important not to lose that creative part of yourself and fall into autopilot. I really enjoy getting to know a medium and what works and while I may never do anything with the pieces I create from these prints – I enjoyed making them.
I’m getting a few more interesting shaped fruits and sourcing some more florals to experiment a bit more and i’m excited to discover what will what become of these little prints.