Saturday 13 October 2012

etching class with Bridget Farmer

some of the work I made at Bridget's studio
Fruiting Habit
The lovely Daylesford sky

After spending 2 days in Bridget Farmer's gorgeous print studio near Daylesford I feel very inspired and energised.
Bridget taught me the ins and outs of drypoint etching and I seriously think I've found a new printmaking addiction. Bridget's work alone is inspiring enough. Take a look at this gallery of some of her gorgeous bird etchings. Oooh la la! Aren't they just divine?

Bridget's originally from Northern Ireland but has lived in Australia for a few years now. Her current home is the gorgeous bushland near Daylesford which is where you'll also find her peaceful printmaking studio. And I can vouch that Bridget knows her birds! Her studio has several enormous windows looking onto the bush and while we chatted over lunch and cups of tea she regularly pointed out various little feathered beauties as they perched in tree branches nearby. I was impressed. My own bird naming knowledge doesn't extend much beyond knowing what galahs, lorikeets, cockatoos and the occasional magpie look like.

And the printmaking! What fun! Working in the etching medium allowed me to unleash my passion for linear forms, something that is quite hard to portray through relief printing, like woodblock or lino. So based on my botanical sketches I printed up a storm of various botanical inspired etchings and got to experiment with colour and shading under Bridget's support and guidance. I can't speak highly enough of the soft and gentle approach Bridget has towards teaching what she knows about etching. It was a really magical couple of days for me.

The good news is Bridget's running classes. So you too can learn about various kinds of etching processes in the peace and quiet of Bridget's lovely bushland studio.

3 comments:

  1. Lucky you. I've admired Bridget's work since stumbling across it at a market in Melbourne years and years ago. In fact, her blog may have been one of the first I followed. Your work is lovely. Always enjoy seeing your path to creating.

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    1. Kate - yes I was lucky! We had a lovely couple of days together nerding out in her studio about printmaking. Thanks for your lovely comments. I aim to do more etchings if I can find the time.

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  2. this looks really inspiring. so nice to get the whole experience being somewhere else as well. love your etchings.
    very exciting about the iphone! thanks for being the first to get one!
    xx

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