not quite paper

I'm working with a new material I've just discovered called drafter's film (thanks Libby!) instead of paper for hand cut silk screen stencils. It's harder to cut than cartridge paper but definitely tougher and more tear-proof. When I was cutting out my dragonfly this morning I liked the way it looked on it's own, all kind of papery and fragile and then decided to put it on top of my favourite antique Japanese lacquer box. Doesn't she look sweet?

pale

For Illustration Friday: pale and fragile, the wings of a dragonfly. Japanese woodblock print on paper.

a morning spent printing

A few sweet friends have just ordered my Dragonfly set of woodblock prints so I've spent the morning printing those as I only ever have one or two sets on hand to support my listing in the shop. 

Try not notice that the sheet underneath (a photo prop) was not ironed :) Each set has 8 pieces in total and is made slightly differently from each other so offers a unique point for the owner. I've noticed something interesting about framing this set lately. Mine is framed with a light coloured timber frame and I always thought that was the best colour for this piece as it sets off nicely the browns in the ink and creams in the some of the paper. But then recently another friend bought this set from me and chose a burgandy coloured timber frame and to my surprise, it looks great. It just goes to show you can't get too set in your way about what will look good when it comes to framing. I usually advise people to use the float mount technique for framing this set as it lifts the pieces away from the mount board and adds a very slight shadow or 3D affect to the work. 

fragile, floating

A new 3-dimensional piece of mine. I've been wanting to make my woodblock printed dragonflies 3-d for a while and today they can finally fly (well, at least float). I love their fragile quality. And I also happen to love 3-d paper art.

Any feedback on this little piece is welcome. And if you like this little one, I've just put it in the shop.

blue when it moves

Have you ever noticed the way dragonflies, when they move really fast, seem to have this blue-like blurry colour hovering around their wings and bodies?

Or is that just my imagination running a bit wild?

The Japanese word for dragonfly is "tombo". The Japanese often refer to this lovely creature affectionately as "tombo-chan" - "chan" being a cute tag attached to a friend's or child's name. This print first started coming together about a year ago when I was studying gardening books and books about insects. I love all those lines that insects have. The prints itself is now its 3rd incarnation in the blue form. The others have been smaller and brown or grey in colour. I'm experimenting a bit with the layering of colour at the moment and made a print of this on a bigger sheet of paper with a larger brown tombo over the top. It looks better on thinner paper in the bigger version for some reason but this little one above turned out quite well on this lovely hand-made thick paper (above picture on left) from Japan (and, alas, not in stock any more according to my friend Miki in Japan this morning!).