From the archive - April 2011 - journey line books

If the photos don't appear, please go to the source - https://margaret-cooter.blogspot.com/2011/04/journey-line-books.html

Oh what fun it was to print, and print, and print, on the long textile-printing table in the first year of my MA at Camberwell. The next  year the room was "repurposed".

I still have many of those papers, and also the textiles - perhaps their day will come.

19 April 2011

Journey line books

This morning I gathered all the sheets of paper printed during the past six weeks or so - they amount to 25 sheets of A2 size, 43 sheets of A3, and 28 sheets of A4. All are printed on both sides, the smaller sizes with up to six colours, but mostly two or three colours.

Now come the great questions of how to make them into books, and what kind of books - big floppy books? small springy books? interwoven books? concertinas, codexes, or crazily complicated? Should I leave the sheets intact, or should I cut them up into ever-smaller pieces?

The first step was looking critically at my rather random results, and documenting (preserving!) the ones I found particularly pleasing - inevitably they were the simple combinations (click to enlarge) -

The two sides of a sheet have no relation to each other. Many combinations are possible. It's all a bit confusing at the moment - not least because they are double-sided.

From the archive - April 2009 - narrow quilt binding

First in this short series of "cheat" posts to minimise my screen time over the holiday weekend is a quilty post - a binding for small quilts that I used a lot to make "Little Gems" and in the years since then for journal quilts.

If the photos don't appear, you can see them at https://margaret-cooter.blogspot.com/2009/04/very-narrow-binding-with-no-hand-sewing.html

A very narrow binding - with no hand sewing

I stumbled on this quick binding technique while seeking to "rein in" an edge that was obviously longer than it should be. Thinking of some way to gently gather in that bit of extra, and not wanting to use up any good perle thread or cord, I remembered all those selvedges torn off fabric that were rolled up, waiting for a purpose in life (maybe something like this?) - but what better use than to stabilise and firm up the edges of some Little Gems? (You might recognise this as one from my leaf panel here.)

First step is to cut or tear the selvedge to a 1/4" strip. (Or you could use 1/4" ribbon.)

The quiltlet is already trimmed to size. As this will be an A4-sized quilt, an A4 piece of paper is handy for getting the exactsize of the strips. Cut a separate one for each side.

Sew 1/8" from the edge, ie, down the middle of the strip. After you've done the first few stitches to hold the strip in place, position the other end and hold it there firmly - maybe even use a pin? - and make sure any fullness in the quilt gets taken up as you sew to the end of the strip.

At the end, lift the presser foot to insert the next strip (no need to cut the thread). Fold the strip you've just sewn (on the left in this dark, fuzzy photo) before you put the next strip on top.

Repeat these steps all round the quiltlet.

Next step is to zigzag round all the edges. The default zigzag setting is perfect for this width - no fiddling around with pushing those little buttons a zillion times, hurrah. Also I used an open zigzag, but if you want satin stitch, go for it!

I found that sometimes the edge of the selvedge would rise nicely into the middle of the presser foot, but this elegant manoeuvre isn't essential to the success of the technique -

If you've torn the strip, you'll find some fuzzy bits round the edges - simply trim those carefully.

And the results, with the open zigzag (and imperfect tension, and a black bobbin thread, yes I know - the Quilt Police would call this sloppy, but us artists simply say "it adds interest") -
The edge is nice and firm - and the perfectionists will want to satin stitch over it, or make a nice binding in a toning fabric. But I'd rather leave it at that and get on with making another Little Gem - so many ideas, so little time...

Happy holidays!

I'm putting my feet up this Easter weekend, spending time with family and outside in the promised sunshine.

There will be art-making in the early mornings, and afternoons on the sofa with books -

There will be a huge amount of keeping away from "screens"; blogging will be minimal and, for the duration, instagram has been moved off the home screen of my phone.

Poetry Thursday - Melusine by George Trakl

Melusine escaping from Raymond in the form of a dragon, from a manuscript
c.1450 from northern France in the British Library (via)

Melusine

At my windows the night weeps -
The night is mute, the wind probably weeps,
The wind, like a lost child -
What is it that makes him weep so?
O poor Melusine!

Like fire her hair blows in the storm,
Like fire passing clouds, and laments -
There for you, you poor maiden,
My heart speaks a still night prayer!
O poor Melusine! 

Georg Trakl (via)

In Czech and Slovak, the word meluzína refers to wailing wind, usually in the chimney; a reference to the wailing Melusine looking for her children. 

George Trakl (1887-1914), an Austrian poet, suffered frequent bouts of depression and died of a cocaine overdose after being prevented by his comrades from shooting himself after the Battle of Grodek in 1914.

Melusine I (German)

An meinen Fenstern weint die Nacht -
Die Nacht ist stumm, es weint wohl der Wind,
Der Wind, wie ein verlornes Kind -
Was ist's, das ihn so weinen macht?
O arme Melusine!

Wie Feuer ihr Haar im Sturme weht,
Wie Feuer an Wolken vorüber und klagt -
Da spricht für dich, du arme Magd,
Mein Herz ein stilles Nachtgebet!
O arme Melusine!

Melusine appears in folk tales, mainly in northwest Europe, as a woman with the lower body of a serpent.

"The most famous literary version of Melusine tales, that of Jean d'Arras, compiled about 1382–1394, was worked into a collection of "spinning yarns" as told by ladies at their spinning coudrette (coulrette (in French)). He wrote The Romans of Partenay or of Lusignen: Otherwise known as the Tale of Melusine, giving source and historical notes, dates and background of the story. He goes into detail and depth about the relationship of Melusine and Raymondin, their initial meeting and the complete story."

Wikipedia also says:

 "One tale says Melusine herself was the daughter of the fairy Pressyne and king Elinas of Albany (now known as Scotland). Melusine's mother leaves her husband, taking her daughters to the isle of Avalon after he breaks an oath never to look in at her and her daughter in their bath. The same pattern appears in stories where Melusine marries a nobleman only after he makes an oath to give her privacy in her bath; each time, she leaves the nobleman after he breaks that oath. Shapeshifting and flight on wings away from oath-breaking husbands also figure in stories about Melusine."

Raymond walks in on his wife, Melusine, in her bath and discovers
she has the lower body of a serpent. Illustration from the Jean d'Arras
 work, Le livre de Mélusine (The Book of Melusine), 1478 (via)

and:

"The chronicler Gerald of Wales reported that Richard I of England was fond of telling a tale according to which he was a descendant of a countess of Anjou who was in fact the fairy Melusine.The Angevin legend told of an early Count of Anjou who met a beautiful woman when in a far land, where he married her. He had not troubled to find out about her origins. However, after bearing him four sons, the behaviour of his wife began to trouble the count. She attended church infrequently, and always left before the Mass proper. One day he had four of his men forcibly restrain his wife as she rose to leave the church. Melusine evaded the men and clasped the two youngest of her sons and in full view of the congregation carried them up into the air and out of the church through its highest window. Melusine and her two sons were never seen again. One of the remaining sons was the ancestor, it was claimed, of the later Counts of Anjou and the Kings of England." 

My interest in the story and discovery of the poem comes from receiving this postcard -

Woodblock Wednesday - bokashi

Using the plain back of a plywood circle to practise making gradations. At first it was printing lightly because, although the wood had been soaking, it was still too dry. I used more nori and made the paint wetter, that seemed to help. Time for some research on technique, and paying close attention to how they do it on those youtube videos....

The "bright idea" was to have ochre at the top and grey at the bottom, and white in between. Lots of chances to practise...

 And eventually ...

On the back of the circle, some lines had been cut - now the fun begins -

And it's really for "fun" that I'm doing these, not with any purpose in mind, other than to get better at it, ie be able to make a predictable and/or proficient print.

When you see what's happened, you start to learn what to do next.

Drawing Tuesday - Science Gallery

This was our first visit to KCL's Science Gallery, in the shadow of The Shard. Was it the minimalist environment that took some getting used to, or was it the combination of science and art?

I found the exhibits in the "Spare Parts" exhibition interesting and thought-provoking, with "mediators" on hand to answer questions and offer to print out 3D body parts for the kids, eg a tooth. The 3D printing, even of small objects, takes a surprisingly long time!

Intrigued by the evidence of the printing process - those fine lines -

I  wondered if these printed-out body parts were child-sized or adult-sized -

as big as a fist

the vertebra were awkward....

Janet B also tackled the body parts (surely that's an aorta?) -

 "The thing" proved popular - it's called the Microbiome Replacement Incubator (explained here) and looks a bit like this -

Jo's rendition -

 Janet B's -

 .. and on the right, Janet K's, along with views of a human larynx -

 Judith preferred the glassy-ness of a collection of beakers -

 Carol took on the spikiness of cacti, juxtaposing them to a hellebore drawn elsewhere -

 Sue focussed on glass sculptures of artificial kidneys

 and then on part of a 3d mural showing the individuality of human hearts -

Tool of the week - water-soluble Woody pencils -

Eltham Palace - tulips, vistas, quirks

Hearing that Eltham Palace had a lot of tulips in bloom, we  thought it would be a good day out. Chilly wind notwithstanding, it was. Lovely place; an hour's travel by tube and train, it felt very distant from north London. And if you have an Art Card or are an English Heritage member, admission is free.

I tried to be restrained on the photography front -

Blowsy white ladies

Deeeeeep reds...

Spiky oranges

Teeny tiny ones

Vistas...

Giant old trees ...

Blossom ...

Love those twiggy plant supports, made on the spot

Ventilation brick, made of brick

Which leads us to ... (inside the house) -

Woods made out of wood

A jar depicted on a jar (er,  on a Greek vase)

Printed on the iced-up Thames at the Frost Fair - a personalised souvenir

And on a grander scale -

The height of 1930s decadence - a corner of Mrs C's bathroom

So much more, including a leather map and Henry VIII's great banqueting hall; save those for another time...

Amusements for the younger folk too -

The Animal Explorers trail

I put a few of the embossed stamps into my notebook

And 1930s clothes to try on!