this is not always like that

or...

"all inks are not created equal"

with a footnote:

*and that matters, especially when you're taking the time to test things before taking them to the actual work

thankfully the "work" in this case is in my sketchbook 

the long and short of it is I did a collage in my sketchbook that was to have a wide band of calligraphy running vertically across the page

curly cursive text in black with white on top

a wide band, growing denser in the centre, then visually lifted with very loose white calligraphy in the centre area

I found a failed print made the same day as the one that was used in the collage 

first I tested scribbled writing with the white posca pen

good

then a scribble of black using a Calligraphie black marker

also good

then in succession I tried a number of other different black writing tools

good, good and good

as a final test, white posca pen on top of all the different blacks

good again!

testing over I moved on to the collage

and began with my Lamy fountain pen

writing with it is smooth and effortless and I easily did the five initials rows, then began laying in the next ones in the centre area, moving closer and closer to the centre with each subsequent layer

the outer edges were nice and loose with some gentle curves and swirls

I waited for 7 - 8 minutes,  picked up the Posca pen and began

 expecting a line of flowing letters running through the centre space I was surprised to see nothing on the page other than the odd blue smudge here and there

hmmm...

I hadn't waited for anything to dry on the text piece but maybe a few more minutes would do the trick

and so I waited for almost two hours and tried again

garbled blueish writing

it hit me then it was not the fault of the white pen...

I realized in all the pen trials I had done, not once did I pick up the Lamy

and that pen does not have permanent ink in it

all the others I tested did

sigh

normally I would keep fiddling with this, looking at ways of redeeming it, gluing something else over top, trying this, that and the next thing to make something successful

this time, I'm leaving it as it is, knowing that's the best hope of me remembering to make notes when doing tests, keeping track of what I use and what I don't

it appears testing and sampling are two different things!

lesson learned

take care,

Jillayne

ragged

in a week filled with delightful family visits and a whole lot of cake there wasn't much creative time... a few stolen moments whilst waiting for a baking timer to go off was about all there was

through whiffs of chocolate, lemon and carrot cakes baking I worked through some stitch sampling ideas for these 

a while back I layered up some pieces of cloth I had painted with earth pigments to see if I could come up with something somewhat representative of the pilings that line one shore of the Yukon River in Whitehorse

painting with earth pigments is a messy, unpredictable business but one that yields an interesting look to the cloth, a roughness, that you just can't get with traditional dye techniques - at least I never have

this week in the in-between times I added some stitching to two I had prepared, it would add some interesting details inspired by the way the pilings have weathered over time

trying a few different types and thicknesses of thread yielded similar results - the threads sat on top of the cloth and didn't look at all like an integral part of the pilings 

I tried cutting the fabric... some simple scissor cuts and others where after the initial cut I went back with the scissors and trimmed some of the cut edges further creating a very narrow opening

then I tried laying long stitches in the cuts

top right are dark stitches on top of the fabric

bottom right are cuts with thread stitched within them

I'm pleased with the cuts and think there is something there to work further with, perhaps layering dark (or very light) fabric beneath the cut and allowing it to show through, eliminating the need for stitching?

those ideas investigated,  I moved on to stitching a dark thread along the edge of one of the layers

reasonably successful, as seen below

the last thing I tried was cutting notches into the lower edge of the upper fabric, where the dark one would show through from below

again, there's promise here

the pigment paint does help hold the warp and weft threads together a bit, as if they were lightly glued but I tore these (it tears well, depending on the weave of the base cloth) so they're a bit frayed but can get some definition when I want it

aside from that, the sample below was the first I worked on and it's entirely stitched

I love this small piling but am not at all happy with the stitching so as I'm only showing it here to emphasize why I'm not keen on the look of the stitched lines;  the stitching will all be removed tonight

what I am excited about though is the effect I see when I lay it on other pigment cloth as a background

this first one is on a pale grey that had Chocolate Lace flowers laid on it during the painting process

the visual texture that transferred to the cloth is beautiful, like granular ice

and the next two are on a different piece, one I did, attempting a nod to Turner's skies - it wasn't that successful an interpretation but the cloth itself has an interesting texture 

interestingly, these next two photos were taken just a few minutes apart but the first is rather grey whilst the second has a more bluish cast

I couldn't decide so I posted both!

so... a few discoveries, some things to try and a fresh inspiration to paint more cloth

busy days ahead

found and ground

summer's foraging along the shores of the Yukon River yielded a few surprising finds... burnt boards, rusty square nails, rusted cables, a few earth pigments, old brick shards and some things that piqued my curiosity from the moment I first saw them shimmering black in the river

it was a small secluded area, an abundance of taller grass growing near the shore

pushing through, I found a small clear spot where I could kneel at the edge of the river bank and as I looked into the water I noticed these two "rocks" right away

I'd never seen shiny blackish rocks such as these... rough areas and smooth, a touch of dull tan colour here and there

later that day I uploaded a photo of them to Google and was informed they were not meteorites

that made me laugh... the thought of them dropping from the sky hadn't crossed my mind at all

over the next half-hour I had a "discussion" with the AI function on the Google search page and through that learned these are called "Boiler Clinkers"

 most likely coming from the boiler of one of the Yukon paddlewheeler boats that ran on the river between  1879 to 1955

made up of fused ash and non-combustible particles, they are a by-product of the burning of coal used to fuel some of the ships on their journeys up and down the river

usually shovelled overboard, in order to keep the grates clear, they can be found at many points along the river still

I found these in Whitehorse, at the old shipyards

a few hammer strokes brought the one on the left to heap of small particles which were further ground with a mortar and pestle

and ground,

and ground

they probably could have done with yet more grinding but I was eager to see what colour they would make so on to my glass plate a spoonful went and with a few dribbles of gum arabic solution, the mulling began

and continued,

and continued

eventually I could resist no more... a few swipes on a piece of watercolour paper showed me I could get a quite dense black and lighten that to beautiful greyed taupe with additional water

then more water and another piece of rougher watercolour paper showed me there were some nice granulating effects to be had

colour, richer and more varied than I'd hoped for

amazing to think I can paint a Yukon scene with a small piece of it!

the next find I want to work with is the brick shards, found in the same place

and the story continues...

take care,

Jillayne

you know it when you see it

the return to Salmon Arm is rarely without a thud and a bang... I find the "re-entry" tough, especially during the warmer months

the sudden change from the clean, clear expanse of the north to the heat and busyness of the south, the air at times thick with humidity, the population and the automobile exhaust that goes along with that make me long for the deep green forests and mountains I leave behind

for the last few trips, during my first week back, I have given myself the gift of time... time to play in the studio, to immerse myself back in my creative work

time to do what I love whilst getting used to where I am

to do as I please - cooking, yes... yard work and cleaning, no

last week you saw my "noticings" book, finally filled with small sketches

this week I'm pleased to show another finish

the first of my work based on the snowy wind-rows I saw on the shore ice of the Yukon River two winters ago is finally finished

hand-stitched vintage linen, ink-dyed linen for the base, driftwood for the handle

it stands just 4" tall and is barely 2" wide across the front

inspired by this view

and began like that

the tiny, tiny textural stitches that are grouped here and there along the longer lines are barely visible, reading more as a disruption of the weave than anything else but the effect of roughness is there and that's all I wanted

the pouch itself was completed some months ago but was awaiting it's handle

none of the driftwood I had was right - too short, too long, too brown, too wide, too narrow, too straight

on it went

Goldilocks herself would have been impressed

but then this summer, as I sat on the shores of Kluane Lake 

I found it

the beaches were littered with small pieces of twisted, bent driftwood in varying shades of grey and brown

right away I saw a small piece that looked exactly like what I had pictured in my mind as I sewed the pouch together

slightly crooked, arched, knobby, greyish, a few imperfections... 

I didn't have the pouch with me to judge right there and then so just in case I gathered a few extra pieces but in the end the one that made me say 

"Aha!"

was the right one after all

take care,

Jillayne

all I need

a while back I made a tiny "Noticings" book

a place to record what captures my interest along the byways

like so many other things I have made for myself, it sat, waiting

waiting for me to stop waiting for the right thing, the right day, the right place, the right idea

yesterday I realized I could keep waiting on an ideal or I could finally accept that I have all I need

right now

and so I did

sorting through my Yukon finds, I chose a number of small stones that were gathered for their markings 

in choosing what to bring home, it was the marks intrigued me most

 then the colour

interestingly, I rarely cared about the shape

wanting to be true to what I noticed, to what mattered, I chose to portray only the colour and a few of the lines

a faint watercolour wash

marks scratched with a half-worn almost dried up Sakura Pigma pen

the place in pencil

The pages are barely 2 1/4" tall, the embossed design area just 1 1/2" square

tiny, but all the space I needed 

a flip through the pages transports me to a day, a place, a moment

and it's all I need to remember why I reached out my hand

take care,

Jillayne

(you can read about the making of the book itself at the link below)

Noticings Book Post

the turning

the seasons are turning, summer slipping away seemingly overnight

the morning air, cooler than the water,  sends wispy tendrils of mist floating lightly over the river

a chance early morning drive turned into a beautiful experience in it's quiet presence

benches heavy with dew, the flat rocks that usually invited me to sit a while were icy cold to the touch

 instead, I stood quietly at the edge of the path and let my gaze follow the flow of the water along it's path

steely grey with a sheen, the surface texture seemed more richly textured than ever... the circles were still present but the space in-between was completely filled with marks... lines, dots, short dashes, some echoing others, some finding their own direction

I came home, got out the sewing machine, some white linen and began

this is actually the wrong side, a variegated blue thread in the bobbin that looks rather darker here than it actually is

a close-up below gives a better indication of how the blue actually looks

the other side was stitched with white thread but I haven't been able to get a decent photo of that yet

last week I did two blue versions... blue thread on blue linen

the above is stitched more densely

below, the stitching is less so

all of these need hand-stitching additions, building texture and enhancing the patterns... winter evening stitching

my time here in the north is over for now,  back to Salmon Arm tomorrow

I've taken dozens and dozens of photographs, collected bags of driftwood, interesting stones, earth pigments, raven feathers, rusted wire , drawings, written observations, charcoal rubbings and more

I'm going back armed with a few pages of written notes of ideas, things I'd like to work on and with... 

seems there will be busy days ahead

taking it in

an off hand request for me to take the kids to daycare on Friday quickly turned into an early morning opportunity to spend a quiet hour at the river downtown

coffee and raspberry pecan scone in hand from a favourite bake shop, I found a perfect sit-spot just down from the walking path, on a large, flat slab-rock of granite

the swift swirling flow of the river never fails to startle me

this morning, whilst letting my eyes slide along with the current I noticed the faint gurgling of the water as it came up against a thing or two along it's way

a bird chirped faintly across the river, a squirrel chattered nearby

I let the sunlight settle over me... a glowing, golden warmth

the world settled

other than an edit to straighten a slight tilt in the river bank, these photos are untouched, the current marks not sharpened in any way

this is exactly as they are

and such a surface it is!

the sewing machine is coming out next week and I'm going to have a go at emulating some of this with a little free-motion embroidery

wish me luck!

the sewing machine is not my strong-suit, but thankfully, some of the stitching will be done by hand will be done by hand

I've been researching current marks on rivers and what causes them

it's all to do with volume of water and the shape and features of the river bed

disruptions below cause disruptions above

as I was framing the view below to take the photo I noticed the water to the left of the pilings was somewhat calmer on the surface than the water to the right

the pilings disrupt the flow, making for a break in the current; thus, fewer marks

the water current is a visible record of every change the river has endured or created

many years ago a child skips stones across a river's surface...

they fall slowly to the riverbed, slightly altering it's surface

the water shifts a tiny fraction

a new ripple forms

a memory takes shape

the water flows