circling...

around and around I go...

I read something a few years back about artists noticing things in a way that is different from most other people... a rather generalized statement and certainly not an absolute though I think one that rings true more often than not

I've thought that about a lot since then, especially when I am out and about with friends and family who do not make art... they are at once puzzled, bemused, sighing, and sometimes discovering they too are interested in whatever it is that has caught my attention

so too with some of the different artistic techniques I find myself playing with from time to time though my husband becomes rather fearful when discovering me working with a new medium concerned I am falling into a big, black, bottomless pit that will surely result win the backyard turning into a cotton or flax field, or waking up one day to the addition of a sheep or two for wool

tempting, but I've never gone that far

I do like to try out interesting things I see online or in books though, and not long ago I became intrigued with folding paper and then painting/staining it with either watercolour paint or ink 

I chose a rather soft paper of unknown content, rather thick but one that tore and creased easily, so I drew a grid and scored it

folding this way and that, hills and valleys, the paper immediately started to degrade and split along the fold lines

a wash of walnut ink I made with walnut crystals and a splash of gum arabic in solution along with some water followed

it was interesting to see how folds resisted the ink - I thought the "broken" paper would grab it more and the lines would be darker rather than lighter

I then did another, this time with only straight lines, mixed media paper and watercolour paint

here the folds did not degrade the paper, the paint settled on them and they came out darker 

some cold winter day I'm going to cut a pile of different paper samples and do a round of sampling folds and washes - sampling is always a fun way to spend the day and at the end I get a wonderful resource

 but at the time of doing these it was high summer so they were set aside and I thought no more about them until going through my photos today and saw this

a photo taken last May whilst in the Yukon - it's part of the riverboat "The Tutshi" that caught fire many years ago

looking down into the charred remains of the hull I was quite taken with the effect the fire had on the wood, the patterns created, the texture and the colours

As I looked at it I thought of the folded, stained papers I had done and a thought occurred... that just might be the perfect technique to emulate the burnt wood

the rest of the group wandered along but I remained rooted in place for a good long while, looking, thinking and photographing - nothing particular in mind, more an interested noticing to file away for some day

I love how if you follow these whims, the ones for making and the ones for pausing to look closely at something they can circle around and around, one leading to the other, a connection made

the two coming together, another idea born

take care,

Jillayne