Right! Let’s get this over with…I have an online shop, filled with lovely original art and prints, which would make perfect pressies…that’s all I’ll say about that!

And I may regret telling you this, but this coming week sees my TV debut on the beeb! Oh yes…Antiques Road Trip, here we go! The episode airs on BBC One on Thursday 28th Nov at 4.30pm…and you UK peeps can catch up on iPlayer…here’s a sneaky screenshot of Catherine and Ishy in my studio…I’ll give you a BTS next week (if I haven’t curled up in an embarrassed ball and hibernated!)

The rest of this week has been filled with frantically finishing folktales in between hosting Linocut Christmas card workshops - and yes I got my festive groove on, wore my Christmas jumper and ate my first mince pies of the year! And it snowed!

But I was rather chuffed that I finished my Folktale Week images…it was quite the slog (see last week’s post) and a few late nights, but worth it in the end…here’s a round up…

Seven prompts - Mist, Gate, Blight, Trail, Depth, Bone, Blossom…check out my Instagram to see which quotes from Hamlet I linked to each image.

The process I go through isn’t always straightforward or intuitive- many a mistake gets made along the way. Compositions don’t work once I’ve laid out all the elements. Pieces I have spent ages drawing, printing, colouring and cutting out, don’t fit in the final image. It can be frustrating. But also so surprising to see all the elements come together under the camera - those gems of ideas suddenly appear in reality, as pieces of paper magically take on a life of their own!

This might just look like random piles of paper on glass shelves….but the camera sees this:

Cool, eh? As my process involves both analogue and digital processes, I just need to add that final bit of magic…I’ve always been a bit resistant to digital art. It feels a bit like cheating somehow. I try and get as much information there as I can, but in this way of working, there are just some bits I can’t do. The photographic image doesn’t quite match my vision - so I’ve come to embrace digital drawing as a final piece of the puzzle.

Share Paintboxes & Tiny Brushes

It’s not much….but it definitely completes the picture for me.

I get the perfect blend of physical touch in the drawing and printmaking. The texture, physicality and unexpected surprises of collaging and arranging the paper elements. The satisfaction of polishing the image to give it that final pop.

See here….the elements are all there in the bottom right - the final photo is pretty good…then a bit of pizzazz is added digitally! Yes…high fives…great job!

Next week, I will be cranking out the tetrapak and printing press again to make a tiny row of my favourite shops…watch this space!

Thanks so much for getting this far…you brilliant people! I salute you..have a happy creative week, whatever form that might take…

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