Leaves..

Such a lovely time of year - here I am sitting in the Autumn sunshine - what could be better?

Time to take to the woods, check out the leaves changing colour and forming slightly mushy piles to kick through, and catch the lovely rays of Autumn sunshine before we decide to hibernate in front of the fire for the winter (we have already started practising sitting in front of the fire though, just in case we had forgotten how!).

I've had a couple of commissions in the past weeks and now feel like I am re-emerging into the world, ready to be out doors as much as I can (when it isn't raining of course...) and ready to turn a few of my own ideas into lino prints.  Have I made enough lino prints yet?  Nope.

Printing with leaves - it's autumn you know..

I've been printing fabric with blocks made from oak leaves from our local park and it is just such fun!

First, leaf collecting is compulsive - finding the perfect specimens (not too crispy, not too mushy, similar size to all its friends...) and it is really hard to decide that you have enough and should stop collecting now.  Picking them straight from the tree is not permitted, some would say that it is cheating, this is an Autumn leaf project NOT an any old time of year thing...

Second, gluing them all to make printing blocks - that is fun too, do I need to explain?  Gluing leaves to card, theraputic, satisfying and you get to peel all the glue of your skin at the end, keeping you occupied while the leaf blocks dry out.  Maybe have a cup of tea while pulling the glue/skin layer off?

Third, rolling ink all over leaves - this is art all by itself isn't it?  The leaves were a really good colour already but I do like green and making my very own leaf green was a good thing (my picture makes these look greeny black, but they aren't in real life, they are zing green, my very own shade)

Fourth, printing on fabric - good fun, great results and very hard to stop.  How many metres of leaf fabric do I NEED?  But look, every print has subtle differences, little nuances so I must continue all day until the leaves have had enough and I have enough fabric to upholster a tree or maybe a whole woodland.

Fifth, return to woods/park/wilderness to collect more leaves....