UNEXPECTED FINDS 

The rain and cold finally defeated me this week and I reluctantly decided it was time to come in from the garage. My makeshift studio was one of my better ideas this year and up until now has been a wonderful space in which to work freely and without fear of the consequences of paint splashes and spills (a skill I have in abundance!!) The freedom has been quite liberating and I have thoroughly enjoyed trying out new techniques and being creative with all things acrylic. My only problem now is what to do with all the paints, papers and printing paraphernalia? It all came from my workroom originally so surely it must all fit back in...Wrong on so many counts!

Whilst rearranging several cupboards to accommodate the garage contents I came across a forgotten tray of pewter flowers. I remember making them to use up some leftover metal pieces but without having a specific purpose, clearly that is why they were forgotten! I haven’t had the opportunity to wax lyrical about the joys of stitching with pewter for some time, so looking at them now I wonder if I should be thinking about a project or two.

What about an encrusted front cover for a book? Or perhaps some new vessels with more of a floral theme. I will find the carefully wrapped roll of pewter and look at its beautiful seductive surface and wait for inspiration to find me.

So this is my finished book. After threading the needle I had a sudden panic that I would have forgotten the order of stitching but thankfully my fingers remembered and it didn’t take long at all.

The construction is very simple but as it is stitched it allows for the pages to open fully and lay flat. This was an important consideration because I wanted the inside pages to show both sides of the printed foliage when open and visually show the printing process from both sides of the papers.

The last words are reserved for an unexpected little treasure. I thought I would try using a very dead and dried acorn leaf just to see how truly awful it would be, but to my complete amazement it was a little print of perfection. You can easily guess what my next eco printing session will be based on. Time to invite the grandchildren for their favourite toffee apples and let them loose in the woods with large bags for the collecting of dried fallen leaves!!