P L A C E Portrait

A detail of the frond captured with a screen printed veneer

So, I have an idea for a printmaking initiative that I was desperate to get off the ground. With Mother’s Day fast approaching on Sunday 14th March, I thought that I had better get cracking!

My buried in my head idea is to provide opportunities to create visual recordings through the printmaking process. Like…..what would a printed portrait of a ‘place’ look like…….a garden space perhaps. You might gather and forage for natural forms like leaves, fronds, flowers, stems…..and make a print by directly using the forms to create the printed image. The print I made above is from New Zealand fronds collected by my best friend whilst on an amazing trip. I actually ended up making her a print for her birthday a little after they returned, using the same fronds. The print therefore becomes a visual memory of their collective experiences and joys, of a place.

I decided to use Instagram to put an offer out there. A free gift of a handmade print for their mum to the first person to message ‘Yes please!’ to the post with the picture below!

I got a winner within the first 20 mins! Well, I guess a free print is a pretty good deal right?!

I will ask for the flowers, leaves, plants ideally to come from the mum’s garden. It would be really nice to print using collected forms directly from her garden if possible. Using her favourite things…….also favourite colours too. This could be factored into the print along with the natural forms.

A detail using blind embossed shapes and part of a printed mimosa flower…

My winner is planning on gathering wild flowers and dandelions as part of the Mother’s day print that I will make. Wild flowers generally always work really well and there is something lovely about using more humble forms in the work. One of my favourite plants to use as you will know from some of my previous posts is the ‘Shepherds Purse’ which actually grows as a weed around lamp posts usually!

Trying out different installation shots……on our kitchen wall……

So, once I receive the plants and flowers/leaves……I will make a selection of prints and make a choice on which one to send directly for Mother’s Day on Sunday 14th March. I know now that her favourite colour is green, so I will consider this whilst I make the set of monoprints.

I will take some photographs during the making process so that you will be able to see how the prints were made.

I am hoping that the idea could get off the ground and evolve into a unique way to celebrate an occasion, someone…….and the special places or things they feel connected to. Very often we use flowers on so many occasions, from weddings, anniversaries, birthdays……..yet once the blooms fade, they are gone. What if at this stage, we can extend the memory and create something to keep, look at and enjoy for much longer. This is the basis of my idea and this Mother’s Day gift is just the start.

The Shepherds Purse weed I mentioned above!

My next blog post will show the final chosen print for Mother’s Day and we will follow its journey to its final destination!