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Saturday, October 4, 2014

new "traces"


















Last year I bought a little handmade book from Trace Willans. I have posted some of her work before particularly the collaborative pieces we have done together. It was "empty" except for traces of marks, stains and wax. These previous presences from another artist became the source of my drawings. It is bound using coptic binding and stained strips of  calico. 






















I have had this book I've called "Traces", for many months without doing anything with it until recently. Most of the staining which Trace uses is xanthorhea resin which leaves a lovely warm brown, earthy mark. I have stained some paper for bookmaking with it recently and discovered that it keeps getting a bit darker as it is exposed to light. Since these marks are all inside the book on nice thick 200gsm stonehenge paper, they make a great start to focus my drawings around. I used a variety of mixed media including pencil, ink, wax, gouache, pastel, water soluble crayons, charcoal and collage. I was on holidays in Lennox Heads, northern NSW and think the drawings were influenced by the harsh, dry feel of the native scrub in the area. 





























As there are many more drawings to "Traces" I will put them up on my website when I get a chance if you are interested.

9 comments:

Roberta Warshaw said...

My favorite color palette Jack. This is really a beauty.

Jacobus (Jack) Oudyn said...

Thanks fellow earth palette lover!

Velma Bolyard said...

traces looks great. i like trace's work so much and your collaboration is just swell!

Jacobus (Jack) Oudyn said...

Thanks Velma, each time you work with someone it is always so different, very energising!

Sharmon Davidson said...

Fantastic work, Jack! The book is gorgeous and your drawings go with it perfectly!

Helen M said...

This is wonderful Jack. Your drawing is always amazing.

Trace Willans said...

This is absolutely delightful. I love it when I get to see what happens next. x te

Kim Henkel Creations said...

beautiful marks by both you and Trace. A delight to discover on my evening visit. I too love the earth tones.

Jacobus (Jack) Oudyn said...

Thanks for the encouraging wordsSharmon, Helen and Kim.Thank you especially Trace for being the stimulus that generated the work.