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.

tiny book

My work seems to be getting smaller and smaller. I hope that isn't part of a more serious symptom than growing old. On a recent short beach break I was moved to collect some pandanus fronds and make myself some more drawing instruments to replace some I made years ago. They don't last long but work beautifully.

Just perfect for a spot of asemic writing to send off to a new like minded friend. And what nicer way than to make a little book to hold it preciously, combined with appropriate text.