Cup & Ring Ilkley

For some time I have had a fascination with the Cup and Ring carvings on rocks all over not only this country but other parts of the world so it was an absolute treat to visit The Panorama Rocks whilst visiting a friend recently in Ilkley.

The light made them quite difficult to see. I now need to concentrate on creating some artwork from which to produce prints or textiles.

Cup and Ring Print

This is the first print from a split collagraph I have been making over the past few weeks. I am fascinated by the 'cup and ring' carvings on stones that have appeared in several places in the UK. A photograph in The Telegraph several years ago of a rock that had become exposed in Northumberland started the journey and I have looked at the possibility of using if for some embroidery or printing on and off since.

Print 2 with a change of colour and a darker image as I did not remove as much of the oil based ink.

And finally a bigger change on the final print of the day as I opted for Sepia ink instead of the Prussian Blue I had been using. Can't wait until next week when we start to use viscosity inking with the plates.

Rings in the Landscape

One of the many interesting aspects at Erddig was this feature in the landscape known as the 'Cup and Saucer'.  It was created to prevent erosion and allows the water from the stream to be lowered quickly.

There is a similarity to the circular shapes on the ancient carved stones I have been looking at which are which can be found at many locations across the British Isles and also an association with the circles I created using the Shibori techniques for dyeing fabric.

Rock Art

I have been looking at the carvings made on stones in wild places recently and actually got round to getting out my Gelli plate as well as creating various methods of printing images ready to start to do some work.

I made two print blocks from funky foam stuck onto a piece of card with double sided tape for the print above.  I printed both from the Gelli plate direct and the inked funky foam blocks.

This was a more ghostly print using the same method.

I patiently cut out a stencil from a piece of stencil card (I think it must be sealed with linseed oil as it has a lovely smell). These images have been rollered with a soft foam roller onto paper in my sketchbook, but I should have remembered to be careful not to go over the edges of the piece of card which has created lines where I did not want them.

Next I rollered an image onto a piece of fabric upon which I had already couched a spiral using some textured wool and I quite like this combination.  Lots more ideas to try yet ... as usual just need some play time.