Elisabeth Omdahl

Cutting and editing.

2012-01-29T15:56:00.001+01:00

One more woodcut and some more editing on a landscape.

Dialouges.

2012-01-28T14:00:00.000+01:00

Having followed a trail of links in my research around "Silent Wolves", I came across a heartbraking historical use of the concept "Wolf Children", or Wolfskinder(in german).

I had already started to sketch images of children riding big wolves, so I just googled the concept last week and there suddenly was a long range of links to an actual story that has been occupying my mind since then.

I was not familiar with the area or history of East Prussia, and started a journey of finding out about it.
Some background here and here .

At the same time as I research content for my book, I sketch and test out images to use.
So far I have cut three MDF woodcuts and made some lithographies in the correct format for the book.

Measurements and choices.

2012-01-22T14:35:00.000+01:00

To plan a book with a certain number of pages, I have made a miniature model to understand where the pages go. The layout takes some planning to get it right.It is especially important when you want a double-spread somewhere in the book.Page one connected to 28, page 2 connected to 27 and so on.

When editing the layout for each page I have made some markings for the middle of the sheet and middle of the page.This is a stencil I ceep in my file and start every layout with, before I import the different images and place them on the pages.
That is not to say I will place all the images in the middle, but I need to know where it is at all times.

I made my first test for a hard-cover in A3, but I have changed it now to fit the maximum output from my laser-printer instead of my inkjet-printer.

Here I am testing computor-prints, lithographies and intaglio drypoint.

And here is the weather outside my studio!

Sketching.

2012-01-10T14:10:00.000+01:00

Using digital editing of pencil sketches to check out my themes.
They might end up as lithographies.

Researching wolf mythology.

2012-01-08T10:40:00.000+01:00

Reminded of the story about the Fenrir Wolf in norse mythology, I came across some useful links .The rope they finally bound Fenrir with was called Gleipner.
Gleipner was made of six elements, and was strong enough to hold the gigantic wolf down.
The six elements were:
1.The fish`s breath
2.A womans beard
3.A Birds spit
4.A Mountains roots
5.The sound of Cat-paws
6.A Bears tendons(sinews)

All elements being of a supposedly non-excitent nature,all the same it had the power to tie the wolf down..

The story is interesting on many levels, so I certainly can recommend some googling on it.

Here are two trial-proofs I made of hybrid Wolves, tied with ropes.I am testing out techniques like lithography mixed with Moku Hanga woodblock. I am also researching what paper to use, and this ones are printed on a rather thin watercolour-paper.Probably not what I wil be landing on in the end.

A new Book-art project in 2012.

2012-01-04T14:16:00.000+01:00

I make a link here so you can read about the background for this project I have involved myself in.

An exchange of artist-books involving editioning about 10-20 copies.
52 artists so far has entered, and we are divided into groups of no more than 8(Thank God).
The amount of work can be huge, depending of the format of the book of course.
Just for the fun of it lets say you use ten pages with images on each side , wich is not a lot for a book, you have to print 20x20 times just for the images. Yes, 400 runs through the press as a minimum, and probably more when you add text.If one side has more than one layer of print, the numbers rise quickly.
Considering all misprints and failures that are bound to happen, the math of it is rather daunting.
All that aside, I have already started to do my research and planning possible solutions for content and form.
I will be blogging about the tests,assosiations and results as I go along.
I chose among 100 titles available, and the title I will be working with is "Silent Wolves".
The obvious subject-matter of wolves interests me, but even more so the word "silence" and all the associations around the word.
I always work metaphorically, and I am already sketching around my theme both with words and image.
What does wolf represent and what is silenced? Untold stories,secrets? Mythologic content is always interesting, and there is a lot to dig into containing the word wolf.

The decisions concerning format are many, and size, shape,materials have to be decided upon rather quick, so I can concentrate on content.
How much digital imaging?How much original printing? All important questions, and all time-consuming decisions.

Here is how I have started, playing with different elements.

A cover made of cardboard with gauze.Image is intaglio from vinyl.Considering using self-made paper,(visible here between cover and text)

Two lithographies on silk-paper

Sketching ideas for miniature lino and drypoint imagery.

Hardcover?Softcover,?Japanese binding? Don`t know yet.

Spin off.

2011-12-25T14:31:00.000+01:00

I made a small bird for a small book, it was supposed to be a christmas-gift.
In between busy x-mas preparations, it dawned on me to try out the same motif on a bigger scale since I kind of liked the figure. I increased it to a 43x40 cm plate in lino and made a second plate for background.
The trialproof went well technically with registration and all.But I found the print to be a bit lifeless in texture and tone. So I cut more into the bird and proofed it.Not very much was gained, and I thought I would abandon the whole thing.
A bit annoyed at waisting two big playes like this, I engraved rather wildly into the bird, and transformed the second plate to a combo of llinocut marks plus a layer of paints and carborundum to make a collagraphy-plate to print intaglio .As a third element I added the thorn-branch, also intaglio-printed.
I wiped this last trialproof a bit too much, but I am rather pleased with the background.

Merry Christmas !

2011-12-21T13:52:00.000+01:00

I wish a merry x-mas to all of you.!!! And do not forget to feed our small friends out there if you live in colder climates like I do!!

Small 2-plate linocut.

Reluctant.

2011-12-10T15:12:00.000+01:00

50x50 cm intaglio .Handcolored with india ink.

A.

2011-12-05T14:10:00.000+01:00

Drypoint in copper. 15x20 cm

Mezzotint.

2011-11-30T14:39:00.000+01:00

Small etching with mezzotint.10x15 cm. "The gap".

A friendly chair.Day 1

2011-11-29T15:16:00.000+01:00

Etching again.

2011-11-27T14:34:00.000+01:00

I tried out a mix of aquatint and flatbite on this zinkplate.My airbrush-sprayed aquatint broke partially down and left me with flatbite. Had to drypoint some details, and also tested some handcoloring.

Hoarding.

2011-11-23T08:12:00.000+01:00

I have learned through experience that smart or cheap products disappear before you can say "Peanut"

,so like a greedy chipmunk I am stuffing my face with cheap "brayers".Found that this baking equipment is super .30 cm brayers for aprox. 19€ !

So,I enjoyed some testing of the new brayers at once, of course. Probably will be making a lot of backgrounds the next days!
My eternal hunt for suitable vinyls continues.The last one was not ok, having some knots on the backside that showed in the ink as a bad texture.
The sad thing is that when you find a good one, you can be sure it is gone the next time.

Lesson learned must be: to HOARD!

Trace monotype.

2011-11-14T15:45:00.000+01:00

Some doodling to warm up. Trace monotype on lightweight paper.Wenzhou.

One last link to Mindscape.

2011-11-11T10:02:00.001+01:00

The workshop,Transform/Mindscape being over, I wanted to share a video of the project with you.
It is un -edited, so prepare to be a bit dizzy! I think it gives a good feeling of the atmosphere on the site.

The sound in the background is playing in a loop. It is a bit hard to explain the different parts , since it is a mix of danish,norwegian and english.I let the associations float freely when I made it.
It started with one of the participants in the project,Lis Rejnert Jensen suggested we introduce sound into the project.She chose a song-lyrics originated from an Inuitt-text, translated to danish by the explorer Knud Rassmussen. Lis whispered the text.
I responded with some extracts from a sami song performed by sami singer Mari Boine.I used the english translation and freely translated it to danish .
I also added a small text I made spontaneously and translated it to danish.

I go into detail about these translations, because I used an online program to translate from text to speech. So, it is actually a robot-voice speaking most of the three languages.
I recorded and edited these different sounds in another program downloaded from the net.

I sendt the sound-file down to denmark in an e-mail, and they burned a cd to play on a loop in the project-tent.
Some of the text was hung up in the tent also.
Here are some text extracts:

"jeg blir mindre og mindre.

snart er jeg borte.

Du må skrive meg inn igjen.

Du må tegne meg inn igjen.

Du må veve trådene mine sammen.

Bare slik kan jeg bli hel."

(rough english translation):   "I grow smaller and smaller.
                                                Soon I will disappear.
                                               You must write me in again.
                                               You must draw me in again.
                                                You must weave my threads together again.
                                                 Only that way I can be whole again"
.

Vuoi mu gollelottas
Vuoi mu beaiveidjalottas
giehka ja goaskin
Vuoi mu spalfu
Vuoi mu spalfu
miellevuol besiinis
Vuoi mu idjaloddi
ravddahis geahcastagainis
Vuoivuoi mu
Vuoivuoi mu

Vuoivuoi daid iluid
Vuoivuoi daid iluid
skeaikkigavnnasmeriidisguin
Vuoi daid morrasiid
Vuoi daid morrasiid
salteganjalmearaidisguin
Vuoivuoi daid buollasiid
Vuoivuoi daid buollasiid
vuoi gesiid mearehis bahkaid
Vuoivuoi mu
vuoivuoi mu

　

Vuoi Vuoi Me

Vuoi my little yellowbird.
Vuoi my summernight bird.
cuckoo and eagle.
Vuoi my swallow.
with nest under riverbanks.
Vuoi nighttowl.
with limitless vision.
Vuoi vuoi me.

Vuoi vuoi joy.
with hearty laughter.
Vuoi sorrow.
with oceans of salty tears.
Vuoi vuoi frost.
winter and cold.
Vuoi summer with burning hot days.
Vuoi vuoi me.

ve mej. ve mej.

ve lille gule fugl.

Med rede under elvebredden.

Ve natt -uglen.

ve sorgen .

med et hav av salte tårer.

And finally the link to the video from the site:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ynpLtf3j-s&feature=related

All over.

2011-11-08T09:17:00.001+01:00

So, Mindscape/Transform is over. It has been a special experience, I must say.
Even though I was not there, I felt included in the process during the workshop.
We Skyped twice, so I was taken on a guided tour with Joe carrrying the PC around as we spoke.
Every evening I got mails showing the progress that day.
A lot of blogging,chatting,Skyping made it "alive and happening"

Here are two more details . Photo credits : Lis rejnert Jensen.

Last days of Mindscape.

2011-11-07T10:23:00.000+01:00

http://artprojectmindscape.wordpress.com/2011/11/06/dag-6-8/

Day 5 Mindscape.

2011-11-03T09:17:00.000+01:00

My three collegues in Denmark are now welcoming the audience into the project for the rest of the workshop.
The room is now lighted only from the projects themselves.
The 42 projects lies like jewels in the dark in the two BIG film-studios.

Today we are trying to add sound.Can`t wait to hear if they could make it work.We do not have proffessional equipment, so we have to cut and paste without smooth transitions.

Using sound can be very stressful if it is too dominating.

Mindscape day2.

2011-10-31T07:44:00.000+01:00

The main construction is up.Now they can start detailing.

Mindscape, Day One.

2011-10-30T06:56:00.001+01:00

http://artprojectmindscape.wordpress.com/2011/10/29/forste-dag/

Local TV films show.

2011-10-30T06:31:00.001+01:00

Here is a link to Danish TV in Kolding -
15 minutes from our exhibition InTouch.
http://tvkolding.dk/index.php/2011-08-13-10-57-38/taet-pa

Photo credit Joe Ingvartsen

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1186196573#!/joe.ingvartsen

Testing prototype box.

2011-10-29T15:29:00.000+02:00

I came across a fun way to make a box-journal,( or what I should call it.)
I bought an e-book about the basic construction .

I dyed the paper with acrylics and sew together the sceleton .I added some cheese cloth over two lithographs and sew small pockets.
It is not quite finished yet, since I have nothing inside the accordion-folded piece.Also need to sew some ribbons to hold it together.
Here are some photos along the way.

In the middle a loose print folded. A nice way to give a gift? Or a way to document a project with all the scraps and leftovers that pile up? All the same, fun to do.

InTouch 2011.

2011-10-29T10:32:00.001+02:00

So, last night was opening night for the exhibition "InTouch" in Kolding, Denmark.
Photo credits Lis Rejnert Jensen and Joe Ingvartsen

A link to the exhibition

Another test on goat.

2011-10-27T14:27:00.000+02:00

Working with stencils over the drypoint. Still testing

Goats.

2011-10-25T14:37:00.001+02:00

Sunday sketching.

2011-10-23T12:44:00.000+02:00

It seems all I am doing these days is tests,sketching and trials.
Hopefully a warm-up for more focused projects.

Happy birthday E.

2011-10-22T12:52:00.002+02:00

happy birthday E, a photo by anneka58 on Flickr.

My sister,a balletdancer and choreographer Has taken this photo and dedicated it to my birthday!
Two young dancers at ballet-school.

Vernissage in Denmark.

2011-10-18T12:21:00.000+02:00

Here is a link to the exhibition InTouch.I have an installation and some mailart exhibited.
Opening night 28.October.
Welcome!
http://www.kolding.dk/sct_nicolai/0071361.asp?sid=27963&uid=67033

Some sketching .

2011-10-17T15:50:00.000+02:00

Some tests with lithography and gelatine print.

Some drypoint and inkdrawing in there too.

Video from UV light experiments.

2011-10-14T16:16:00.000+02:00

The Cairo Project

2011-10-14T13:57:00.004+02:00

The Cairo Project a video by omdahl1960 on Flickr.

A video made from stills.

Lilies propagation.

2011-10-08T14:38:00.000+02:00

I have tried for the first time to propagate lilies from scales.
That means you break off scales from the mother-bulb and put them in moist vermiculite or perlite.
The scale can produce 2-10 new bulbs which you can break off from the scale when it produces roots.I have broken off my first lily from the oriental lily Stargazer.! Many more are coming too!
I will have to wait for a while before they bloom, of course.
Exciting! Really magic when it works.
I will be posting more from this process when I have more to show.

You can see two small ones making roots here.Back into the bag you go to grow some more!

I posted my contributions to two exhibitions yesterday, and I am following them on tracking to check that they reach their destination on time !!

I taped the two big ones together to save some postage, on advice frome the postoffice-lady.

Lately.

2011-10-01T15:53:00.000+02:00

Experimenting with UV- light.

2011-09-25T16:23:00.000+02:00

Times have been very busy lately, getting together 3 projects at the same time.OOps.Not so smart getting in over my head like this.
I like being busy, but this time I have wasted unusually much time, almost a year actually , with trials and errors.
I certainly long for loong,quite wintertime!
Anyway, I have had some fun lately with UV-light, or blacklight ,for a project in Denmark.
I am part of a collaboration with three other artists, and we are going to exhibit with a lot of other artists in two film-studios in Århus,Denmark.
Sketching with light is what I call this prossess so far.

Opening night in Denmark. Part I

2011-09-08T10:37:00.000+02:00

The invitation showing the mail-art -project

See some more photos here:

http://artprojectintouch.wordpress.com/2011/09/05/og-lidt-flere-billeder/

When Panic strikes.

2011-08-30T11:38:00.000+02:00

My package with my contribution to the exhibition InTouch has been missing in the mail for a while.
So yesterday morning I made the desicion to try to make a new version and pay through the nose to have it arrive in time .There are some door to door sevices ,I belive, without having checked out the prices for that.But I was willing to do that to be able to be a part of the show `s part I in Denmark.
Part II is not before 28. of october.
Since I only had one day to make something, I got up eaaaarly in the morning and went to work like a crazy,armed with a bucket of coffe and a lot of fast-drying siccative in my paint.

I knew I had no chance to force-dry the more transparent wenzhou-paper I had glued my silkpaper onto in the triptych.So I put my eyes on a thicker,moulded paper as a base for the silkpaper I still was going to print on.
Cutting this paper in circles, 2 big and 5 smaller I started to plan out the pieces.
After 8 hours work I had a result I could put under pressure, planning to find an express-mailing company to get it down there the next day.
And what do you know! An e-mail that evening from my collegue in Denmark stating that the package was found on the local post-office after some research.!!!
PFFFFT.
So that`s good!!!
But here are my results form the panick-attack anyhow.

Peonies.

2011-08-26T14:00:00.000+02:00

Fallen in love with peonies, I have ordered some seeds on the net .I want to try to raise a bunch from seed with the method of stratification.That means to put the seeds in some moist vermiculite in a plastic-bag , first a warm period of three months, then colder for three months and then again warmer as spring comes along.
The fun thing about this bag-method is that I can sneak-peek into the bag during the "hatching".
One can also try natures way by putting them outside and let autumn,winter.spring do its work.
I will test both ways with one of the seeds.
The first I got was a cream-yellow called Paeonia Mlokosewishii (Mollie-The-Witch)
9 are outside and 2 inside in a plastic-bag.
I tested my bathroom for temperature yesterday, and the bags will rest on a shelf close to the heated floor in three months.Together with 3 other types, some tree-peonies and some Silkpeonies. It seems I can expect a variety of colours from them, since the seeds are not true to Mother-type.
Possible a never-seen colour emerges!!

Here is the cream-yellow :

Here are the rest of the seeds ready to go into vermiculite.

Small book for Cairo Project.

2011-08-18T14:43:00.000+02:00

I have made a little book as documentation over the Cairo-Project with Elizabeth Metzger Sampson.
She sendt me the photo of the sleeping cat and I have made a drypoint of it today.
I also have bound the book and made the layout inside.Not glued to the pages yet., as the final stage must wait till I have recieved the arabic text to incorporate.I have saved some space inside for that.

Here are some photos .

Pods and project.

2011-08-14T12:03:00.000+02:00

This is the first year I have had garden-iris,Iris Germanica .I have gotten one pod, and collected the seed from that.24 seed are now germinating inside before I will stratifie them outside this winter.

New project in Denmark called Mindscapes is in the budding.I have made some lithographs on silkpaper and cheese-cloth as a start.I shall deliver 5 objects to this project collaborating with 3 other artsts in Denmark.The three other artists will execute the work in a five day workshop in october.I will get documentation as they work and can communicate my thoughts to them during the set up of a 2x2 meter( height unlimited) work.A curator will communicate with us all before,during and after.
The overall idea being about Networking.Our working title is Mindscape.
Here are my sketches so far.(early days yet)

Wanted to do for years. Seed-archive.

2011-08-08T14:59:00.000+02:00

Being a nut about garden and seeds especially, I obviously have collected some seeds over the years.
I had a big portion stashed away in my studio-garage.This morning I took the bull by the horn and started sorting them and went to buy some photo-pockets and folders to store them in.

I made a system for annuals,biannuals,perennials and vegetables/herbs.
One folder for annuals and one for the rest.
150 pockets so far! Many with several in the same pocket.
I have the ones I collect myself in coffe-filters inside the pockets.

I am also doing tests for working further with the doe.Here is my sketch.

Small books are in my future plans , so I am also testing out consepts.

I made some etchings on cheese-cloth earlier, and I have tested that for the cover of one book.

Home-made paper inside sown to a thicker concertina-page.

Picked some straws in the garden for this one, and colored some toothpicks red.Used some of my homemade paper for the pages .This was mostly playing around .Not completed.

Sitting in the sun with a drypoint.

2011-07-29T15:57:00.000+02:00

24x32 cm drypoint.

A quite moment.

2011-07-26T11:40:00.000+02:00

Dedicated to the victims in Oslo and Utøya.

Building a stretcher?

2011-07-25T11:09:00.000+02:00

Trying to work out a practical way to get my flour-print to work.
Without a frame to put my stencil on, the flour will fall onto the print when I lift the stencil off the floor.
With small frames that is easy to send along in the mail.
A big frame will be clumsy/ expensive to send.
So I am wondering if a stretcher might do the trick.Like a gurney, but with four rods.
It can then be folded for mailing.
The stretcher must have a screen mash stapled on for the flour to get through.

I have cut a new stencil with an arabic ornament.It is made in vinyl, and it is possible I only send this itself ,no flour-print.
More practical, but not so interesting, perhaps.

new stencil in vinyl

printed in wheat-flour on the floor, but a bit a bit messy since the flour falls back onto the print

Cutting-process started yesterday-

Poster, poppies and sandblasting.

2011-07-20T10:46:00.000+02:00

The poster for the exhibition in Denmark is ready!

Well summer is here, but some of us are still working!

The poster was sendt around to all of us to work on directly.Later it has been photoshoped and now we have the result.

Summer in the garden too! Poppy-field finally in bloom.Much later than I had hoped, but here it is in all its chaos.Must plan better next year.

Installation project for Denmark has led me to investigate a little bit about the arabic language and alphabet. I also test out techniques on how to transform the writing into the installation.Paper-stencils, plastic-stencils, and just straying away ,trying sandblasting on glass.

Installation tests.

2011-07-18T13:16:00.000+02:00

Installation with flour and paper-egg(litho inside egg)

stars in carton

detail flour-screenprint on floor,lithography inside paper-egg

Composing in the garden.

2011-07-18T09:47:00.001+02:00

Having an overgrown garden, I have a lot of material to compose with as I would like to rearrange and tidy up a bit.Overgrown perennials needs to be cut back or moved , spaces needs to be defined and so on.
I have started a project with homemade tiles in cement, to make garden-paths and areas to put a gardenbench and chairs. I have started to clear an area beneath the plum-tree which makes an umbrella to sit under.
I am planning to cover the ground with stone ,bricks and tiles in certain patterns.
So as a start I have moulded a few tiles in cement in my studio to check out thickness an colour.
I like the look of broken pieces, so I am making irregular tiles to puzzle together.
I am playing with some elements of painted tiles , just to have some small "surprises" here and there.

I have already set aside small patches for growing a few potatoes, and a place to sow biennials and perennials from year to year.
I am making borders with reddish brick-stones to mark the aereas.Easier to weed and also to know where things are.Have a tendency to weed out tiny seedlings from last years sowing, forgetting what`s where!

Making cement-tiles, one small tile with screenprinted ornament( have to reconcider what to use as screenprint ed material)

The beginning of a path.5 broken cement tiles and a stone

Area cleared for tiles and stone. Small(very) area for potatoes to the right.18 potatoes will be how many?Some ruccola-salad in between the rows already eaten!

New area under bushes, new tiles,pumpkin-basket, Datura( Angels trumpet)

Work in progress

2011-07-16T16:14:00.000+02:00

Will explain more about project later, but the technique here is "silkscreening" wheat-flour/spices onto the floor.Use of stencils and writing arabic into flour.The triptych I have been working on is expanding to the floor, using an arabic translation of the text."Breath is my guard while sleeping"

I am adding new elements of ornaments with the text.

As i said, more explanations will come later.

Some images as preview.

Ideas come and go.The birth of one work.

2011-07-08T10:42:00.001+02:00

Looking back at this winter/springs working with the theme "In Touch",for a series of exhibitions going to Denmark this summer.I have found my choice of ideas changing quite a number of times, looking for that one idea that would feel strong enough to carry out, or execute.

The theme being a "generous" one, I just needed to find my personal choice for a theme, something to relate to .
I decided early on to work spontaneously with my choice of materials and my choice of what shape or form my work should have.
I wanted to use the oportunity to work with an installation, to use the floor or hang things from the ceiling? , No frames and lightweight materials to avoid too much transport-costs.

So I have been experimenting a lot with different materials and techniques to find what would be most suited to this criteria.
Sewing,embroidery, cutouts, a lot of printing on ricepaper and silkpaper.Thin plastic,gauze,cheese-cloth.Making my own paper, to get a tactile,thin paper.Wire-drawings, cutouts stuck to the wall with "chewing-gum" and so on and so forth.
A lot of fun, a lot of loose ends.

I have tried to "analyze" the main stages my work took this winter, since it seemes so chaotic that I have almost sat down and laughed these last period.

Stage 1: "TheMountain Bird". The survival of a small girl living in a Valley in Norway during the Black Death.

I used the theme from the" Mountain Bird" for the mail-art project connected to this exhibition, already sendt to all the partisipants.

Stage 2: Fairy-tale woods with deers,hares,birds trees in an innocent mood.

Stage 3: "The Tent."
A symbol of innocent childhood memories of camping in the woods( combined with stage 2)
Later a much stronger symbol of homelessness, being a nomad , the refugee-camp!

Stage 4: Finally " When I sleep, breath is watching over me". (Poetry lost in translation.
"Når jeg sover vokter pusten over meg").

My theme here being the fragile line between breathing and not.
How the delta -waves of dream-sleep shows that stage of deep sleep, while your breath is automatic, ceeping you alive.
The images printed on very thin fragile silk-paper underlines this fragility.
Yet nature is reciliant, a willingness to grow and live.

So I ended up with a triptych, no installation.Not working on the floor or hanging from the ceiling.
Puhh. A lot of going back and forth.The actual final work executed during just during 48 hours.

So, now just some fine-tuning on the text and some final gluing of the silkpaper onto the ricepaper and I will be done.

Peek a boo!

2011-06-20T14:43:00.000+02:00

One, two, three, four----where is number five?

Caught sleeping in the middle of the day!

Frames finished.

2011-06-06T14:09:00.000+02:00

So here is the result. 4 frames with 1,5 cm box-effect, floating on a backing-paper.
I also framed a new work for a summer exhibition in Fredrikstad.
There I printed on silkpaper, one part etching and one part litho., one part" difused relief"( the circle)

Internet Explorer 9 again.

2011-06-06T08:42:00.003+02:00

Test .
So I updated again, and it just was OK!
My blog-entry was published at once.
Well, so much for computor hiccups.

Smart trick.

2011-06-02T08:37:00.002+02:00

How to glue picture-frames without steel clamps.
watch this smart guy on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2trWWHH9dg&feature=related

A must see!

2011-06-01T16:13:00.001+02:00

http://www.wimp.com/catdolphins/

Cat playing with dolphins!

Finally all out of the house!

2011-05-30T08:33:00.004+02:00

Extra lamp needed, since seedlings stopped growing.

What a relief! All out of the nursery, some barely making it.
Too little light, had to finally install an extra lamp, realising they all had stopped growing.More fertilizer, but really too late. Well, hopefully they will thrive by getting the h---- out of my studio and gardenshack.(there-there, didn`t mean it!).

The rest is direct sowing, some not too late. A patch of poppies are coming already, but I want some more.Need to hit the shovel, though. No more free space ready to sow.

So here starts the hunt for suitable spaces.I have bought some cheap soil and have to fertilize first.

Copper sulphate etch.

2011-05-30T07:04:00.006+02:00

Got my 25 kilos of copper sulphate the other day! Thank god it works.
My original plan was to test it out first with a small amount from the farmacy.But it had a crazy price!I now have 25 kilos instead of one at almost the same price.Figure that!!!

A test-plate with some line,gouasche- lift and spitbite.

Here some spitbite again.Faint, but all the same a tool. On the top you can see the "buildt-in" aquatint that aluminum gives you for free. I have tried to create lighter tones with both burnishing like a mezzotint and painting on acrylic hardground to lighten it. Both works.Even though the etching is a bit rough, I like it.

Spit-bite.

Made a laserprint transfer with heat from a watercolour sketch. Etched for ten minutes and got some tone.But I had to burnish out some details to lighten some areas.

Again, the etch is a bit ragged, but likeable. For finer detailed line I will etch on zink or copper( with ferric chloride). For the time being I will stick with aluminum.Have not had too much luck with etching on copper yet. And aquatint is a bit of a hazzle. I am training myself with an airbrush.Pfffft.

Internet Explorer 9 incompatible with Blogger.

2011-05-27T12:04:00.002+02:00

I was prompted to update Explorer yesterday, and did so .The result was that I no longer could publish posts in my blog!!
All other functions seemed ok.
I did research all day yesterday and today.Found a lot of bloggers had the same experience.
A lot of advice as to change html code did not appeal to me, so I had to uninstall IE9 and go back to IE8.Thank god it worked.
So a warning to those of you who thinks about upgrading!
Anyone with similar stories?

Bleaching paper pulp.

2011-05-26T12:11:00.005+02:00

Does anybody know anything about bleaching paper?

I have some acidfree quality-paper from Bockingford and Fabriano with a yellow tint I do not like..I make handmade paper from pulp, and need to try to save this good paper, but hate the color.

I have bought some hydrogenperoxide 10 % from the pharmacy today as a starter.

I also have a bucket of lye going.

Have not tried chlorine bleach yet.

It would be interesting if there are some sucsess-stories out there?

In between.

2011-05-25T07:42:00.002+02:00

CARPET OF PRINT-COLLAGE 90X 85 CM FOLDED. MIXED TECHNIQUES WITH MOKU HANGA,INTAGLIO AND RELIEF.STAMPED TEXT.GLUED WITH WHEAT-PASTE ON WENZHOU PAPER.

When the weather allows it, we are outside making frames. As I predicted, we have forgotten a lot about framemaking since 2004, but it is coming along.

In between making frames, I am working on an installation due this summer.

Some months ago I started making a "carpet" of print-collage, considering this for the installation.Partly a choice because of its lightweight character.I am sending it in the mail.

And partly because I am interested in prints outside the frame.

My last installation used the floor also, and I want to explore it more.

I see it as an combination with a wall-piece.Probably will use my new friend, the box-frame.

But, this is still on a planning stage, I must admit.

The final choices are not coming easily this time.

I ONLY HAVE A WORKING TITLE YET.THESE BOXING HARES I CALL "WARLORDS".

Frames.

2011-05-22T11:02:00.010+02:00

Sketching design for the first frame. In 2004 I made several different designs, some good and some not.Now I take the best from what I learned, to get a harmonious result.Proportions matter.

Here I have tried out spacers in vinyl.Easy to cut.
They are not acid free, but they do not touch the print, so that is ok.

Test for my sewn paper.

Boiling wheat paste.

I have ended up with this tape for these 4 frames, since I am too afraid to make dents in them with the wheat paste.My tests shows that it is difficult to avoid.But I can check out more later when this assignement is finished. If i wreck the pictures I have sold----disaster!

Here is a "stress-test" for the tape. 500 grams no problem, so the strength is super. How it ages, I cannot know.I will have to trust it.It comes from a proffessional framer, so it should be ok for archival use. It is acid-free, of course.

Glue-pot.

Shadow boxes.

2011-05-18T15:38:00.002+02:00

These are my first sketches of how I want my shadow-boxes to be.

The funny thing is, it is so obvious that this matches my works and how I think during the prossess.Small fragments are placed together to make new connections.

These boxes can have glass on them or not. They can easily be sendt to exhibitions without glass, because the materials are rather lightweight.
They can be placed on a table lying down or on the wall, depending on the circumstance.

I feel I am creating a small world inside the borders of the frame without crushing the objects+paper inside.So it gives a feeling of no frame at he same time it makes a finish to the work which it sometimes need.

I have tested out vinyl as the spacers on my first attempt.It seems to work just fine.It holds the glass seperated from the backplate.I can of course choose any depht I want for this box.

Measure, measure and measure again!

2011-05-18T08:59:00.003+02:00

I have not been making frames since 2004, so much is forgotten about the tricks of the trade.
Also this time I am going to work out how to make "shadow-boxes" and floating mounting.
I have wanted this kind of framing for a long time, but I thought the cutting of the frame was more complicated than it actually is. A little research on the net gave me some pointers as to how to go about it. Several options from youtube has been a good help!

But since I want a floating mouting on a backing paper, I need to check out the safest way to make acid- free hinges. The problem here is of course not to buckle the thinnest paper with a water soluble glue.T-hinges of thin japanese paper with wheat-paste is what I will test first.
I want all to be reversable, so that the framing can be repaired or changed at any time.
So, strong enough to hold the print, yet acid- free and a reversable prossess is what I am striving for.
The frame itself is made from pine, treated with a mix of lye,soap and hydratchloride(chalk)
This gives a beautiful finish to the frame, you can see the wooden pattern through the pigment.
I have the glass from last time, just need to clear my big table and practise a bit again.

Strange how one thing leeds to another.I have bee struggling with how to mount an installation I am making, and I have gotten some interesting ideas for this through the preliminary testing I have done for this type of shadow-box.
More of that later.
First I will make four frames for the prints I sold the other day from my studio.!!
So wish me luck for not to ruin them in the prossess.
Clean tables and gloves is a must.
I make the design and measurments, and husband dear is being the carpenter for this.
I assist in leading the wood through the Dewalt saw.
We are rigging it all up outside the studio beacause of all the sawdust, so we want good weather the next week!

Aluminum etching on tube.

2011-05-11T15:29:00.002+02:00

Poppy on aluminum.

2011-05-11T08:54:00.006+02:00

I bought some plates of aluminum and zink two days ago, so I have had a go at etching.

I think aluminum etches rather coarse in ferric cloride, but I have decided to go with that expression, since that is what I had. The advantages with aluminum is that you get tone without making an aquatint. The metal reacts to the acid with a "natural grain". So that is tempting. Besides ,aluminum is cheap to buy.

This plate is etched in four steps, with stopping out in between.

I also have ordered 25 kilos of copper sulphate, so that I can change my acid to a safer mordant.

I am looking forward to testing it out, Perhaps it arrives today.

I now believe I have enough copper sulphate for the rest of my life!

MACEREL ON ALUMINUM.

I have also tested out photoetching transfered with litho from a Pronto-plate
The resist was etched for 20 minutes, and gave a rather weak etch.But I was afraid the the resist from the oilpaint would break down with longer time in the acid-bath. I will have to make better tests.
I will work on this photoetch" manually" to get some more tone.

I also made a testplate with gouache as a liftground instead of sugarlift, and I found it to be more versatile than sugar+ ink. I also put wood-sealer on top if the etched plate to create more tone and texture. With some drypoint added, the plate can be rather rich.

So all in all, I like my meeting with aluminum!

Collagraphy seahorse.

2011-04-29T14:15:00.002+02:00

I have experimented with different grounds on cardboard.I have ended up with a wood-sealer in 4 layers.I heat the layers with a heating gun to get bubbles and cracks.It is ok to skratch in it for details.I mixed my black with alizarin to get the tone I wanted.
I have cut 15 plates and are on the way to put the ground on all of them.Have a plan for putting 9 on the same paper.A series of small drawings.Probably mostly line work.
I have also tested the woodsealer on wood to create fields of tone, but that will be for later.Must finish this first.

Chalk drawings

2011-04-20T14:51:00.003+02:00

hmm.

2011-04-15T15:48:00.002+02:00

Machinestitch on paper

Collagraphy on watercolor on wallpaper

Variations again.

2011-04-11T14:51:00.003+02:00

Etching ,inkdrawing, relief,stitching and watercolor.

Paperstitch .Series of circles

2011-04-10T14:41:00.003+02:00

For now I envision a mix of lithography, stitching and etching.

Embroidery/Sewing

2011-04-08T16:40:00.003+02:00

A slideshow of latest sewing

bambi side2

2011-04-08T16:33:00.002+02:00

bambi side2, a photo by omdahl1960 on Flickr.

Some testing out of ways to stitch

Stitches

2011-04-07T08:43:00.003+02:00

Japanese lanterns and Lajka the Russian Dog.

2011-04-06T09:52:00.011+02:00

A one-armed dress. Sketching out ideas.Linoprinting and hand-embroidery on tarlatan and starched gauze.

Every spring I look for the "Japanese Lanterns" in my garden.The bright orange rots away and leaves the sceleton of the "lantern".Some not completely, which is the case here.

Working with this dress has reminded me of this process, so I went out in the garden just now to get them.

Kind of an analoge to how memories also fades, and are not nessecarely how they once were.

This dress is like a fading memory of a "dress". So it has lost some on the way, hence the one arm and the see-through quality of the fabric.I have a feeling of something found, that will just decompose into dust if I blow on it.

I am considering sewing a "proper dress", and treating it the same way, to get the contrast stronger.In that case I want to try plastic.

My first attempt on plastic is an image of the the Russian astronaut-dog,Lajka.

Seeing this famous photo always make me rather sad,thinking about this brave little dog out there alone.

Still sketching.

2011-04-04T15:28:00.002+02:00

Layers of embroidery.Top on tarlatan, others on paper and cardboard. Tarlatan dress needled together as sketch.Hand-Embroidery.Some watercolor.

Wire-drawings and embroidery together.

Tarlatan-dress with embroidery and watercolor.

Sewing cardboard

2011-04-03T12:14:00.004+02:00

Print from sewed cardboard. Sewed,scratched and punctured cardboard

Experimenting with incorporating stitches onto collagraphy(cardboard) plates.Using them as they are or printing "intaglio" from them.

Second trialproof.

2011-03-19T15:02:00.002+01:00

I made the paint a little lighter, and more transparent.A bit closer to what I had in mind for the tone.

Trialproof1

2011-03-18T10:55:00.003+01:00

My colours are just a test, and I will adjust some more.But all in all a result I like.I cut all the layers side by side on the same plate,and printed by hand.

More hares

2011-03-16T15:38:00.004+01:00

Wooden plate tested out for different varnishes.One part is shellac, one is waterbased and one part without varnish.Can be used to create tone

Diptych plate2

2011-03-10T11:10:00.003+01:00

Trialproof 1 of second plate, as a diptych. Trialproof2, ghostprint of second stage.Not satisfied with cuttings.

Plate on stage 3, not printed yet.

First part of diptych.

2011-03-08T15:30:00.003+01:00

49x40 cm woodcut.This is the first plate in a diptych I am planning.

Playing in the studio

2011-02-20T15:18:00.002+01:00

Three is a crowd

2011-02-12T11:57:00.002+01:00

Wire rat Two.

2011-02-11T14:16:00.002+01:00

Wire rat.

2011-02-11T10:54:00.002+01:00

The rat is a part of my menagerie for the story about the" Mountain Bird".
The wire-mat can be interesting for tone, so I`ll will test that out some more.I have to keep my materials lightweight for transport, so that is part of the reason I choose these materials .

Wire and cutouts.

2011-02-10T15:15:00.004+01:00

Scratching into paris of plaster, and rubbing in paint. Research for making cutouts in plaster, mounted on thin wire.

Cutout of pencil-drawing and "wire-drawing".

The research-process is always the most fun, so I am trusting my instincts and going in all directions at the same time. As usual. There is always time to sew it all together in the end.

Mail-Art Project Denmark 2011

2011-02-06T14:43:00.004+01:00

Made some "stamps" for a mail-art project.Size of 2,9cmx4,5 cm

18 cards, front and backside

The cards will be exhibited in photopockets, so you can see both front and back.We are ten artists, so there will be 180 cards.
This is one part of the exhibition titled IN TOUCH that will tour several cities in Denmark this year and next.

The other part is individual works related to the theme.

For the time being I am working with an old Norwegian folk-tale,related to the Black Death in Norway 1349-1350.A small girl was the only survivor in her valley,Jostedalen.

So these cards relate to an old text and the images circle around this story.

Sweet Dreams Little Prince.

2011-01-22T16:50:00.002+01:00

So sorry to loose him today.

Variations on a theme.

2011-01-20T15:32:00.003+01:00

I made some macro-shots the other day, it was such a wonderful, clear winter-day.

This long one is rather a "spin-off" from my work with the big MDF
I have named it "Verden er ny hver natt" (Every night the world is new).)

The final big one, and some more tests on the side.

I tested some vinyl intaglio run through the press at the same time with the relief print in MDF.That is what you see on the right side(bottom).

Slowly, slowly.

2011-01-16T14:22:00.002+01:00

Still working back and forth with the MDF-project.I am adjusting the colours and the composition, and I still do not feel tired of it.Haven`t even managed to decide on what paper to go for, just using some leftovers from earlier project.

MDF process

2011-01-12T15:45:00.002+01:00

Planning a series with MDF-cuts.

Must say it is enjoyable to cut, so much easier than wood.But of course, no textures for free.

These I draw directly into the plate with no sketching.I scribble text on it as I work, to remember things, working with titles and asossiations ,as I am cutting.

Very enjoyable process

I really don`t want them to be too planned, so I go spontaneously along.I have a theme lined up, though.

Struggeling with editions.

2011-01-08T15:33:00.002+01:00

The whole week I have been struggeling with this edition.I wanted this seahorse to have a moku hanga(waterbased woodcut) background.And I changed the colour of the seahorse and removed the text(title) on it.

I want the moku hanga to be a mix of very dry and very wet.That is to keep the wood-structure and at the same time get the feeling of watercolour flowing.
The seahorse itself is printed in oilcolours, to get more intensity .I waisted a lot of paper before I had to take that desicion!

Co-working on a poster.

2011-01-08T09:40:00.004+01:00

We are ten Nordic artists working on a series of exhibitions in Denmark, 2011/2012.Our theme is IN TOUCH.I have recieved a sheet of printing paper we intend to use as a poster or at least in promoting the exhibition.I am nr 4 on the paper.All together we are ten.

My contribution is a little bird- sceleton which I punctured into the paper.I was thinking tactility. Both for the fingers and the eyes.

I have not decided how I am going to approach the actual work yet, but this is a nice way to get into the theme and get to know a little about my co-artists.

It was a bit difficult to photograph this, so I also tried to hold it up to a lamp and get the light to shine through the holes.

Trying Gum-print

2011-01-05T15:47:00.003+01:00

It has been ten years since I did gum printing. Had forgotten all recepies, of course. This one was an 18 minutes exposure to UV light. I used gum arabic and pigments, with potassium dichromate as the sensitizer.

The eternal sceptic

2011-01-01T15:25:00.002+01:00

Small drypoints, inked a la poupee.

Bashful

2010-12-31T15:46:00.004+01:00

A drypoint red fox.

My cat was at the veterinary two days ago, he has got the diagnosis of DIABETIC. So here we are, nursing him daily with insulin- shots. This combined with diet food hopefully will give him some more years.Nobody knows how old he is, but the guess is between 15 to 20 years.

How-to-video

2010-12-28T14:10:00.003+01:00

Learn

How to smooth the wrinkles in Xuan Chinese calligraphy paper. For more Drawing How-To Videos & Articles, visit WonderHowTo.

Testing plates of drypoint,copper.

2010-12-26T14:45:00.002+01:00

Sometimes I have to fiddle around for a whole day just to arrive at nothing much.

Happy holidays!!

Working out titles and tonality.

2010-12-23T14:15:00.003+01:00

Sometimes a title grabs you, and you want to use it for the exact right image.

So these days I have named several prints the same title, and have to rename some of them later. For now, this one is called "Whisperings from an inner ear".Also used in an earlier print.

I have loaded up two versions of the same print today to show how I sometimes need to
rework the tonality and hue before I get it "right".
Not sure yet about this one.Still function as a trialproof.

(The object beside the figure is an inner ear, by the way.Hence all this reference in the title.From an animal, I believe, but not sure.)

Inner voices in intaglio

2010-12-21T15:11:00.002+01:00

A trialproof of intaglio-linocut.

Whisperings from an inner ear.

2010-12-19T12:20:00.002+01:00

Linocut,intaglio, collage.