Learning to etch and stitch...

As promised here's a peek at some of the work I've been creating in my etching class. I'm absolutely loving it, it's completely new to me as I haven't had the chance to try this form of print making before so I've got a lot to learn! So far we've covered drypoint, hard ground and soft ground and on Saturday we'll be tackling aquatint. The top image above shows a zinc plate covered in a hard ground. The black bits are the hard ground and the silvery bits are where I've scratched the ground away to reveal the metal underneath. It then goes into the chemicals where the design is bitten into the metal where the hard ground has been removed. The image below then demonstrates the print created from the plate, by rubbing the ink into the recessed metal areas and then running it through a large printing press.

Last Thursday I had a fantastic afternoon with Rachna Garodia at her shared studio at Archipelago Textiles 1.07 Oxo Tower on London's Southbank. I gave her a two hour drawing lesson in return for a two hour embroidery lesson. Apart from my complete inability to thread a needle, I had the most wonderful time learning about how to translate my drawings into stitches. It was really inspiring and Rachna had bags of energy, creativity and (thankfully!) patience! Below is one of her gorgeous designs (she's currently designing a website but can be contacted for commissions via email at rachnagarodia@hotmail.com).

Following on from last weeks site visit (complete with giant hard hat and high vis jacket!) I'm currently finishing up the 30 door designs and lift panels for the new development I'm working on in Hackney. It's vast, and I'm really looking forward to getting stared on the giant wall installation - it's the height of 4 double decker buses in top of each other! I've also started new commissions for Countryfile and Antiques Roadshow,  and a museum trail for the Eton Natural History Museum, and on Tuesday I visited the fantastic illustration students at the University of West London, to lecture about my career.

Have a great weekend, mine will be full of etching and sketchbooks! x