For today’s work of art (and I can tell you it is a big leap for me to refer to something I have made as a “work of art” rather than just “picture” or “piece”, although this does not necessarily reflect my view of what I have created, more a shift in my thinking) I returned to two old favourites – nature as subject and mono-printing as method.

Today was yet another grey day, but a free day to create, so I took the opportunity to stay indoors and focus on something I am rarely able to do… spreading my materials out all over the table and taking my time to create.  I inked up the lino, tore up some large sheets of paper to fit the tiles and started to draw what I saw from the window… not the garden as a whole, but the individual elements that make up my pretty, small, but unkempt garden… the big tree whose leaves have appeared only this month; the blueberry bush whose flowers are fading, promising fruit; the white-flowering shrub whose name I have never known; the tall grasses at the back, waving, drooping in the breeze; some smaller flowers, low to the ground; the old metal table; the honeysuckle, not yet flowering; the winding wisteria.  Of course, being mono-printing, when the paper was turned, the drawings were in reverse, but I was happy with the overall effect.  When the ink had dried, I tore around each element then stuck them back down on another piece of paper to make the finished piece.

I had considered adding some colour to it, but being happy with the result I decided not to mess.  I can always scan it, print it, then add colour to a copy if I want to play another day.