I am writing to you from the spare room of the Covid Plague House…
Have been feeling poorly for the past few days and I don’t really have the energy to sit at a desk or to sort out my just-about-dry godwit linocut prints (as seen in previous post).
In between feeling either hot or cold - sometimes both - I have managed to squeeze in a bit of planning for a new print which has been in my mental sketchbook for a while.
Using the Procreate app on my iPad is ideal for planning designs and colour combinations for prints. I can get an idea of what might work, and work in layers just like a reduction print.
There are lots of Procreate ‘brushes’ to choose from, but for this I use one of the solid pen ones so I’m not tempted to add delicate shading which won’t really be possible when it comes to printing. Using chunky lines helps keep me away from drawing tiny details that won’t print nicely. And of course the iPad is easy to use in bed or on the sofa.
So here it is - a pink hollyhock, with a bumblebee in black and white still to be added. It probably won’t look like this when it’s finished, but it’s a start.
And here are some other things I’ve been working on. They’re part of an alphabet of birds which will be printed on nice paper and framed to give as a gift to some bird-loving friends who’ve just had a baby. Never too early to start with the bird propaganda 😉
Again, Procreate has been really fun to use for these as it’s like having the world’s biggest box of coloured pencils (or any media you can think of) on your lap. I’m working on U for Ural Owl now so it won’t be too long before the whole thing is done. I hope.
Now that I can’t go anywhere, naturally I am now thinking of places I’d like to visit. One of them is the David Parr House which I must have walked past loads of times.
On the outside it’s a normal-looking Victorian terraced house on Gwydir Street in Cambridge, not far from the station. Inside it’s crammed full of fabulously lavish decorations which Parr himself added in the style of the grand buildings he worked on as a “decorative painter.” David was an artisan and the son of an agricultural labourer. (Not many of either of those in Cambridge in 2023)
This photo has been borrowed from the David Parr House website:
After his death David’s granddaughter lived there for 87 years before the house was bought by a charity and carefully conserved. You can book a visit in person or there’s a virtual tour! Maybe that’s what I’ll do later…
Your suggestions for things to do/read/gawp at while I’m in isolation will be very gratefully received.
Once when I was having desk panic, someone suggested firing up google earth and going to Kazakhstan. Long, long roads to travel. Peaceful. But perhaps more practically, if your Covid-brain can handle it (though you are probably recovered by now), I have loved and loved Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and also Piranesi by Susannah Clarke. I know these are no substitute for the outside but you will fall into their worlds and it will be a good replacement.
Hope you're up and about again soon. There was nothing like lockdown (and for some of us bouts of Covid) to make you really appreciate the sheer luxury of going OUT and seeing things.