Tools!

Any one reading this blog will know I love Lino printing and making hand-made sketch books.( among many other things).

I also love collecting a few things along my life journey that inspire me to create.( mainly nick knacks with an interesting design).           

Also, as I have a fascination with history, I collect things that have, at one time, been useful in day-to-day work but are now discarded as the world has become a very disposable place to live. This includes useful objects humans have invented/created; typewriters,pocket radios & old office bits and pieces just to name a few.

I love books, I have a few. I love typewriters, I have a few.( I like to think of  it is as type of printmaking in a way).

I also collect old garden tools. I don’t know why but I just like them.Each tool was made for a purpose and they too were used to create/grow something from nothing.like art, they have on them blood sweat & tears.

So as a way to show my love of both why not join the two.

So I’ve started my own collectable card series. Collectable cards are usually of sport stars, Football, or Basketball for example but I thought I would make my cards of some thing actually useful.

So my first series will be on garden tools. I have many to make so stay tuned! I have more ideas for other card series too. ( It might take me a while but I’ll get there.)

Warmer days to come.

Well, it is half way through Winter now and there’s a nip in the air. The days are cold  and the sweet scents that drift along on a nice warm breeze have gone.

I miss the smells of the flowers, the bushes & even the trees. ( I have a very good sense of smell ). I even miss the smell of some of the manures I use in the vegetable garden.

There is one spot on the way home from work, on the northern side of Kings Ave. Bridge, Canberra, where the sun hits a long stretch of  juniper bushes and the smell, when driving past drifts into the car. Lovely.

There are signs that spring is on its way. I saw a bird yesterday flying with a small stick in its mouth, though not very straight, towards a nest I suppose it was building.Some trees & bushes buds are starting to swell and our Daphne is about to flower.

Ah!,Spring will be here soon enough and gardening will resume. our garden is on the wrong side of the house for winter crops.

Here a some little prints I’ve been working on with a garden theme.There are a few more to go and will be like a set of collector cards.( That’s the plan any way.)

Yes, I’m dreaming of warmer days to come.

Christmas Card Time 2016

Well, It’s that time of year again. When most people are starting to wind down & relax for the up coming break.

Being a Postal worker this is our busiest time of the year. let me quote Newman from the TV show Seinfeld, “Because the mail never stops. It just keeps coming and coming and coming. There’s never a letup, It’s relentless. Every day it piles up more and more, but the more you get out, the more it keeps coming. And then the bar code reader breaks. And then it’s Publisher’s Clearinghouse day.Jerry: All right, all right.”.

Extra long work days,crappy shopping malls with no parking,full of people without good manners, and being the southern hemisphere usually hot nights for sleeping all add up to not a fun time for us.

I’m always glad when it is all over.

But one thing I enjoy and try to make time for, is to print a Christmas card for friends & family. Ever since I fell in love with printmaking I’ve tried to print a Xmas card every year. Here Is a selection of cards so far.

One other thing I like at work at Christmas, and this might sound strange, is the sight of green glitter usually around our mail sorting machines, that has fallen off peoples hand written letters. It always reminds me of when I was a kid and glitter was special ( & a little bit magical!).

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.Take care & thanks for reading my blog.

Yours kindly,

Spike.

Some seasons when young.

When I was younger, one place my mates and I would hang out in summer was at the Olympic Pool in Civic.

The pool was in the middle of Canberra and we would either catch a bus or ride our bikes there.On a hot summer’s day it was great.

Go on – Dare yah!

While the lower spring diving boards were great fun to me, I never had the guts to jump off the 10 metre board at the very top.( I did venture up there once for a look but soon retreated back down the ladder to fight another day).

The Five metre board half way up was the limit of my bravery.

But many good days were had any how.

I thought I’d do a small Linocut print of it. As being on prime real estate in the middle of town, it’s days are numbered.

Between Seasons

Another Linocut print I did a few years ago now, depicts our local football/cricket oval.

We did hang out there a lot too, always playing whatever sport of the season was.

 

 

There was always a crossover in spring & autumn so we could still be playing cricket when it was a bit colder and footy when it was warming up.

When hanging out with your mates it didn’t matter. It was always great fun.

No Junk

 

I am often inspired by urban life and the jobs done by ordinary people. “The Trolley Boy” was done after sitting in my car one day while waiting for my wife, at the local shops.As one of the young blokes collected shopping trolleys, I wondered how long this job would be required into the future.

The Trolley Boy

 

Not far from this spot Is the where the idea came for “No Junk”.

No Junk

In the same car park , these charity bins were once located. Everyone would have to pass them whenever going to the shops.They would always look like a mini rubbish dump.The amount of junk piling up around these was always an issue and nothing much was ever done to alleviate the problem.In the end they just moved the bins to another location.

These two prints were done using silk cut lino and I think at the time I was using Arches watercolour paper.(That paper is all I had at the time, but worked ok.)

I am still working on my two latest linocut prints and hope to print them in the coming weeks.( woo…hoo! I can’t wait. it’s always exciting to print something new.)

At the moment I am working on a special book project,(mainly for myself, but I will share later on when I finish it).

If anyone is interested I also have  Instagram & Facebook pages.(printbookspike) for both.

Till next time, take care, spike.

Some Books too

I have been making some pocket sketch books lately so i thought I’d let you see some of those.As well as some of my previous book projects.

The vans book was from a shoe box. the green book is from a boost juice cup.

When making some of my books, I try to recycle any thing of interest.

Its always good fun & I’m always happy with the final book.

thanks for your time, spike.

 

A back log — printbookspike

Hello again, I’ve always been a bit slow with my art though winter, I always tell people that I sort of hibernate. I know its not good, as I have a lot of ideas sketched down & in my head, so there is a bit of a backlog..Plus it’s alway so cold in the Dungeon( […]

via A back log — printbookspike

My Blog

Just to let everyone know I have started a blog about my art journey. I have never done this before.( Talked about my art), so please be gentle:-) It will be about my love of Printmaking ( especially Linocut prints) & a bit on bookbinding & some other stuff.

I’m sorry if my blog page disappears as I seem to have a problem with WordPress/Facebook. It all new to me so any tips from out there would be greatly appreciated.(I’m trying to figure it out so please bare with me.:-)

A back log

Hello again,

I’ve always been a bit slow with my art though winter, I always tell people that I sort of hibernate. I know its not good, as I have a lot of ideas sketched down & in my head, so there is a bit of a backlog..Plus it’s alway so cold in the Dungeon( the name of my studio).

I have tried to get going a bit more this year, and seem to be plodding along better than previous winters. I have also been invited to sell at Strathnairn Gallery & Cafe Shop, which is our local gallery so that’s more incentive to get going too.(Its great).

We are over halfway through now so it won’t be long until the sun returns and the sap start flowing again.

The Union Rep

I will continue to put some of my earlier prints on here & a little background story. ( I’ll try not to bore you to much).

The Union Rep was done about 2009 and was in response to the industrial action we were involved in at work while negotiating a EBA.

The picket line only lasted one day but created an “us & them” feeling at work for a long time. It was just before christmas too, so sort of ruined the vibe that year & it has never been the same since.

 

The linocut, below, is one of two I’m work on at the moment.

It’s a print carved from a memory I have of the Canberra Olympic Pool.This is a scene I recalled from when I was younger and was always too chicken to jump off the ‘top tower’.

Yes, I’m a chicken!

You can see my new tools from Pfeil too. They are great.( should have bought them years ago:-).

When I print it out I’ll be sure to post it here.

Any how, that’s all for now.Thanks for your time once again.

Happy Arting,spike.

 

Sharing my art

G’day there,

Thanks for having a look at my page.I thought it might be a good place to share my art journey & to share with you my Linocut prints, but from time to time there will be handmade books and other forms of prints to add too.

This all feels a bit odd, that is, actually talking about my prints but bear with me & we’ll see how we go.     Well, I’d thought I mosewell start off with my first Linocut print. This was done soon after I was introduced to printmaking by Eric, a good mate from work in 2009. This was a print made of a cleaner we had at work named Steve.He sure was a character & so I designed this print of him mopping the floors,like he did every morning. I gave him a copy of it at the time.We have not crossed paths for a few years now & I always wondered if he hung it up at home.          (maybe in the little room). I think it was the first print I ever sold too, at an outdoor exhibition with the Queanbeyan Art Society. (that sure gives you great incentive to keep going.)

This Print is called “Runner Up”. It is my latest linocut print.Its for a series of prints with a sporting theme.The series is named “when sport was sport”.

I came up with this idea when earlier in the year it came out in the news that one of our Australian Rules footy teams,in the off-season,That over half were taking illegal drugs.I found this very disturbing as these are heros to a lot of young kids & also nothing seems to have been done about it. Money talks in footy these days & all codes seem to put the dollar ahead of setting a fine example of player behaviour.(If you’re a top player you can get away with just about anything.)

This print symbolizes what a player from long ago would think about todays standards of setting an example to young people.

I have also started a Tennis print, As some of our Tennis players (mens) from Australia too are setting a bad example to younger people of good sportsmanship.

There is a cricket one too as I believe money has ruined that great game too.

Sorry for my rant, but I thought you might like to know were some of my ideas come from.

So, here is my first print & my latest print.( I hope I have improved a little). I will post some of my other prints next time.

Till next time then, thanks for having a read about my prints.

yours kindly,

Spike.