Looking back and going forward

Completed project

I really can't believe this all came together so cohesively in the last week. I used this first dance with collagraphs to experiment, rather than come up with a master plan. Each week, I just responded to what had happened the week before. I have learnt so much about layering colour, and about how many layers a collagraph can take. I was so pleased to finally break out of the rectangular pictorial format and make some smaller plates, building up imagery with multiple prints. I also feel like I stayed true to the place I was exploring, always returning there for more inspiration through walking and observing whenever I didn't know where to go next with the work.

Going forward, I would like to make further works with this multi-layered approach, but with a much more delicate hand. I would start with way more transparency and build slowly. I would introduce opaque layers discerningly, perhaps only for small or spare elements.

I am also interested in using more negative space, and am curious about trying a less is more approach for some compositions. I would like to make another bird clock, this time with less prints and/or a reduced colour theme. I tend to push and push and keep going to great intensity, but sometimes I don't need to do this. Now that I have learnt so much about the process, I am in a good position to make some more planned compositions and have a little more control over the outcomes. Logging colour recipes and sequences of colours should continue.

I have really enjoyed working with place and working with abstraction (or close-ups that have no representational anchor points). But I think this puts more emphasis on the formal elements to speak. Bringing in a motif allowed everything to come together. I can't wait to continue!