An invitation to see my etchings

I had a wonderful day at an etching workshop run by Karen Cameron at Great Linford Arts Workshop which is in Milton Keynes. So let me take you through my day.

I decided to use the sketch I had made of some echinacea which I have already posted in my blog

here. So here I am revealing the first print from my plate...

... and here it is

 (if you click on it you can see all the detail)

I haven't explained stage two, which means covering the plate with a soft wax and then adding some texture. I experimented with pressing some leaves and fibres into the soft ground and making sure the flowers were masked, gave it another acid bath.  Here is the plate inked up.

You can see the textured surface, which resulted in this print...

I had such a great time I decided to go again.

Here's my friend Sally who told me all about the course, working on her plate...

and here is Karen (on the left) and another view of the workshop. It is in a wonderful setting and Karen was a great tutor, inspiring and instilling confidence.

Ooops

Duncan and Cathy I seem to have delete your comments accidently - nothing personal, I didn't even get to read them all through )-:

Nothing better to do

This is Marvin, my rather large very friendly ginger cat. He talks to me a lot, and here he is sitting at the top of the stairs having a chat. I used 'Paint' to convert him into a painting - it took rather a long time but at the time there was some really boring TV!!

Achoooo!

Might be best to give me a miss - don't want you catching anything!

Three little spotty frogs

Sorry they are a bit out of focus, but I was having to kneel down, hanging over the pond sideways on, with the macro lens - a point and shoot camera may have been better in this situation!

Teeny tiny frogs

I have a planter in my pond which is home to about ten baby frogs ranging from the size of my thumb nail to my little finger nail. I am amazed that they have only just transformed from tadpoles and hope they survive the winter. They seem to like each other's company and sit in a heap-I love them and have to check  up on them every morning. They are obviously finding something to eat so I hope the mild autumn continues so they are fat enough to hibernate.

Autumn bounty

A Wayfarer tree at the start of my walk

I went for a walk with my camera on Sunday at my favourite spot for a breath of air and to 'stretch my eyes' (it is good to have a distant horizon to focus on rather that the end of the street). I thought I would see how many different kinds of berries I could collect. Popular belief would have it that a bountiful crop of berries indicates a bad winter ahead however naturalists would put it down to the previous seasons' weather. We had a mild and wet spring so this may be the reason for this year's berry laden trees. So here is my count.

Haws

Blackberries

Elderberries

Rose hips

There were also some sloes, but the bushes weren't accessable for close-up photography - perhaps next time