Exploring Silverpoint

Recently I have been experimenting with Silverpoint drawing. This is a very old technique favoured by artists of the Renaissance which produces very soft and subtle marks which darken over time as the metal tarnishes.

To begin you need to prepare your ground, I used Silverpoint Drawing Ground by C. Roberson and Co.

Mine was traditional off white, I painted it onto Strathmore Illustration board. In the past I have used pre-prepared paper. If you don't have a ground the silver doesn't make a suitable mark.

For very fine lines you can use silver wire and you can attach it to a handle or use it in a clutch pencil, providing that the dimensions are the same. I also purchased a pencil type with a thicker piece of silver, this makes thicker, heavier lines and you can use it to good effect for shading.

It's fun to experiment with different kinds of metals and objects, this tiny silver spoon was used to create a soft texture on the hare drawing below. The hare and cygnet drawings are ACEO size, 3.5 by 2.5 inches. It has not been possible to show these images at a high resolution due to their size but I hope it gives some idea of the effects of this medium. Maybe you will feel inspired to have a try yourself?

The tiny drawing featured here are for sale in my Etsy shop Acornmoon. 

“The Manchester School of Art”

When I was a student in the seventies I studied printed textiles at “The Manchester School of Art” which was then part of Manchester Polytechnic and is now known as Manchester Metropolitan University. As a student I fell under the spell of the practitioners of The Arts and Crafts Movement, a fascination that has lasted a lifetime. Manchester School of Art had strong links with the Pre-Raphaelites and exponents of Art Nouveau; many treasures are now on display in an exhibition “Art Nouveau” at the Sir Kenneth Green Library. If you are a fan of Archibald Knox, Jessie M King and Aubrey Beardsley or the like you will find this exhibition most interesting.



I owe much to my time at Manchester, in particular to the excellent teaching we received. There was always a strong emphasis on drawing both from life and from plant forms. One of the more celebrated teachers was Adolphe Valette, a French painter who was at the school from 1907 to 1920 and taught L S Lowry. The great designer and illustrator Walter Crane was also director in the eighteen nineties and left a legacy of drawing directly from nature.



It is always strange visiting old haunts; my student days are so fresh in my mind it is hard to believe that over thirty-eight years have passed since I studied there. Much of the old buildings remain although many new ones have been added, the character of the place seems unchanged. I decided to take some photographs to share with you some of the decorative details of the old Art School building.
The modern glass buildings across the park now house the beautiful Sir Kenneth Green Library where you can find The Special Collections Library which includes artist books, decorated papers, a children's book collection: featuring 19th and 20th century children's book illustration and book collections exploring aspects of the book as an artifact. There is also a collection of Victorian ephemera featuring 19th century albums and scrapbooks.



I spent many happy and inspiring hours in the art school library and am delighted to say that some of my illustrated children’s books and artist books now have a home there.



I’ve been playing around with a few new ideas and have created a set of three printed ACEO’s for my shop and am in the process of offering some original artwork in that form too. I have always been drawn to miniatures and have always had a tendency to paint on a very tiny scale. My husband jokes that is because I have always been so poor and art materials so expensive. I think he may have had a point!
The lovely green Celtic binding decorates a volume of Irish literature, a book I bought whilst in the student area in Manchester at a roadside sale. I really don’t have room for any more books but that cover was talking to me, I am sure you know the feeling.

Winter Fox Trot

Despite several attempts to pretend spring has arrived, placing daffodils in vases and filling the house with the smell of hyacinths, winter still has us in its grip. As I type this, the snow is falling outside my window and the sky is a leaden grey. I don’t mind the snow so much but I hate the bitter cold winds and the gloom.

For the last couple of months I have been busy creating a new collection of designs for the various trade shows. I had a day walking around the Spring fair in Birmingham and enjoyed chatting to my agent, other artists and manufacturers, I even spotted a few of my own products which was gratifying. The show seemed much smaller than in previous years but still a great place to visit and trend spot.



In between days of incessant rain we have had some lovely bright sparkly days, blue skies and light. Heartwarming days that lift the spirits and make me want to paint. Nature is always the most inspiring of subjects and walking Ted in all weathers provides many opportunities to observe wildlife. I decided to start a new painting, trying to capture the colours of winter and the shapes and patterns of the fern stems, seed heads and dead grasses that appear beneath the melting snow. I love the repetition of natural forms, the details on the tree bark, the way the light gives a richness and warmth to a winter’s afternoon. I decided that the painting needed life so added a fox, a familiar sight around these parts and can sometimes be seen in the daylight.



I like to work on stretched Bockingford cold press paper, which allows the paint to be lifted when water is applied and then removed with a tissue. I first painted a wash over the entire piece and then worked on top, slowly adding the details to create the desired effect. I use tiny brush strokes applied with a series 7 Windsor and Newton Finest Sable brush. I used bleach, process white, gouache and white pencil to create the snow-covered areas and to pick out the details on the seed heads. As with all my work I never feel entirely happy, often adding bits, removing, changing and fiddling until a point is reached where I have to say enough is enough. It is not perfection but it is as good as I can make it and overall I am happy with the result. If you click on the images you will see more details and see how the work develops over time.



The final result can be seen here in my Etsy shop.I decided to call the painting "Winter Fox Trot"

We have a winner!

Thanks to everyone who took part in my calendar giveaway; a name has been picked out of my hat, ---- drum roll----- and the winner is Kerry O’Gorman.

In my last post I mentioned our trip to London where we visited The British Museum and just managed to catch the Shakespeare exhibition. As that has now closed I will move on to our visit to The British Library where we saw an exhibition called “Mughal India, Art, Culture and Empire

The library itself is based next to St Pancras station; both buildings are worth visiting and could not be more different. The photograph shows the station in the background and the library in front. The new library building reminded me of a Japanese temple. It has simple, modern lines but has a great beauty, not in its ornamentation but in its proportions and in the choice of materials. I love being exploring this wonderful space and if you are anywhere near you should take a moment to go inside. There is always something to see for free, there are places to sit, eat and rest and of course a lovely shop!

The main exhibitions are ticketed, having said that they are not overly expensive and the ones we have seen have been unforgettable. I can honestly say that the current Mughal India exhibition is truly spectacular. There are so many treasures on show the effect is dazzling. I was particularly interested in the exquisite miniature paintings and illuminated books. The artistry on display was amazing, the tiniest of brushstrokes, the brightest of colours, pattern everywhere, on the clothing of the figures in the book illustrations, on the carpets they sat upon and in the borders around the pictures, so much detail it hurt the eyes. If I had to choose one piece it would be a painting of squirrels being chased up a plane tree, you can explore this for yourself here by following the link. As you zoom in over the image bear in mind that this painting is a really small, so much detail has been packed into a tiny area, painted by Abu’l Hasan, 1605-08.

And now, it is time for me to get back to my desk, I have more hand made, limited edition books to parcel up for my Etsy shop. This time I remembered to make a note of the edition numbers outside the boxes, before the final wrap. We live and learn!

Enchanted October

“Retard the sun with gentle mist; Enchant the land with amethyst..” October by Robert Frost

October here in my neck of the woods can be magnificent, golden sun on autumn leaves, misty-moisty mornings clear to reveal blue skies, the smell of wood smoke, all is magical until the dreaded turning back of the clocks. The extra hour in bed is welcome; the dark evenings are definitely not!

Before the clocks went back we did manage to fit in a few grand days out. We drove a short distance over the border to Wales and visited Chirk Castle; driving through early morning mist and heavy grey skies it was rewarding to find ourselves in an enchanted place. The mist evaporated to reveal the castle and gardens in all their glory. I was particularly taken with a small tower, which put me in mind of Rapunzel. Chirk is a National Trust property and you can read more about its seven hundred year history here.

The gardens are truly beautiful and are filled with tall clipped yew trees. You can wonder past herbaceous borders and through woodland walks and on a clear day there are great views of Shropshire and the Welsh hills.

Work has kept me busy but I did manage to finish the hare painting that I started in the summer. A whole season has past and at times I thought the progress was more akin to a tortoise than a hare, I thought I would never finish it.

I bought a Canon iP4950 which produces incredibly detailed prints, the printer itself was very reasonably priced but as with all ink jet printers the cost of quality inks are almost as expensive as the actual printer and I am restricted to A4 size.

It did used to be the case that dye based inks had no longevity and could not be regarded as archival in the way pigment inks could but the new Canon Chromalife 100 plus inks are now expected to have an album life of 200 years or more. I did consider buying a pigment based printer but had to take into account the fact that they have a tendency to dry up if not in regular use. Forgive me if I sound like an advert for Canon, I assure you I am not being paid to say all this.

You can see the finished print here in my Etsy shop

There has been a little time to play and I enjoyed attending a book-making workshop with artist Louisa Boyd. The concertina books we made concentrated on paper surface manipulation techniques, including, cutting, scoring and piercing. Lou had pre-prepared the images we used and explained how she had used Thermofax screens to print her designs. As with all good workshops I came away buzzing with new ideas and a determination to do more screen prints. Lou also showed us some of her hand bound artists books and I encourage you to see her highly individual work for yourself here-

and she has a Facebook page here.

Medieval Inspiration

Tony and I recently visited the City of Norwich, an ancient Cathedral City, which also has a castle, built by the Normans over 900 years ago. You would expect buildings as old as that to be a ruin; they are in fact remarkably intact. The castle actually looks like it could be a recreation made for a film set, it is so perfect and undamaged.

Norwich is a truly beautiful city, so many treasures and so little time with just two days to pack in as much history, art, sight seeing and shopping as possible. We walked along the river, peered into gardens behind flint and stone walls, admired tapestries hung on castle walls and wandered around the cathedral and close.

As you would expect, the cathedral houses many magnificent features built to impress kings; Norwich being second only to London in importance. Despite all its grandeur, the thing that I loved most were the carved stone ceiling bosses, over one thousand and each one different. They reflected the thoughts, imaginations and understandings of the medieval mind. You might expect to see biblical scenes and characters like Noah, but you can also see strange mythical creatures, dragons, green men, and acrobats, thieves compete for attention. The carvings show some of their original colours and gold decoration, faded now but still vibrant and lively.

Filled with enthusiasm and inspiration on my return I set to work embellishing my owl prints. I finished the painting some time ago, you may remember I wrote about it previously. I had the prints professionally printed and was astounded to see what the newest digital printers are capable of, the colours reproduce perfectly and the paper used is comparable to the original watercolour paper, in fact it is almost impossible to tell the original from the reproduction. Rather than offer the prints untouched I decided to add some hand finished details. I used gold leaf on the crescent moon and gold paint and ink on the border decorations. I like to think that the addition of gold leaf and paint gives the prints a human touch and makes a connection with the artisans of the past. You can see the finished print here in my Etsy shop.

$150 gift voucher to give away!

It’s April already, I can’t believe how quickly this year has flown. Here in Cheshire, England where I live the weather has been typical; March winds followed by April showers. Everything is greening, buds are opening and many wild flowers are making an appearance.

I did the painting above some years ago for a children’s book called “Down the Lane” which depicts the sights and sounds over the year. I recently had the artwork carefully scanned and now can offer prints in my Etsy shop. Like many other artists I have been able to use the internet to reach a wider audience. Not only have I been able to sell my wares but I have discovered many new talents, and new ways to shop.

If you appreciate the handmade you may be interested in the second part of this post and a special give away sponsored by Novica. If you haven’t come across this internet marketing company they work with artists and artisans across the world giving them a global platform and enabling them to sell their wares to a wider audience. They are a fair trade company who believe in creating a relationship between their artists and customers, they say:-

- “At the deepest essence of our philosophy, we want to create a bridge between you and the many talented artisans across the globe.”

And now for the fun part, I am able to offer a $150 Novica gift voucher to you! This free drawer is open to anyone who follows my blog, all you have to do is take a look at the website and choose which gift you would like from the many wonderful objects featured. You can learn about the artist who created it and where they are based. Just leave a comment below and tell me if you want to take part and your name will be entered into the drawer. One important thing to consider however is that the winner may have to pay some import duty or taxes on their gift so please bear this in mind before entering.

They also offer an extensive range of handcrafted, fair trade corporate gifts.You can see for yourself the very wide selection they have here.

I will choose one lucky winner on Wednesday the 20th. Good luck everyone!

You can learn more about this company and the work they do by following these links-
Novica Live
Green gifts

Japanese Kozo Paper

I have been patiently waiting for the arrival of suitable paper in order to print my wood engraving. I took advice from Chris Daunt who has been more than helpful with advice and supplies. If you are thinking of trying this craft I would suggest you visit his website first.

Chris advised Japanese White Kozo paper for hand burnishing. This method is an alternative to printing in a press. I was very surprised when my order came, the paper is very fine, like tissue paper and at first I thought I had ordered incorrectly. I have since learnt that Kozo is extremely strong and is nothing like our western pulp made paper. This Japanese paper is made with the fiber from the inside of the bark of the Mulberry tree. Its long, fine fibers give the paper strength, flexibility and smoothness, which are perfect for printing; it is also used in conservation and book repair. Its translucent quality also helps when burnishing as you can see the print through the paper so you have a better idea where to apply the pressure.

I found that the paper performed well and was a pleasure you use. I may try different papers in due course, the ladies at the paper suppliers were very helpful and have even promised me some free sample sheets to experiment on! For the time being I have decide to put some of the prints into my Etsy shop in the hope that I may be able to fund more materials and maybe a workshop or two!

Messing and Pressing

Whilst I was in the printmaking mood over the half term holiday I felt inspired to do more lino printing. Nothing is ever as straightforward as it seems and I spent lots of time experimenting with different papers and methods of printing. Eventually I settled on a lovely grey paper that I had squirreled away in my plan chest, the smooth surface took the linseed oil based ink very well, sadly I did not make a note of the name of the paper. I used my old office press to print the piece and wondered why my arm ached so much afterwards. I now know why they say, “Hand pulled” when describing the printing process!



I happily filled the kitchen table and every other surface in the house with prints whilst my family fended for themselves. I found a low odour white spirit, which made the job more acceptable but did not realize how long each piece would take to dry; still, we live and learn.

I had a go at printing my wood engraving but decided to do a bit more tinkering with the block. You can see how it is looking so far in the photograph. As you can see the wood had irregularities, which I tried to disguise in the design. I was thrilled to bits with my new burnisher, which worked a treat on the block. If you have ever fancied having a try at wood engraving I would encourage you to do so. I was pleasantly surprised at how little pressure is needed to make a cut and so few materials and space are needed.



I have listed a lino print in my Etsy shop; I do love playing shop don’t you? Now sadly, playtime is over and it’s nose to the grindstone for the next few months.

Spring Fair.

QUICK UPDATE THE BUMBLEEES WON HURRAY!!!! 11th Feb.


First of all let me thank you all so much for voting for the Bumble Bees, the voting closes at midnight tonight so fingers crossed! Also for all the thoughtful comments that you left when I had a break, it has not been an easy couple of months and I was very touched by your concerns.

The Spring Fair is now well on its way this week in Birmingham at the NEC and I went over to the show to see some of my licensees and meet up with friends old and new. The show is huge so comfy shoes are an absolute must, so too is a pack lunch because the catering facilities leave much to be desired. I managed to see some of my products, some of which I have never seen before, so that was quite exciting, including some tablemats and trays.


I also saw some of my Easter egg shaped metal containers on the Elite stand, I have two designs with them, one is an Easter Bunny and one is a Duckling design. The idea is that you fill the egg with goodies such as handmade sweets, small toys or soaps and give them as Easter presents. I decided to order some for my shop but alas was too late for the Bunny tins as they have all sold out! When I get the ducklings tins I shall let you know.


I met up with fellow artist Judith Glover who tells me that she has a new Valentine’s Day e-card to send. (See little dog illustration with hearts). You can preview all of her cards on her website and I can highly recommend them, they are quite the nicest I have seen to date. The animation matches the music perfectly; they are a joy to behold.

On the whole the show looked like a success, it was certainly busy and there was a genuine buzz about the place, maybe spring is on its way after all?

Craft Hope.

The Etsy community is getting together to help relief efforts in Haiti. Anyone who has items to donate is urged to join in to raise money for this important cause. Craft Hope, see the link in my sidebar, has been set up to benefit Doctors without borders in Haiti.

The shop needs supporters as well as donations, maybe you too could add a button to your blog?
Further details are available here

I decided to donate an artist book, shown above If this sells all the proceeds (minus Etsy fees) will go to the charity, (this goes for all the sales in the shop). So far the shop has raised $7,000 for Doctors Without Borders. In TWO DAYS!

Update, this item SOLD on 17th January. Thank you!


I would also like to thank Eli from raccoltodautunno for this delightful hand painted decoration. Eli was one of the winners in my earlier blog giveaway.The decoration now hangs in my studio and looks very pretty, thank you Eli!

Making books by hand.

Making books by hand is not for the faint hearted; I should also add that it is not profit driven, it is more a labour of love than anything else. It is however deliciously satisfying when you hold the finished volume in your hand and that makes all the trials and tribulations worth while.

I have spent the last couple of days restocking my little bookshop with the addition of a brand new title “Barleycroft Farm”. I thought I would show you just some of the steps that go into their making.



When the illustrations have been finished they are scanned and saved onto a digital file, next comes the designing of the pages and then the printing, with many frustrating and annoying things that get in the way such as running out of ink or paper at a crucial moment. Space has to be found on my constantly cluttered table, and then the pages are laid out to dry.



Next comes the scouring for the folded edges, this is done with the help of a metal ruler and a nice pointy bone folder. The pages are then cut with the “Think twice, cut once” motto in mind. (Learnt the hard way, I might add).



Folding and assembling the pages is next, followed by the bit that I dread, the gluing.
I cannot tell you how many times, particularly with the alphabet book, that I have stuck pages together upside down or in the wrong order. The glued pieces are then carefully dried under weights, making sure that they don’t stick to the table, (also learnt the hard way). Finally, after all the folding, gluing and assembling have been finished the book is coaxed into shape and pressed in the nipping press.


Finally, a card folder is made; the book is signed and numbered, photographed, listed and placed in the shop window. Phew!

Note Books

I have been making little note books by hand, printing the designs on my computer printer.