Sophie Holliday

Everyone has been excited this week at college as we have been selecting the work to present in our end of year exhibition. Here's a sneak preview...

Whilst in Mousehole Harbour creating my Sea Canvases, I really liked the way the canvas adapted to the form of the rocks. I wanted to recreate the shapes and form the canvas takes so I submerged it in a water and PVA mix and positioned it out over the shore. Hopefully the canvas will dry in the sun and keep the shape.

Just finished editing my film documenting my FMP journey Cornish Imprints.

Using this photograph I took showing texture and colours of Mousehole harbour shore, I have been experimenting with a variety of different monoprinting techniques.  Using a gel printing plate with an image underneath, I built up the image using one colour at a time for each layer - starting with the lighter tones and finishing with the darker tones. I continued this process with all the colours until the image was complete. I used water based ink and applied it with a paintbrush then placed the paper onto the gel printing plate, taking care to line it up and used a roller to transfer the ink to the paper.  Although time consuming, I like the result. To develop this, I used a sheet of carbon paper to add small details and marks. This is the result. I then tried another process. On a piece of glass, I rolled out a thin layer of blue oil based ink, placed a piece of paper on top and then placed the original photograph on top the paper. With ...

I wanted to see what marks and impressions I could create using my beach finds. After saturating pieces of heavyweight paper in water I pressed and wrapped the paper around the shells, creating textured imprints. I found that placing the forms onto a light box highlighted the abstract marks. I photographed them and darkened the marks in Photoshop. I think that it looks like a fossilised shell.

Today I used the press in college to produce some collagraph prints, with the latex moulds, using oil based inks. It was trial and error adjusting the press to the correct pressure to give an even print.

Decided to make a set of mono prints using latex moulds from the plaster casts. I spread the liquid latex using a paintbrush over the plaster casts - if you are going to do this, make sure you use an old paintbrush. This is what it did to mine... It is now a fan brush. 😲 I backed the latex mould onto thick card and rolled out a layer of water based ink onto a gel printing plate. After pressing the latex moulds into the ink and removing them, I took a print. These are the results. I like the outlined impression that the raised parts of the mould gave - it almost looks like an x-ray.  I am going to try another technique to see if I can achieve more detail by using a press.

As the plaster cast I created in Mousehole wasn't very successful, I used the objects I collected from the beach to produce a set of smaller casts at college. Rolled out the clay to the size of a large matchbox and pressed in the beach finds to create an impression. Then, filled the boxes with plaster and produced a small set of casts. I like the tactile quality to the casts. I think that I will develop these further to see what other pieces I can produce using these patterns. I created a set of shallow clay forms so that I could produce a paper graphite rubbing. Although the impression were not as deep as my originals, the detail within the shells was still difficult to capture.

Inspired by Jessica Warboys's exhibition at the Tate St Ives, I decided to experiment with creating my own sea canvases in Mousehole harbour. I used the sea, sand and rocks to move the pigment across the canvas, allowing the land to create impressions. This was my first experience creating a large artwork in a public place and a group of women walking by asked why I was washing my bed sheets in the sea...😄 Then left it to dry across the rocks in the sun. I enjoyed the process and completed two canvases, I was surprised by the intensity of the colours and the rough texture added by the sand.

Visited the Jackson Foundation today to have a look at his Obsession – Following the Surfer  paintings. His current exhibition is  Bees (and the odd wasp) in My Bonnet . I liked the variety of mediums that Jackson used including film, sculpture, painting and print making.  I purchased a signed copy of his book  OBSESSION: Following the Surfer . The book offers many interesting images of his works that capture different atmospheres of the Cornish coast.

Well... Today was a bit of a disaster. I wanted to find a way to capture textures and objects so decided to experiment with plaster casting. After cutting out the base of a plastic food container, I pushed it into the sand and pressed seaweed, a chain and stone into the sand to create an impression. I struggled to mix the plaster quick enough as it began to set before I poured it into the container. Not sure if it was because I used sea water! The sand didn't create as interesting forms as I thought it would - some of the detail was lost.  Final result - not as expected. I like how some of the sand remained on the plaster however the overall cast was not as defined an impression as I would have liked.