Entry for Pause

This entry is fairly late and for that I apologize - the yearbook has basically consumed my life these past 3 weeks.. but we just went to print and now I have a life again.

I loved the feel of Pause - the cover for this book is a lovely soft material, and it's very delicate. I had to be very careful when prepping my background and creating the print because I am often rough when prepping, and this caused me to slow down quite a bit so I wouldn't tear any pages.

I took two pages for this piece. The Pause theme caused me to think about moments when I have taken time to stop and think, while taking a moment for myself. For me, it's when I am exercising outdoors - running, hiking, biking - anything that involves the outdoors. However, some of my calmest moments have also happened at home. So I was in a pickle - how do I show the outdoors and home at once? Do I even want to show myself? I decided against it.

Instead I chose to place a person in an environment that reflected the stillness of the outdoors with the warmth and security of a home. The home was made from a lino print block - I've made about 3 or 4 with different types of cottages and homes, and chose the one that I felt was the most inviting. The person is close to home, with a companion (small dog) and has taken a moment during their walk to just appreciate their surroundings and the environment, which in this case included rain. They have no destination, as the trail disappears into the background behind some trees.

I chose to place bright colours in the background to avoid the gloomy effect that may be associated with the rain, as I didn't want the piece to have a melancholy feel to it. In retrospect, more natural earth tones would have probably worked better. I created the background by staining bleeding tissue paper, which is how I like to prep a lot of my backgrounds.  I love the rough surface it provides. The house is an ink print on lino, and the rest was drawn with black felt tip pen.