I picked out the words to some of these pages a long time ago. There must have been a plan at that stage, but if there was, it is well forgotten. So, confronted with the words ‘A kind of reminder’ my mind was once again a blank canvas. I waited patiently whilst a herd of Wildebeest’s stampeded through it, and waited for the dust to settle. It didn’t take long. The words ‘A kind of reminder’ put me in mind of a memento or an epitaph or a calendar: crossing the days off to mark the passage of time: ever changing seasons marked by nature.
digitalis antique seed packet
I decided to give nature a helping hand by ‘planting’ these antique seed packets. Well, photocopies of images of antique seed packages. I like the old charm of these, the design and the old colours. Some of these flowers and vegetables have faded into the past: they are now extinct. I printed these images onto fawn coloured paper to age them further.
p-9-detail
The words ‘pushed into sand’ also suggests planting or embedding. It made me think of shifting sand: how the winds of change can disrupt and change life as we know it. Constantly destroying and recreating, but forever changing.
page9-detail b
The interesting thing about the seed packet designs is that each design is made up of tiny coloured dots, stippled into polished Limestone with a German ink called Coal Tar. The technique is called Stone lithography. It was very painstaking work as every dot of colour is down with a needle pointed pen: each colour on a seperate stone, then silk screen printed. This is how it was done before 1920 and the advent of the camera.
stone-lithography-in-action
Media used; Pearlised ink, felt tips, flower dome stickers, photocopied images
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