London Plane leaf

This spring is awfully cold.  It's almost at the end of March; the early cherry blossoms should've been over but their buds stopped growing.  The crocuses in the front garden have still flowers.  It's odd.

When I got up today morning, the sky was grey and stormy.   The thermometer at the house  showed minus 2 ℃!  Here in the south Wales it's very rare even in the middle of the winter.  The BBC weather forecast said it would remain cloudy and cold.

So, I ended up to stay at home and finish my work.  There were distractions in between (cooking; I made handmade pasta, children fighting, etc.) as I usually do not sit at my desk on Sunday.  But finally I finished the last panel today on the prints.  It had taken almost 3 month since I made a draft in January.  I'll take pictures of the print some time soon and put it on this blog later.

Anyway, I'd like to put my work one by one.  This time is a small print of a London Plane leaf.

I made prints of its bare tree.  (See the blog on 11/12/2012)  London Plane has large fan like leaves and hairy fruits (followed by red hairy flowers in the early summer) in the summer.  These trees are seen often in towns.

This work was created quite early as a colour study; I tried layering different colours on the leaf and the background.  But it's hard to distinguish the subtle colour in the picture.  

London Plane Leaf

Plywood relief printing, water based ink, 6 panels, 6 colours, A4, 2011

Such a name for a tree! 'Bastard Service'

You can find such upside-down broom-like trees at town roadsides in the winter in my town.  At the beginning of the winter they have plenty of red berries, but they disappear as the time goes.  The berries are birds' favourite winter food, of course.  When all the berries gone, the spring must come soon!

In fact, I hadn't doubted they were rowan tree as the shape of branches in the winter (no leaves) was similar to rowan.  But I found out eventually their name, 'bastard service' in my tree guide book (as noted somewhere else before: Colins Complete Guide to British Trees, this book is brilliant to identify many spices of trees in the UK).

Bastard service is ' natural hybrid of common whitebeam and rowan', which is why I misunderstood.  When looking at their leaves, it's obvious.  Common whitebeam has cherrytree-like round leaves and rowan (mountain ash) has rough comb-like leaves like ash tree.

And yet, I'm still wondering who on earth gave them such a name....  There is service tree ('service' comes from sorbus, the Latin name)  And, the word bastard maybe not related to the straight meaning of itself, bastard, we usually think.  I looked up the Oxford English Dictionary and 'bastard wing' caught my eye.  Accordingly 'bastard wing' is a group of small quil feathers on the first digit of a bird's wing.  Ah!  It might be because of the shape of their feather-like leaves.

(from my sketch)

Anyway I like the bastard service tree with red berries (in November), any matter how they are called.

Bastard Service Tree

(Asian plywood relief, water-based ink, 3 pannels with 8 colours, 

A4, 2012)

Tree Leaf Freak: Paper Cuts: Spring Flowers 2013

Tree Leaf Freak: Paper Cuts: Spring Flowers 2013: It's getting brighter and brighter, and I'm delighted that it's not dark more when I get up in the morning.  The winter time ...

Paper Cuts: Spring Flowers 2013

It's getting brighter and brighter, and I'm delighted that it's not dark more when I get up in the morning.  The winter time will be switched to the summer time a couple of weeks!  Well, I have to get up 1 hour earlier but can feel the evening longer, which is nice.

I like flowers as well as trees.  These papar cuts are of primrose, early dog-violet and wood anemone.

Spring Flower Series 2013

<Primrose; Early Dog-Violet, Wood Anemone>

primrose 

(paper cut, black origami paper on white backed paper, 7.5x7.5cm, 2013)

Primrose has actually baby pastel yellow flower.  I didn't know that before having come to Europe from Japan.  Primroses there have mostly (or at all) vivid red, pink, violet flowers.  They are found in shady meadows, or on the ground near by woodland.

early dog-violet 

(paper cut, black origami paper on white backed paper, 7.5x7.5cm, 2013)

This tiny pastel violet plants have dwelled in our front garden for 5, 6 years.  Perhaps some small animals (like hedgehogs, cat, or even fox!) transported the seeds.  In a year the violets were scattered everywhere in the front garden.  They look very sensitive, but in fact, they have very strong roots, which are not simply got rid of.  I have tried to reduce them, but failed.  Now I gave up and enjoy the flower for tea, cake, salad.  I made even delicious jelly from the flowers.

wood anemone 

(paper cut, black origami paper on white backed paper, 7.5x7.5cm, 2013)

This wood anemone looks like fritillary, and yet I didn't doubt that it was so.  The bunch of white flowers were in a woodland near by Michealston-le-Pit (outskirts of Cardiff).  They looked like this picture when I saw.  It might be because it was in the early evening and the petals were closed for sleeping (or dreaming).  But anyway, this wood anemone is the only one of the three which has white flowers.

At last, put colour on

Having started in January, I've been still working on a print making.  My target to finish off is by the end of this month.  Otherwise the Easter rabbit won't come to me!

The painstaking work is engraving; no, parting a draft into different colour parts, for which I spend a lot of time.  Engraving needs simply patience, care, and of course, time, but straightforward.  Once everything done, I can enjoy the final colouring, or say, printing process.  It is the most rewarding time during the whole printing process.

At last, I've started putting the first colour on paper yesterday.   I bought a new hand-crafted baren (a rubbing disk to print the colour from a block) from Japan in December.

At the first try, how smooth, how light I could move on the paper!  It was well worth to spend for that baren.  I'm very happy with it.

I can put one colour on one day so that the colour on paper gets completely dry.  Today I've put the second colour.  It is always a thrilling moment if two colours can match well.

They are awaiting the next colour.  Tomorrow the third colour comes onto them.  Then the fourth colour comes the day after tomorrow, then the fifth the day after the day after tomorrow.... only if I can manage to carry on every day!

Hazel, I'm looking forward....

My little hazel trees have had catkins!  I have seen a couple of female catkins but no male catkins last year.  Mid February I found a few female catkins 'and' male catkins.

According to my tree bible (Collins' "Complete Guide to British Trees"), male catkins should have appeared in the last autumn.  They should have been short and green, which was why I didn't noticed them at all.  The both female and male catkins, now long and yellowish, have been at branches for almost a month.

I am really looking forward their fat brown nuts this autumn!  Alas, my trees have only a few pairs of male catkins, and only a handful female catkins....

Some 3 or 4 years ago I collected coupons of a cereal company, which has dedicated to British countryside for years, to get 2 baby trees for free.  In a way, I was trapped into the company's sales plot.  Anyway, it was a good cause.  The campaign was called something like 'Grow your own hedgerows'.

Recalling now, I had options of hazel, ash and something else.  Hazel was the only one, which produced 'edible' nuts.  How greedy I was!  Well, I didn't expect it took many years until they are ready to produce their fruits (nuts).

Now, look.  How tiny and beautiful the catkins are, especially female one!

female catkins (0.5cm or less)

male catkins (around 4cm)