The Ramblings Of Linden Langdon

skip to page links

Apology

Tuesday, 31 August

A big apology to anyone looking for this site in the last four or five days. The server had some big issues, but hopefully all will run smoothly now!

Lithograph Steps Four And Five

Tuesday, 31 August

Well a lot has happened since the site went down! So the final steps were to print the stone in red, reduce the image, and print over in black. Printing in colour is an exciting process, and often the results differ from what you imagine as colours influence each other so much on the final print. Reduction litho is a great way to create a coloured lithograph and my favourite way to produce a less constrained result. The carefully orchestrated drawing takes on a new life under the sandpaper! I printed the stone in red, then worked the lighter areas with sandpaper which removed the areas of the image that I wanted to remain red. I then gave it a fairly strong etch, with 9 drops of acid in 15ml of gum arabic to ensure that it held. Today I rolled the stone up in black and overprinted the red image. The result has more 'depth' and less conformity.

Lithograph Steps Two And Three

Friday, 27 August

Yesterday I did the second stage of securing the image on the stone by rolling it up and etching it without putting it through the press. This gentle approach has proved to be the best for ensuring the image, and especially a drawn image or a wash, isn't burnt away or filled in by 'pushing' it too soon. To prepare the stone for rolling up, the layer of gum I had previously applied is removed with white spirits, then a well buffed application of bitumen prepares the image to accept the ink. This is done fairly quickly as the image is vulnerable at this stage. Water is then sponged over the image after a couple of minutes and the inking begins. The sponging is alternated with a rollup of ink until the image resurfaces, having been washed out to a mere shadow by the white spirits. So after rolling the stone with about 10 layers, the rosin, talc and gum arabic is reapplied, although this time an acid is added to etch strongly. For this image I used 5 drops of nitric acid in 15ml of gum arabic, which is considered a medium etch.

Today I did the first proof run, which invloves repeating the whole process with the addition of putting the stone through the press a few times with a gradually increasing pressure. This image only needed to go through four times before I had achieved the tonal depth of ink I want for the image. So now it is re-etched with a slightly stronger etch of 7 drops of nitric acid mixed into 15ml of gum arabic and awaiting my return!

Ross Langdon, Architect

Wednesday, 25 August

Ok so this is a brag session! My son Ross and team have just won the City Talks forum, hosted at the Sydney Town Hall and chaired by Adam Spencer. Their theme 'in between or anywhere' focused on utilising spaces, such as laneways, that are often considered undesirable places and creating solutions that develop them rather than adding development to urban sprawl. Congratulations to all involved in the project, and the article about the forum was in Tuesday's Sydney Morning Herald and is titled 'When push comes to shove, laneways are streets ahead', page 4, or the search function on the website will bring it up!

Lithograph Steps

Wednesday, 25 August

I thought I might do a step by step blog of the lithograph process for family, friends and passersby as I always seem to mention bits and pieces, but not really the whole deal. So I will blog each step for this latest stone. I love this stone - having used it for four years now! It has some flecks through it that don't accept the etch, so the image has an inconsistant quality that I like. It is a reliable stone though, so each year I make sure I grab it before others whisk it away! This is the first stage, where I have drawn my image. I used no.2, no.4, and no.5 crayons; the number 5 being the greasiest and therefore the darkest areas. I used this crayon with a rubbing method to make the marks around the outside of the drawing. The first etch is always a safe one for me, with rosin and talc applied first, creating a chemical reaction to sensitise the stone, and then I apply pure gum arabic without acid. This ensures that the gentle parts of the drawing aren't burnt away. This is then left overnight to allow time for the process to happen and the image to be etched on the stone.

Cheesecake European Style

Monday, 23 August

One of my favourite family recipes is the continental cheesackae my mum used to bake on a regular basis. I have made it more times than I could possibly remember and it has continued to be enjoyed despite the biscuit based and sweeter cheesecake being more popular in Australia in general. I will write up the original recipe, but I have more frequently substituted lemon rind and juice for the currants and vanilla essence.

• Continental Cheesecake Base
• 75g (3oz) butter
• 50g (2oz) castor sugar
• 100g (4oz) self raising flour
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tablespoons milk

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add egg yolk and beat well. Add flour and milk, beat well. Grease a spring form pan (I usually dust with plain flour to prevent sticking) and bake the base for 15 minutes in a moderate (180) oven.

• Continental Cheesecake Filling
• 225g (8oz) cream cheese
• 2 egg yolks
• 3 egg whites
• 1/2 tablespoon butter
• 50g (2oz) castor sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
• handful of currants

Beat together the butter and sugar, then beat in egg yolks. Add the cream cheese, vanilla and currants, beat until smooth. Fold in the stiffly beaten egg whites. Pour onto the cooked base and bake in a moderately hot (190) oven for 20 minutes.

Sue Flies Acrosss The Rivulet

Saturday, 21 August

Arriving at the Rivulet Print Studio today to put my one print up on the wall I was bowled over by Sue MacGreger's fabulous flying bodies. They were her major project for third year printmaking at uni in 2003, but as always how things are displayed can make all the difference, and the back wall of the Rivulet Studio allowed her figures to take flight in full glory.

Her theme was based on the hectic life of a parent, wife and artist busily battling the daily dramas and finding peace within her environment and inner being. The piece is a number of lithograph washes carefully worked to construct the bodily form expressing constant movement. The Rivulet Print Studio is at 310 Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tasmania and the gallery will be showing the work for the duration of Living Artist Week, 20th - 29th August.

Avalon Exhibition

Thursday, 19 August

Today was 'hanging the work day' for most people involved in the Tasmanian Living Artist Week as tomorrow is opening night. My pictures fitted in well to the doctors surgery and it was great to get some immmediate feedback about what I have been up to! It is hard to maintain an objective eye when you are staring at the same images for weeks and weeks and working them this way and that. Fresh eyes are really the only way to tell if you have got 'the message' across. A big thanks to the staff at Avalon who have opened their doors and walls to allow people to exhibit and handle enquires about the artwork.

Of course one of the best things about finally meeting the final date for the exhibition is that now I can relax, and tomorrow night Steve and I can go out and gain some of the benefits of gallery hopping; like good company, booze and nibbles - and yes look at all the work on show! So here's hoping the stress comes off my shoulders and the frozen muscles start to melt away like the snow from Mount Wellington and tomorrow is all it is anticipated to be!

Working With Karen Lunn

Wednesday, 18 August

The sun shone today with a brilliance that melted the ice covered mountain which greets me each morning from my back door. A jug of hot water dissolved the frost from the car and a morning printing three large plates began. Today I shared the postgrad room with Karen Lunn, an inspiring printmaker who had the discipline to concentrate her efforts of artwork for the entire 5 years of her study on one small photograph. Not only did the results break free from the restrictions of two dimensional print work to become massive works of handmade paper, but also her use of colour and lighting in her final student exhibition was fantastic. One of Karen's artworks is on the university website. She is currently teaching printmaking and is also sharing the duty of supervisor for postgrad students. Love that red!

Tasmanian Living Artists Week

Monday, 16 August

Hobart has a gentle hum happening as people prepare for the week of showcasing local artists. Shops open up their window space and galleries fill with works with little or unknown names while others dance to the tune of well recognised artists. Organised by arts@work, a government leg believe it or not, the exercise encompasses the entire state. Too much for a person to view the entire 'exhibition', so concentrating on areas is perhaps the better value. There is a free guide available that details exhibitors and locations for the whole week form the 20th - 29th August. My work can be seen at the Avalon doctors surgery, 436 Elizabeth Street, North Hobart, and one piece at the Rivulet Print Studio.

Third Year Project With Olga

Sunday, 15 August

Arriving a little late to my morning tute last year I was greeted by a number of grinning faces being my fellow students who knew more than me at the time. On the table was an A4 sheet of paper and I was told to 'pick one'. Hmmm, hard choice of one. Expectant eyes turned my way as I perused the sheet which showed the business bits of a bull. 'That's your part of the picture', I was told. So the third year printmaking project was launched, a snake book that is comprised of sections reworked by individuals in their own method and design, as long as the construction lines met up. Our visiting lecturer Olga Sankey conceived the idea and participated in the process. The result is a wild representation of the conservative original! Oh and my bit is the cock with the Tasmanian Waratah flower.

Crit Equals Acceleration

Friday, 13 August

Today I had a critique with my fellow students and supervisors and the upshot of it was that there is about 12 working weeks left, and with whats in front of me in expectation I will be working 24/7 to make the high jump. But that's to be expected in an honours year, so I hear. Also it is expected that I have a loan to pay for all the expensive framing, material costs and errors in judgement or failed attempts. I got a lot out of my crit today, with everybody putting in suggestions and raw responses to the work. It soaked in and tumbled about in my head while I walked home (a brisk 30 minute walk in the freezing rain and driving wind) and by the time I arrived I had a few new ideas and solutions for my work. The crit also released me from being fixated with making some prints work in ways that they never would - its amazing what a fresh set of eyes can do when you you've been staring at the same thing so long!

Another Inspiring Lecturer

Thursday, 12 August

Working in the uni printmaking department is at times a matter of ducking the big guns as they make their presence felt on the polished floorboards. Raymond Arnold has been a constant inspiration for me and without his encouragement I would not have applied to go to art school in the first place. His passion for environmental issues is renowned as he has devoted hours above and beyond any realistic expectation of teaching hours to organise, motivate and partake in student exploration of the Tasmanian landscape. The material I gathered on these journeys will be resources for many years to come. Raymond divides his time between Tasmania and Paris and while his name is picked up on many searches, his work is not readily available for viewing on the internet. One piece of work, a print depicting a journey of walking through a valley in France (and through life), was shown at the Tasmanian Museum and Art galley.

Lovin' My French Bits

Wednesday, 11 August

OK I've got a dose of French blood coursing through my viens, and while this may send tremors of uncertainty through some aussie blokes I'm kind of keen on the resources that fire up my red blood cells. Take the word love for example, long being accused of lack of breadth in the English language, I hear it rumoured that the French have numerous descriptive terms that fire the imagination. So out comes my trusty old (and very small) French/English dictionary to see what I can find.

amour: love

amoureu-x: in love

amourette: love affair

amouracher: to fall in love

billet: doux, love letter

aimer: to love

amant: lover

amateur: lover, amateur

je t'aime: I love you

Oh well, maybe its how you say it and physically express it as much as anything else! Extracting the definition is as hard as extracting the French bits from me, its all just a big jumble of genetic and environmental history that gels into an emotional ride with all the unpredictability, passion, ice and fire that make life interesting.

Maintaining Faith

Monday, 9 August

Seems like a simple concept really, learn your stuff and stick to it. But life is about a smooth as a dirt road in rural Tasmania after a winter of non-stop rain - potholed and bloody muddy. So how does someone maintain a faith in chosen interests - the old follow your dream stuff? I suppose its when your dragging yourself out of the latest pothole you just stumbled into that those ever so important friends and acquaintances are expert at hosing off the crap and restoring some self-esteem to the battered individual. Or maybe its just a soak in bath of delicious hot water gently lapping tingling skin...

Sally Curry and Sculpture

Saturday, 7 August

Sally is integral to my life story. Growing up on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland we lived in the same town as Sally and her two daughters. My sister and I spent a lot of time with the 'Curry' family and vivid memories of painting on huge pieces of paper on the verandah of her old Queenslander or our first ride on a horse in their front yard are building blocks of our future lives. I treasure my little Sally Curry sculpture that sits proudly in a defiant manner on the bookcase my mother made. Circles of life.

Cotoneaster

Thursday, 5 August

The Hobart City Council rescues me every year from having to cart huge quantities of cotoneaster prunings from my front yard. I've been out there for the last 2 days sawing, hacking, chewing my way through branches and trunks in an effort to catch the council pick up in the morning. It's a nightmare. It offers great values as a hedge with all the screening benefits, but oh do I pay, and pay and pay. My Dad spent several days pruning it a few years ago on his holiday and many visitors have been asked to pick up the saw or pruners to try to control the beast. But it is incorrigible. This time I'm taking it down to waist high in a vain attempt at keeping it low and manageable - bugger the privacy! I'll just have to bury my prejudice against lacy curtains and shield my windows just enough to let the warmth in and gossip out. And its a weed, and my hands get ripped to pieces (ok gloves would help) plus its popping up everywhere else in the garden! Oh please come help me this afternoon Steve! PLEASE...

Restless Dreams

Thursday, 5 August

Its nearly 3.15 am and sleep doesn't seem to be my best friend. This is becoming an occasional occupational health hazard as all the excitment of the days ideas and stresses bubble away internally to surface in the form of rem moments - fleeting glimpses of destinations. I hear its a good idea to write down your dreams so that you remember them, which seems like a good idea. But then I also hear that the dedicated dream recorder can also end up spending more than a reasonable time in rem and scribbling in the wee hours of the morn. So perhaps the happy medium is to have a brief reprieve from the warmth of doonas and then snuggle back in with renewed appreciation. Night all.

Absent Rubber Bands

Tuesday, 3 August

Another less than average day in the printroom for me as the lithograph I've been working on refuses to yield to my dream ambition. Guess its time, time being the short supply item that rules my world, to let go of that one and move on. Upwards I hope. Perhaps it was the absence of what my massage friend refers to as 'rubber bands' in my shoulders that undermined the day. Sometimes I think that I need the tense muscles and taut ligaments to get the roller action happening and the image springing to life. Or perhaps it was news of my dad not being too well that cast a shadow onto the stone. But, as the saying goes, tomorrows another day.

Asthmatic's Nightmare

Monday, 2 August

Driving home tonight looked a bit like something out of a horror movie as smoke hung in drifts clinging closely to the curves of the land. No, not a bushfire, but the more insidious result of hundreds of chimneys pumping out the ash reminders of the timber glowing in the belly of the wood heater below. Yes I love the radiant heat of the fire, but in a city environment it is just too much. The problem has certainly reduced over the years as people have turned to electric heating under the guidance of hydro promotion, but the many still hanging on to the fires are casting a shadow across the city sky. Relinquish! Perhaps some Government incentives might help?