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"But one of the problems for people with brain injury is being creative and
productive within themselves. Sometimes it is there, but it’s so rusty and torn to
the many different angles, it’s hard to fit it together again...... But you don’t
always have self-belief, and it is difficult to look back and see what you did do
once upon a time. And then perhaps you would try that element but it’s not the
same....... What I feel, thoughts and all the rest of it, I don’t always approach.
Unfortunately the bee has not got a hive to go into!"
​(from Jackie's story in 'Who Are You Now', Headway project 2016)
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Placing it Out with other artists!

4/4/2017

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On Friday, Jackie and I set up the printing press at Action Space, Cockpit Arts Studio and invited the artists to share in a 'Placing it Out' printing session. Andrew Omoding https://actionspace.org/ whose work is usually sculptural often using cloth and thread, was very keen to have a go.
Relief printing really suits his art work and his materials. With guidance from Jackie he very thoughtfully and carefully placed his chosen materials out, following each stage through to a finished set of prints.  He said he really liked using the printing press. Beautiful results already!
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Rolling ink on the plate
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Placing the materials out
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Winding the wheel on the printing press
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Revealing the print
PictureAndrew's first relief print using a press.
So this is the end of mine and Jackie's collaboration, it has been very rewarding for both of us,
Both of us share an interest in drawing solitary women and at times lack some confidence in our artistic abilities, which is one of the reasons I was drawn to Jackie as a collaboratoring artist for this project.  
Through using these process based techniques we have worked fluidly together, enjoying the unexpected results and the deliberate pursuit of chance!
I’m really grateful to Jackie for being happy to work with me and for her time, her positivity and her sense of humour throughout.

Jackie:‘The first time we printed our drawing and got the final result of what we had placed, surprise came to our eyes, to see what we had done. Accepting and acknowledging what you have done is quite bewildering,
but it’s so good to see that this was you that did this drawing. It’s good, for you do wish to continue on!’

Our show Placing It Out  is at Swiss Cottage Library May-June 2017, just waiting on dates for the opening event!

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TWO OF US PLACING IT OUT!

3/20/2017

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On Wednesday we were at Black fox Bindery in Stoke Newington with bookbinder Nicky Oliver to learn some of the stages in making our book. Jackie began by folding the sheets into pages and used a tool called a bonefolder to make the crease. We are making ten books so we did this process ten times. This is a precise job which Jackie was particularly good at.
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Below are the folded sheets now laid out in neat groups of pages or 'sections'  ready for the next stage which is to sew them together. We will also have some lovely purple for the endpapers and here's the lovely Nicky preparing it for us!
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The pages are put in a 'cradle' to keep them in the right position and using a sharp pointed tool holes are made in the middle of them.

And below we are sewing with a needle and thread, through the holes from back to front with a special kind of stitch.
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Once the pages were sewn we helped prepare the cover and then sadly we ran out of time! so we left it in Nicky's expert hands to do the finishing off.

So here is our beautiful book, entitled by Jackie : "TWO OF US PLACING IT OUT'  and a sneak preview of some of the work inside.  We are so pleased at how it's turned out!

​We will be having a book launch and exhibition soon, dates to be announced, please contact us at [email protected]  if you'd like to come along, see the work or chat with us about our project and we will send you an invite! 

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SUCH SHOES!

3/1/2017

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Getting really excited about our collaborative drawings today! We had a great session working together,  first choosing reference images, collaging them together and drawing half of the image each before printing through the press. This was the final image from today, Jackie's shoes are particularly beautiful.
Pictureunique collaborative monotype by Jackie Murin and Rachel Thomson
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Drawing from the collaged reference
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Printing with the press , revealing the monotype and arranging the finished image
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Making a red relief print of some lace to add to one of Jackie's monotypes
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unique monotype with relief print by Jackie Murin
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NEW WORK FROM STUDIO SESSIONS

2/17/2017

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Here's a sneak preview of some of the images we have produced over the last few weeks at Action Space studios at Cockpit Arts, Holborn, which may find their way into our book.
Our shared interest is in drawing women, and we usually start by using magazines, photography and the internet to find suitable references that we can then play around with, draw, print and collage.
We are using old book paper to print onto using the monotype technique. Sometimes we draw independently and at other times collaborate on the same drawing. it has been so much fun!

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unique monoprint by Jackie Murin
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and here's how it was created with Jackie turning the wheel on our small etching press!
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And here's one we collaborated on, Jackie's heads with my body!
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HOT PLATE LADIES!

2/9/2017

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It was our final session at East London Printmakers today where Jackie is being introduced to the different stages and processes involved in making an intaglio copperplate etching and there are a quite a few stages!
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Breathing in the aquatint resin which is in powder form is not good for you so you have to wear a mask! After coating the plates they are placed on a mesh so that they can be heated up from underneath to melt the resin powder.
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Here are the etched plates of our drawings, inked up and ready to be printed.
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Working together to print our plates!
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And here are our ladies! 
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TATOOED LADY!

2/2/2017

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Second week of our session, good to get started. Once you have done your drawing, thinking and looking at the reference. Yes most of the picture you are drawing from is there. What I feel within myself is for you to draw freely from within yourself. You can always look at references but you are a different person drawing.
Below are some of the stages required to make a soft ground intaglio etching with aquatint.
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After drawing the next step is to file the plates edges  to be nice and smooth
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Using Brasso polish the plate to remove grease and grime so the etching machine is nice and clean with no disturbances placed upon it
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Here's the soft ground etched plate ready to print
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Once you place your plate onto the press make sure its at a good angle with paper on top and print
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Here's Rachel rolling it through the press, not knowing how it will come out!
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Once it does come out, looking at what you have drawn can be quite joyful. It may come as surprise of what you have placed out.
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With this soft ground you can add a texture, we used a piece of lace and etched this onto the plate
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After printing again, here is our next step printed.
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After applying the aqautint we stopped out the part of the drawing we didn't wish this section which is dark to print darkened.
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This is the final product from the plate as you can see from what we darkened with the stop out is much more clearer to look at.
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Beehive starting to buzz!

1/26/2017

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Jackie spins the wheel of fortune on a Victorian etching press at East London printmakers yesterday! This was the start of our Beehive project which is a happy art collaboration between me and Jackie, over the next three months we will work together to make a series of drawings and prints of womens gestures that reveal inner thoughts and feelings.
Below you can see some of the stages Jackie learnt in making her first Intaglio copperplate etching.
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KEEP ON ROLLIN'
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THE COPPER PLATE IS DIPPED IN FERRIC ACID TO ETCH THE IMAGE
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INK IS WIPED ONTO THE PLATE BEFORE IT GETS PRINTED
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ROLLING THE PLATE THROUGH THE PRESS
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MORE ROLLING!
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THE PRINT IS REVEALED
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THE ARTISTS FIRST PROOF!
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THE COPPERPLATE WITH ADDED LINES OF ETCHED DRAWING. MORE WILL BE ADDED TO THIS IMAGE SO CHECK IN AGAIN NEXT WEEK!
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    ABOUT US
    The Beehive project is a three month drawing, printing and bookbinding collaboration between Rachel Thomson and Jackie Murin.

    Jackie is a participating artist at Action Space, she has been part of multiple exhibitions including the Cockpit Arts Open and 'The Shop of Curiosities' at the Geddes Gallery. She has volunteered for the Leighton Project at Elfrieda Rathbone Centre since 2009 supporting young people with learning disabilities in developing their arts practice. 

    Rachel  trained in photography and print media and has twenty years experience working as an artist. Her studio work is drawing and photography based using cyanotype, etching and monotype and is concerned with female identity and the environment. She also enjoys engaging others in the creative potential of process based art and  has been a regular artist volunteer at Action Space since October 2015.
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