Day trip to Ruthin

Glorious day in Ruthin, yesterday.  Well, when I say glorious I don't mean beaming sunshine, but in fact the journey there was pure delight (not for the first time).  Wales was all sullen, misty blues and greys and greens, soft as a blanket, with fiery trimmings of autumn trees.  Low cloud hid the hilltops, converting the odd few into obvious volcanoes, and even the nearest distances were blue and vague, detail impossible to pick out.  It was gorgeous!  I find such conditions wrap the world up in a cosy, comforting cocoon, shrink it to manageable proportions maybe.  And the dull, soft shades of the light are surely designed exactly for the bright autumn leaves - they were spectacularly bright against such a background.  Still, you had to be there to appreciate it so I'll stop going on.

I was there for a fun print course with Ruth Thomas - a bit of a distance, but I'm in awe of Ruth's own delicate work and anyway I like to go to the craft gallery at Ruthin occasionally.  They have a beautiful exhibition space and often excellent exhibitions.

The course went brilliantly in the morning (and poorly in the afternoon.  A different technique, still fun but entirely unproductive for my part and that's enough said about it).  It was, I'm sure, kids stuff - well, Ruth originally designed it with children in mind - but the results were just so enjoyable.  We simply inked up leaves and feathers and such, or used them as resists, then set them off against an inked background and put the whole thing through the press.  I shall be off as soon as possible to collect a small forest of greenery (before it all disappears to fast-approaching winter) to press and continue the experimenting.

 

Below are some of the others produced by the group.  I think most of us would have happily kept it up all day.