A while back, I had the pleasure and honor of working with Anna from the Etsy shop of
Lila Ruby King and
Afjewellery.
And wow, what a job of exquisit detail!
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| swan river colony letterpress print artwork by Anna, printing by Fluid Ink |
Prints available
HERE
Anna
is a Perth girl working abroad in Greece (lucky thing!) and her artwork reflects the Australian natural flora and fauna beautifully. She has a
Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Visual Arts, majoring in printmaking
and with a minor in painting and has since completed a Certificate IV
in Jewellery Design and Manufacture. She runs 2 Etsy stores - one for
illustrations
Lila Ruby King, and one for her reclaimed gorgeous jewellery
Afjewellery.
"I am working towards making my business carbon neutral. My cards are all
made with recycled cardstock and the majority of my product packaging
is from recycled sources. Many of my
materials are chosen in part for their sustainability. Bamboo is a
rapidly renewable recourse, and 100% biodegradable. I recycled my own
silver so I need to purchase less new silver. Most items in my shop are
about half new silver, half recycled. Found objects such as twigs and
pebbles I hope enjoy their new life as wearable art. I do not use a
chemical pickle which is better for the environment and no doubt my
health. My glass beads are batch annealed so that I only run my kiln
when it is full.
Every month I purchase carbon credits to offset one tonne of greenhouse
gas. I do this through Climate Friendly ( https://climatefriendly.com/
) Climate Friendly is an organization based in Australia, dedicated to
positive, meaningful and real action to address the global greenhouse
problem."
These letterpress prints were printed onto 8x10 Cranes 100% cotton Lettra
It was a 2 colour job, grey and pink.
The
major difficulty I had was the millimeter accurate registration needed
for the stripes on the back of the numbat - very difficult.
This
was also the first job I printed on 'The Admiral' His motor wasn't
connected so I had to hand turn the fly wheel for each print (his treadle is missing :-(. The grey
was also skip printed which means that in between prints, I inked the
plates once with out impression (with the throw off leaver off) and then
took a print to give a more even ink coverage as it was shadow
printing on the solid sections of the leaves.
Besides that, it was
a great workout, and gave me a chance to tape the rails on the press perfectly, seat
them in and re-tape them to get the roller heights perfect. The press was constantly oiled to account for the lack of oil during its incarceration, and slowly - perhaps begrudgingly- was worked hard for the first time in 50 years!
As you may know from reading my previous ramblings, I am in awe (and a tad jealous) of anyone that can produce fine art and illustrations. Its a time consuming skill that I only wish I had the energy to learn! A brief look of Annas work will demonstrate she has both. Check them out!
Lila Ruby King,
Afjewellery. Thank you Anna!
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| Handmade necklace with sterling silver, porcelain and a found terracotta beach pebble |
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| Form earrings - Stirling silver and found naturally tumbled beach pottery |
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| Wattle birds, original ink and watercolour illustration |
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| Snowy river damask fabric | |
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