Angie Rogers Artist

GET INSPIRED

Connecting you to Landscape, Nature and The Wild.

Preserved In Amber
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The amber mentioned in the title is not the precious and jewel-like substance from ancient tree resin but the beautiful colour of ink you can make from these Alder cones.

I’m continuing with my project to make art materials from items growing in my local area and then use them to make art feauturing the landscape I walk through every day. In this way Nature is both the inspiration and the source.

Here’s why I think it’s important. For a variety of reasons many of us feel disconnected from nature and our nearest green spaces. By finding a practical reason to engage directly with a specific place you can discover so much about the natural world and about your own responses to it. If you use all your senses to explore the wild, you feel more alive to the potential in nature.

Recent research has taken me into the world of ink making. If you search on-line there are umpteen recipes, some highly complex and involving unfamiliar chemicals you won’t find at home.

Instead, why not keep things as simple as possible, at least to begin with.

Alder Cone Ink

The ingredients and process are very straightforward so if you fancy having a go yourself I’ve made a blog post guide on my website that shows you how to do it.

Best of luck if you try it! Email me for help if you get stuck and I'd love to see photos of your results.

Fire Tree is a recent artwork I've made using natural materials I've made myself from my local woodland including willow charcoal, alder cone ink, carbon paint and ochre watercolour .

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I enjoy using elemental and unpredictable materials at times and this image makes use of fire and smoke. The edges of the very thick watercolour paper I set alight to create burnt edges.

The flames nearly ran amok but created my favourite bit, the big burn at the base. Obviously you need to consider safety angles if you try this out yourself!

I also played the smoke from a taper across the paper surface to deposit soot for lovely veils of wispy grey.

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Bringing The Outside In

This is the skull of a juvenile Heron I found in the woods last year. It died of natural causes having fallen from a very tall pine tree in Hardcastle Crags where the Herons nest in early spring.

Some people find bones macabre but I hope you can agree they are beautiful structures, especially bird skulls which demonstrate the perfect combination of strength and lightness so necessary for a flying creature.

A skull like this looks great displayed alongside some small pebbles and shells on your windowsill or shelf and makes a good talking point with visitors.

If you are feeling creative, you can get a lot out of drawing or painting bird skulls. You learn so much more when you study one for an accurate artwork. Using white or pale chalk on dark paper is one of the best approaches.

Have you made any unusual or inspiring finds outdoors recently? If so I'd love to hear about it.

In the meantime, make the most of going outside and exploring!

All the best
Angie

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