Darebin tartan

These images are all from my Northcote studio (Melbourne, Australia) and utilise flowers from the local gardens and street plantings. I was curious to see whether I could work with the flowers to create abstract colour fields (in traditional tataki zome the goal is to preserve the form of the flower in the final print as faithfully as possible), and to test the results using an etching press in place of a hammer. The first trials were promising, though turned out to be much more labour intensive than anticipated. (It seems I can't help myself!) They were also on untreated washi, so the colour is likely to fade before long.
For the next attempts, I was sure to pre-treat the paper with alum solution. I also formalised the composition by drawing up a grid, referencing traditional weaving patterens. I was aiming for the soft grids of the pink mohair blanket I won in a raffle as a child, and which I always associated  with my grandmother and home comfort.