Jessie Spring Art

Today for me was more repousse & chasing landscapes into copper.
Very taxing on my poor little hands but I love it so much I will power through and keep working at it!
To make things easier, I hand wittled some drift wood into wooden tools and they work great! My hands say, 👍
I’m excited to see how these pieces will eventually finish up with some patina effects and burnishing.
It’s a wonderful process, stay tuned!

Some WIP Copper Art…..playing around with Wheatbelt landscape designs, black cockatoos and Quangdong trees.

Hello dear Friends & Followers. Remember my original 'Rain Bird' watercolour? I had 10 limited edition prints made.
Image scanned at 1200 full optical pixels per inch, colour corrected, and printed with archival pigment ink on canson 310gsm acid-free fine art cotton rag paper. Fully replicates the original.

NOW SOLD & UNAVAILABLE: I have 2 professionally framed prints available for purchase. (Frame dimensions W405mm x H515mm) Both come with a certificate of authenticity. These would look beautiful hanging in any Black Cockatoo lovers home! If you're interested, please DM me for further details, or contact me via my website https://www.jessiespring.com/contact
Please Note: Due to the fragile nature of the frames, they cannot be posted. Local pick-up or delivery by hand in Merredin area only.

AVAILABLE: If you would like an unframed print, there are 6 available via my website shop. Free postage Australia wide. Link in comments ⬇️
https://www.jessiespring.com/artshop/rain-bird-fine-art-print

‘Nest No.2’
Daniel Smith watercolour on Arches 600g paper.
220x220mm

Playing with warm & cool colours.

I found my mother’s old copper art book published in 1978 and got inspired to give this forgotten craft a go.
I have always loved the look of copper. Back when I was a student, I did a jewellery making class and copper was one of my favourite metals to work with. There are ways to give copper interesting patinas which I plan to experiment with.

‘Repousse’ means embossing metal from the reverse side, whereas ‘Chasing’ means embossing metal from the front. Both techniques are used to create copper art. Copper art is oxidised in ‘Liver of Sulphur’ and then burnished with fine steel wool.

The following are wall hangings handmade with my original designs. I plan to make more pieces for retail.

‘Rocks’
Watercolour & Gouache on Arches 600g paper.
220x220mm

Today I practiced painting rocks using granulating watercolour pigments and decided on a flat, opaque cobolt blue gouache sky.

What do you think of the sky?

‘Nest’
Daniel Smith watercolour on Arches 600g paper.
220x220mm

I have finally realised I am an artist who most enjoys working small.
I feel totally chilled out working small and it helps with practicing my technique.
Small pieces encourage the viewer to look closer.
I have been experimenting with interesting papers, recycled, cotton, round, square, torn edges.
No words can explain how much I love a birdnest! They’re a tricky subject that teaches me to observe.
The first most important thing to observe is the direction of light.
I work the values out by first laying down light washes and gradually building up areas with darker washes. This gives the nest depth and the eggs appear round, not flat. I have plenty more to learn about this and I’m getting better with practice. Watercolour requires patience. One never stops learning.
I find I prefer to self teach as it is very gratifying to development my own sense of style.
If I stuff something up I don’t give up, I just evaluate what I have learnt from my mistakes and that paper is turned over to use again.
Practicing small is the best way to learn….and it saves on expensive paper!

In loving memory of David Lynch.

Falling Julee Cruise · Floating Into The Night · Song · 1989

‘Fern & Moths’ eco-printed fern fronds & watercolour painting on Zart handmade paper.

HaPpY 2025 Everyone. Please make time this year to slow down, breathe and do the little things in life that bring complete joy to you!

‘Fern’ eco-printed & watercolour fern fronds on Zart handmade paper.

I’m so happy with how these small pieces framed up in simple Tassie oak with a complementary ivory mat. I love float framing my original artwork because it creates a lovely cast shadow and reveals the beautiful lush textural appeal, cockle and rough edges of watercolour paper.