A new Print...coming soon

I am working on a new photo plate print using a photograph that I took when I was 14 years old...yes, I keep all photos.

The subject is a fountain designed by Isamu Noguchi commissioned by Anna Thomson Hart for $2 million dollars in honor of her husband & son-both Horace. It is located in Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit and the central focus of an area where festivals & other outdoor events are held.

The camera was a Canon AE-1, a manual camera, which is fitting for a printing process that some consider 'ancient'...in this very high tech world that we live in.

The process begins with the manipulation of the photo in Photoshop, then developing the (3) films onto the plate. The process is one that is fraught with mishap & should any of the steps go wrong-not good/begin again...below is the plate (image in reverse) which is treated with chemicals in preparation for the printing process.

The printing process is even tougher since 3 colors will be printed on the same paper-lining up/registration requires more praying and crossing fingers/toes. So, I have 12-20 hours ahead of me to print and I will post within a week...keep me in your prayers!

A New Print, A New Technique...

 This is a gum transfer print made from a photograph/ink/chemicals...on fancy paper.

 

Same print with 2 more layers of information...the birds (because it's Venice) were added first by running it through the printing press and then text-a quote from Leonardo da Vinci was added last. This process always calls for a prayer, fingers & toes crossed in hopes that their is not a glitch any of the many steps. It worked!

More on Printmaking…

So it’s official-I’ve been bitten by the printmaking bug. This is not to suggest that I am good at it or that I am always (or even often) happy with the finished product. It’s just the endless possibilities and the ability to work with photographs.
Photography was my first love at the ripe age of 14 when my father bought me a Canon AE-1 for my birthday. And now that we have “cellular devices” I snap pictures anytime I am walking and see something interesting and may want to paint later.

Just this morning, I took several photographs of bridges in Rock Creek Parkway as I commuted to work. I plan to make what is called “gum prints” with them after I merge them into one image using Photoshop…prints to follow.

In the meantime, these are the finished works from the Detroit bridges…

Three colors-cyan, magenta and black (the "key") were used for this work:

The following are single color prints:

Photo Plates=Hard Work

Back to printing again...my hands hurt and I have not even printed my image yet. But it was great fun choosing an image to manipulate and prepare for print. The subject matter: Detroit, of course.

This is The Ambassador Bridge merged with The Belle Isle Bridge.  Finished print to follow within a week.



"View of Drogheda", Ireland

I was invited to visit Ireland 2 years ago and had an opportunity to see lots of sites, inlcuding Dublin. The town depicted here is where I stayed for 8 lovely days. It was very special-great people and down right beautiful. This work, a commission, will be part of the collection of a school there. So, with a deep sigh I hand this work over to the patron with fond memories of a quaint place.

Acrylics on canvas, 16x20"

Etched in stone…

After choosing painting as a medium for over 20 years, I decided to try something new. As I wind down my studio classes in graduate school, I signed-up for a general printmaking course & a lithography course. Deep sigh/happy sigh…it, in short, has been the most difficult thing that I have EVER done as an artist. For those of you who know printmaking-you just know & feel my pain and for those who don’t…well, just imagine being pledged/hazed. It has definitely been a learning experience and when I tell people what I’m up to they have a new found respect (or sympathy) for me.  To start, there’s this really heavy stone that is about 100 years old & 50 pounds.

An image is drawn on this stone in reverse (it prints backwards) and different type of ‘crayons’-oil based pencils and then there are chemicals (acid!) involved in a detailed process called ‘etching’, then lots of ink and with each step there’s this Goldilocks element to it of not too much, not enough…try, try again. By the time the image is printed, my hands look as though I’ve just changed a tire and I want to cry…a lot! And I’m not one for tears. So, with that said I am making my way through this process and learning, with trial & error (lots) a new widely respected medium…now I understand why Michelangelo demanded that there be a publicly held mass before he worked in certain mediums.

  

And just to clarify, I am NOT giving up painting…I’m finishing up a commission this week of a scene from Ireland…will post by week's end.

Ambassador Bridge Take Two

Ambassador Bridge from the Detroit River, 2010

The first version of this painting (16x20”) was well received at my August Abstract Cities show. It was snapped up from a non-Detroiter and was one of the most popular pieces. I felt compelled to make another that provided a wider view of the bridge as I remember it from boating on the Detroit River. This version, (15x30”) took a few months to complete. Around this time, I was watching an episode of Detroit 187 and the Ambassador Bridge was shown; it was so exciting for me. I LOVE Detroit and this is not the last painting of my city.