Some Finished Prints - Maybe

I am going to call this one "Lots of Fun" and I am pretty sure I do not want to add anything else to it. Oh, I forgot to mention last week that it was officially week 50 for "ONE WITH COPPER". So, if I finish by 100 blogs I only have 48 weeks to edition, etch 70 some plates again, design a sculpture, learn how to edit video, and take the sculpture around for more art installations. I might go over the 100 blogs. As long as I am enjoying the process, that's OK.

When my oldest was just a few years old we went to the park alot. She used to look around with the most wonderful expression and say "I wonder who's going to be my friend today". Well, Mom always thought it was pretty special. The above image is called "Want to be My Friend". I etched the plates this week.
The plates for "Want to be My Friend" were etched for 5 hours and it was only roofing copper in a new etching solution (Edinburgh etch). The background part of the plate is fairly thin.

The above prints "A Kiss My Dove" are 10x10 inches each. I want to send two of the prints off to China for a show called "prayers for little souls"----an open portfolio for the children of 5/12/2008 china Wenchuan earthquake. I only hope I am not to late. I have been working on them for a few weeks and the ink is not drying very fast. I lost some trying to print another color and the plate sticking to the paper and my blanket. Oh well, I only need two to send away.
This one is probably not finished. I keep wanting to add something but what? One idea is to have the figures chewing bubble gum (blowing bubbles). I am having fun.

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The Whistling Bug and More

This is the "Whistling Bug" printed on some woven paper. When experimenting a lot of paper is used up on not the greatest prints. When I was moving I saved a pile of paper to use the back for proofing or maybe some collage work someday. Last Sunday night while watching TV I ripped stripes of paper and wove them together. Recycling is fun sometimes!
I am having a lot of fun with this idea. I already have more stripes ripped up to work with for next week.
And here we have the "Whistling Bug" printed on Stonehenge paper. One of my passions/hobbies is playing the tin whistle.
The second half of the "Pins and Needles" image was etched this week. My other passion/hobby is playing the Classical Guitar. I love trying to play, but hate playing in front of people. This image is all about performance stress and how easy it is for young people to learn how to play and perform. No one in their right mind would rag a kid after a performance when they are just starting out, not so with an adult trying to explore new horizons. Even so I truly enjoy trying and learning something new.

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Woven Paper and A Kiss

I am trying to get ready to start editioning some of my copper plates. The first set is for an exchange I signed up for. Ripping the paper 10x10 inches left me a lot of 2 inch stripes of paper. Maybe because I used to do a lot of weaving in the 80's it just seemed right to weave the strips together.
The woven paper printed beautifully. I now will also add to my many tasks "just for fun", weaving paper for printing.
The image "A Kiss My Dove" worked out well, etched on the copper plates.

The copper plates proofed for the "A Kiss My Dove " image.

This week has been a wonderful week of puttering in the studio. It sort feels like I am nesting or something similar. Organizing space to be comfortable while printing and etching is important to my flow of creativity.

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Playing with my Work

I couldn't just put a blank plate in the bath, even if it was going to be left to dissolve!

It has been extremely busy trying to get back to working in the studio. Supplies are ordered, paper came and I am still looking for close to me supplier's for a few small items, before I get down and inky to edition. This week I did start a new batch of Edinburgh Etch. Just click on the highlighted words for the recipe for the etching bath. I could have just typed in the amounts but the link also give you the story and information about the Edinburgh Etch for copper. The recipe is at the very bottom of the link.
Looking around the studio for a small scrape of copper to put in the etching bath to take the bite of the solution, I found these gems. They are left over scrapes of copper from a printing project years ago. They have black car spray paint as a backing. It was the thing to do when I started etching. It took lots of solvent to get that paint off. Drawer liner is so much easier!
I put the two little plates in the etching bath and checked the next day to see what was happening. They were pretty well dissolved but interesting.
I decided to print the plates for fun, before throwing them back in to finish etching away.
I did not dare try to do an intaglio print. The plates were pretty fragile.

Happy Printmaking Everyone
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Getting Started in the New Year

Well, I did not want to start the year off late for my first blog. The Holiday Season was amazing for me. I had all my kids home for a week and it was a wonderful time. But now it is time to get back to work. So, I went into my past files and organized my proofs and plates into separate folders. Just so that I could see exactly where I am with my project "One With Copper" .

Slide-shows

My Copper Etched Plates
and on Flickr
The Proofs for the Etched Copper Plates
and on Flickr
Next step for 2010-- start editioning and keep on etching.

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Christmas Memories

The tree is decorated with ornaments made by the kids from the age 1 up.

Wishing Everyone a Very Happy New Year

This Is It!

My Last Blog for 2009

I am so glad I reworked my big copper triangles. I love how the plates etched.

The copper plates are a wonderful deep etch for a nice Relief printing.

So, it was very worth while reworking the plates.
A Very Merry Christmas and a Great New Year Everyone
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I will be back in 2010

Reworking My Copper Plate

I was not satisfied with the depth of the etch in this plate and a lot of the string like detail was just not there, so I am reworking the plate. First I stopped out areas I did not want to etch, with acrylic stop-out.

Then I played a bit with the background with a roll of hardground(Graphic Chemical w/s ink#1659) for a sort of aquatint effect. Hoping to add interest to the background I sprayed screen filler onto the plate also. The screen filler drops if all works out in the etching bath, hopefully will look like rain. The plate is drying, so I will let you know how it works out next week. Take Care Everyone and Enjoy the Christmas Season

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My Peace Circle

"The Peace Circle"

I am really tired today and almost didn't do anything for the last day of blogging for "Art Every Day Month". So I sat at my computer and went through some of my early images for "One With Copper" and tried to put something together for the "Then and Now" photo collage collection for the project.

I am glad I took part in this challenge because this was a very busy month of just stuff that needed to be done. If it had not been for the Art Every Day challenge this month, a lot may not have gotten done.

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Christmas Unpacking

"Art Every Day Month" day 29 was a wonderful family time of unboxing 21 years of kids Christmas stuff and lots of Christmas memories. The creative act was fitting everything into an apartment and not a house. Everything is a memory with someones name and year marked on the bottom of each item. I was busy putting up other stuff and when I looked at the bookshelf, it was a wonderful sight of color and memories.
A few years ago my sister gave me a giant nutcracker for Christmas. I love it a lot. So when packing to move I made sure it was very well packed. Only problem we couldn't get it out of the box. Eliza Jane pushed from the bottom and Maida and I pulled from the top. The nutcracker is in perfect condition for another Christmas. We got Eliza out of the box also!
I took the first turn at reading for our family Advent this year. Eliza Jane took the picture and you can tell that I am one very happy Momma.

Merry Christmas Everyone
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Christmas Times Are Starting

It is a few minutes after midnight so technically it is day 29 instead of 28 for "Art Every Day Month". Today/yesterday has been a busy creative day of Christmas stuff (shopping, movies, music and fudge making). A great day!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

A Kiss My Dove?

"A Kiss My Dove"

This image started out with a small pencil doodle strongly influenced by my copper plates and my copper Peace Dove.


In the beginning there was one. I am trying to come up with some more ideas for my remaining plates and it is Christmas time, which is a big influence.

This is what might go on one of the remaining plates. I am taking off to do some Christmas stuff with family this evening. Happy Weekend Everyone!

Day 27 for "Art Every Day Month"
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Three Proofs

Today I proofed my big triangles that I was referring to as my Mixed Media Adventure. I did a relief proof of the plates but the etch was not deep enough to give a nice relief print.

The Three Proofs

#One#Two

#Three

I enjoyed playing with ink today. Not sure yet how to rework the plate.

Day 26 for "Art Every Day Month"
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Slow Etch

Both plates were etched for 5 hours but the etch is not very deep for a good relief print. I am not sure what I want to do with it now. Tomorrow I hope to proof the plates before reworking them.

Today was really the art of get ready for Christmas in time for the post office. I made it to the post office on time.

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Be back tomorrow.

Almost Half Way

All that is left to etch

Day 24 "Art Every Day Month" and Piles of copper plates

While waiting for my big triangles to etch one at a time in my small etching tray. I decided to take stock of my copper plates.

In the beginning last fall 2008
Pile of 71 plates made up of triangles, 1/2 circles and some ordinary four sided plates.

Pile of 40 triangles etched as of today

Nine 1/2 circles added to the copper pile

Total of 73 etched copper plates as of today.

I must have added a couple of squares to the project along the way, and I do remember coming home with one less triangle from an installation in the woods at least once. Now I have 8 plates to etch before starting on the next stage of "One With Copper". The next stage is editioning some of the plates before I etch the other side. At the end the pile of etched copper plates will be a standing sculpture. A lot to do/play with before this time next year. I just need to keep steady and enjoy the process.

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The Adventure Continues

Not perfect but better - I am OK with it this time.So, I am continuing on with my mixed media adventure on copper for my "One With Copper" project .

This evening I painted on the plate with acrylic stop out and I am letting it dry over night.

Day 23 for "Art Every Day Month"
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The Best Day of the Month!

"Art Every Day Month" Day 22, the Best Art Day Of The month

Lots of fun making Gingerbread Cookies

Today was a perfect day with family making the best kind of art. Lots and lots of cookie shapes and a gingerbread display all in one day. I am very happy and exhausted in a good way.

Everyone is working hard at their masterpiece.
The masterpiece
A Very Merry Christmas

No it is not to early, what with the month of December full of music concerts, plays and exams. I am one happy Momma that the girls wanted to stop and take the time to do gingerbread. Thank you, Thank you girls! The best gift of the year.

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Starting at the Beginning Again

Big flop!

Well, my mixed media adventure was a flop! So, I put the plates in the stripper and went out shopping. This evening I tried again.
Tomorrow I will develop the plates and see what I have to work with. I hope I get lucky this time.

This is day 21 for "Art Every Day Month" and I am determined to do something every day.
For some reason this has been a crazy month for getting time in the studio.

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Mixed Media Adventure

This is my mixed media adventure in stage one. I took scrapes of imagOn and exposed images onto the ImagOn before laminating it onto the copper plates. I am going to develop the plates tomorrow. Then look at exactly what I have, decide what to add to the image by drawing and painting onto the other bare copper areas. So, I will let you know tomorrow night what happens.

This is day 20 for "Art Every Day Month"
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Today was dig out the studio day for "Art Every Day Month" day 19. Everything was piled on top of every available surface, even the floor! The good news is that I found two really large triangles to work on next. I took a photo to show the comparison to the largest triangles that I have been working with.

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Then and Now Maybe

"Then and Now"

It has been one of those days when nothing seems to come together. I need to clean up and organize my studio something wicked! Instead I went grocery shopping and then played on the computer with some old and newer "One With Copper" images. I like the idea of collaging the old and new together. However, it just didn't come together. This is the only survivor today for "Art Every Day Month" and "One With Copper"

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The Bristol International Postal Art Project

This arrived in the mail this morning so I went down to the studio right away and printed one of my relief plates on my card. As soon as it drys I will be sending it off to the next participant. Helen Allsebrook dreamed up the Bristol International Postal Art Project 2010. I love fun ideas like this.

While I was in the studio I inked up a couple of plates that needed proofing and started ripping paper for editioning.

That is it for day 17 for "Art Every Day Month" and "One With Copper"
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Thank You

International Day of Tolerance

"The Balance of Tolerance"

Today is a very special day for my "Art Every Day Month" blogging. It is International Day of Tolerance for the world.
I strongly believe if We as individuals could just get over ourselves, the world would be a happy, happy place. Yeah, to simple an idea! We are all exactly the same and wonderfully different all at the same time. Tolerating someone for thinking differently, looking different is difficult because of lack of understanding. I love the ending statement from the UNESCO's Declaration of Principles on Tolerance "Tolerance is Harmony in Difference"

International Day of Tolerance

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Art Every Day 15 Etched Plate

This is the Etched Plate

I left my copper plate in the Edinburgh Etch and went in town to listen to other people make art today. The Ottawa Classical Society gave an informal performance this afternoon. It was very enjoyable, wonderful afternoon of art to listen to.

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Your a Star

"Art Every Day Month" Day 14 and "One With Copper"

"Lady Star"

I almost skipped running down to the studio this evening. I ended up going and messing with two plates that I had rolled a layer of hardground on a week or so ago. One of the plates ended up in the stripper. I have drawn this figure a lot over the years on my plates. She is kind of peaceful. The hardground is water based Graphic Chemical woodblock ink and the image is painted on with acrylic stop-out. Everything after etching will wash up with soap and water.

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Proof of A Mother's Mind

"Art Every Day Month" Day 13 and "One With Copper"

Inked and on the press

I had a great Friday the 13th! I was out and about with the family and discovered some more interesting places here in Ottawa. As soon as I got in the door I went down to the studio to proof yesterdays plate. Confession, I forgot the plate in the etch yesterday. I did want a long five hour etch, but not a good 8 hours. The plate was a bit crazy anyway, so maybe it helped. I will never know now, so it does not matter.

The proof.

The relief print was almost solid black. This plate definitely needs to be printed Intaglio. I really like the roughness of the printed image. It suits with the whirling tired mother struggling guitarist mind theme.

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Copper Collage and a Mother's Mind

"Art Every Day Month" Day 12 and "One With Copper"

The image on my copper plate today is a collage of a piece of fabric, found objects and drawing with a near dried up paint maker. It is all about what I am thinking about when I try to settle down and play my guitar. I want to call it something like - what's in a mothers mind- but that is not quite right. It is etched and is now in the stripper, so tomorrow I will find out if it prints OK.

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Let Go and Keep On Trying- Proofed

"Art Every Day Month" Day 11

(Remembrance Day)
and "One With Copper"

"Let Go and Keep On Trying"
etched copper plates

This time next week I hope to be able to show you all the plates etched on one side. I am almost

finished of the first half of the 71 copper plates. The move took a good chuck of time out of working on the project, so the next 71 images should go faster.

This set of copper plates inked up easy both in relief and intaglio. I like them both, but the image does show up better in the intaglio printing. I am so looking forward to playing with some color soon. The plates should be editioned before I etch the other side in case of an accident!

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Keep on Trying

"Art Every Day Month" Day 10 and "One With Copper"

"Let Go and Keep on Trying"

I came home last night and took a quick look at my plates and immediately put them in the stripper. This morning I got up and started over again. I had a small amount of Ultra ImagOn left on a roll that I was reserving for a halftone. I ended up using half of it for this image. Ultra ImagOn usually always works for me.
Now I hear, there is yet another kind of ImagOn to try in the new year. I am not investing in anything new until I use every scrape of ImagOn left in my studio.
Guess what I found when I was searching for a big enough scrape for my triangles?

Yeah some more scrapes!!!!!

This is probably left-over ends of rolls and stuff cut up for small plates at workshops. It could be any kind of ImagOn. The lighter stuff is probably Ultra Imagon I hope. Of Course, none of it was big enough for the two triangles.

Both plates are in the etching bath right now.

It always seems that the plates first attempt has a certain energy that is lost when I redo any image. I like this, but when I look at yesterdays composition it feels better.

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OH, What A Mess!

"Art Every Day Month" Day 9 and "One with Copper"

Oh, Bother again, my plate is not so great.

I am going to try and paint in the hands to save the rest of the plate before etching. I would normally just soak off the ImagOn and start over. But, I am working with the last scraps of ImagOn I have left.

Last years up side down Praying Hands

Last year about this time I was working with this drawing of Praying Hands. I put the images on the plates the wrong way for my Kite series idea. So, now that I am getting down to the last of my plates I wanted to try again.

I will give it a try tomorrow and see if I can touch up the hands. If I can't I will just soak it all off and do something else.

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Plates Got Some Prep

"Art Every Day Month" Day 8 and "One With Copper"

Dashed into the studio this morning and sanded, put backing on, and rolled a layer of hardground on a few copper plates.

You see, it was the most gorgeous beautiful day outside today. I had a lot of running around that needed to be done, and it was fun stuff. Ended up being a perfect family out and about day.

I am going to let these plates dry a couple of days before working with them again. The two plain plates are for new ideas and the other two I am adding some texture to their background.

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Family Art

Art Every Day Month Day 7***Happy Happy Birthday Eliza Jane***

This has been a fantastic day of family just being together.
The cake is my art today.

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Just had to play on Day 6

"Art Every Day Month" Day 6 for "One With Copper"

"Meeting Place"

I did not get to the studio to do my plate preparation today as planned. Instead I played on the computer with an image from yesterdays Blog Blast For Peace. I love doing stuff like this, just for fun.

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PS; I always play when I work.

Blog Blast For PEACE 2009

My Copper Spirit of Peace
Blog Blast For Peace 2009

This is a very important, special day to reflect on what we all can do to help our troubled world.
With lots of personal reflection I simply think LOVE of self, and others is the answer. Too LOVE you have to respect, tolerate, give of yourself selflessly, be compassionate, and care, care and care again. If each person in the world worked on how they love, that would change the world.

Yesterday I worked on a special art Installation for Blog Blast For Peace from Dawn to Dusk!

Here are some of my images for Blog Blast to Peace.

Around 655 for Blog Blast For Peace
(Just one of my pictures, there are hundreds!)

Yesterday morning I rolled out of bed at 5:45am to set up my art installation on my back patio area here in Ottawa. No beach this year. A lot of changes since the last Blog Blast For Peace in 2008.

OH NO! It is taking me to long to set up.
Around 6:30 to the left of my back door.

We are living in a lovely subdivision with lots of happy kids running around. I love the sound of the kids playing in the open spaces around the townhouses and apartments.

It is getting lighter. This is around 7:10am

The sun is looking at my back door.
Around 8:40am

Blog Blast For Peace around8:40am

I was concentrating really hard not to get the buildings and fence in the images. I thought I wanted to just document the changes in the sky, but the sky was not doing a whole of anything. So my "Copper Spirit of Peace" decided to crash out of a building.

My "Copper Spirit For Peace" around 9:20am

I rushed out to the back porch after my shower to see if anything was happening in the sky to photograph. My hair was not pulled up and it was wet. Sometimes the accidents are interesting.

Around 10:30am
A little sun is coming in through the fence on our back patio.

Around 12 noon
Made a few changes to my Copper Peace Dove
My dreams for lots of bright afternoon sunshine was disappearing. The sky started to gray over.

Blog Blast For Peace around 1:10pm

Lot's of soft gray sky for the afternoon

I had some other errand's to get done, so dashed off and came back to record dusk. I relaxed and played!

My Copper Spirit Escaping at 4:20pm

The sky at 5pm to the right of my back patio.
The sun is somewhere in that direction.

Captured At 4:30pm

My Copper Spirit of Peace Heading into the Night
This is around 5Pm

A Rainbow of Hope In the Dark
around 6:20pm

A Spirit of Hope Heading out into the Darkness

Around 6:30 for Blog Blast For Peace 2009

This is year 50 for me and it has been an amazing busy year of lots of change. I really got home sick for the Island beaches and Thomas looking back at last years Blog Blast for Peace. Thomas graduated and stayed on my Island to study at the Culinary Institute. My husband and I moved to Ottawa with our youngest. Our oldest is living here so that is a big perk. Change is really hard, but doable, so the world can start loving if it wants to. Maybe, it is just to simple an idea for people to get there heads around.

This is it for today's "Art Every Day Month" Day 5, "Blog Blast for Peace" and "One With Copper"

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PEACE

Whistles, Pins & Guitars Proofs

"Art Every Day Month" Day 4 for "One With Copper"

"Whistle A Tune" loves to have ink rolled on top. Yesterdays plates etched nice and deep for a great Relief printing.
"Performing Pins and Needles" plate inked up as relief

I really like the copper plates for both images as a relief print.

The copper plates look good inked up for Intaglio, but I do not like the proofs.

Tomorrow is a big day. It is Blog For Peace Day

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Whistles, Pins, Guitars and OH Bother!

"Art Every Day Month" Day 3 for "One With Copper"

Here we are all ready to go into the etching bath, just need to put my backing on.

Putting the backing on I saw some little detail that I wanted to touch up. Grabbed my paint sharpie marker gave it a shake (habit) and the tip flew off! What a mess!!!.
Oh Well, I added new spots to the design, put it in the etching bath and hoped for good luck.

"Whistle A Tune"

I really like the look of the plates. So, the extra spots will work for the end result when putting the sculpture together. Tomorrow I will show you how the copper plates print.

"Performing Pins and Needles"

I love playing with my music, however I will never go any farther then family and friends when it comes to playing in front of people. Music is my hobby and is just for pure enjoyment.

Big day tomorrow, I am getting ready to Blog for Peace on Thursday.

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Here's The Proof!

"Art Every Day Month" Day 2 for "One With Copper"

Strum Use A Tune's Proofs

I just barely made it to the studio at the last minute before getting supper ready this evening. Great day, but busy getting important run around stuff done. It was a gorgeous day so I did a lot of walking to destinations instead of busing. It was just so great to be outside.

If I work this way with another copper plate again, there are some things I would do different. One is not put a music note coming out of the little guys head! I cheated and painted it in on the intaglio proof. Now I am off to relax and play my guitar.

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"Strum Use A Tune" Copper Plate

"Art Every Day Month" Day 1 for "One With Copper"

For the month of November, I am joining a group of artists blogging about their art.
Check it all out at Creative Every Day.

This is Strum Use A Tune's copper plate before going into the etching bath for 5 hours.

Getting ready for the second etch.
The second time in the etching bath (Edinburgh Etch), it was only in for 1 hour.

I used Screen Filler and Sharpie Marker for blocking out what I didn't want to etch.

"Strum Use A Tune" etched copper plate.

I am looking forward to seeing how the copper plate prints tomorrow. That is it for Day 1, the beginning of my month of daily blogging about non-toxic printmaking and probably some photography.

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Life's "A Scream" Happy International Artist Day!

"A Scream" By Eliza Jane

Ain't Life just a scream? There so many ways and reasons for screaming. There are screams of joy, pain, terror, excitement! The fluxes of life give use many reasons to scream at it. And that is what "A Scream" is all about.

I have been playing with mirror pieces, smashing mirrors and photographing the results for a while now. In life for me, I have experienced bad luck, but looking back on my bad experiences I can see that my so called bad luck has lead me to some really good luck.

My central influence for the idea of "A Scream" comes from Edvard Munch's "The Scream". I love the image and all the variations of the idea Edvard Munch produced.

My oldest daughter agreed on Thanksgiving Sunday to be the first to pose for "A Scream". She had fun! I put a pile of broken mirror pieces on the floor and she silently screamed into the mirrors for me. I asked her to silently scream because I didn't want the neighbours to think I was torturing someone in my studio. The results are a hoot! I am so in love with the distortion idea of the mirror pieces and feel the effect gives "A Scream" an added emotional factor. The smashed mirror distorts the emotion and adds its own emotional dissimulation.

Life's "A Scream"

So, to celebrate "International Artist Day" I am lunching "A Scream" with an invitation to anyone in the Ottawa area that would like to participate to contact me at debra@debrajamespercival.com . I am not rich (but happy anyway) so I can not offer money for your time. However, I would like to give each participant a photo from their posing for "A Scream" as a thank you.

"Still screaming for Mom"

Next October 25, 2010 International Artist Day would be a wonderful time to celebrate with a showing of "A Scream". Help make art happen and participate.
Life's A scream, so lets have fun with it!Hey! Children are not supposed to stick their tongues out at their parents.

"A Scream" She let her hair down
"A Scream" by me this time!

Life's "A Scream"
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Me and My Guitar

This week I put my husbands photography skills to a test. He gets to do all sorts of stuff he would not otherwise attempt, just because he loves my craziness . I wanted some photos for shapes to make transparencies for exposing to my damaged ImagOn, that I am having fun working with in the studio. So I wrapped an old bed sheet around my waist to give a wonderful flowing skirt effect and a scarf on my head for long flowing hair. The photos were pretty funny!

This is the only one I will show you and it was played with.

"Me and My Guitar"

These are the proofs for this weekI am getting low on damaged ImagOn and will have to order some good stuff. I have been so relaxed playing with this stuff, that I am sad I only have a few scarps left.

I leave the plates in for a good 5 hour etch, so it is easy to just roll ink on the plate with a small roller.

This is how I made two of my favorite plates this week. I used some of the stuff hanging around the studio and two transparencies made on the computer.

Me and My Guitar copper plates

I will be blogging on Sunday again this week for a very special reason. It is International Artist Day! In honour I plan to launch my photo project "A Scream".

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Revisiting An Idea

This has been an amazing week of sniffles, family time, and studio time. My favorite two days of the week were Saturday and Sunday with the family! I started coming down with a good old fashioned head cold on Sunday. Bummer! But, I still got a lot done on my project etching/sculpture/art installation/non-toxic printmaking project "One With Copper". AND I talked my oldest into a special photo shot that I have been wanting to do for a long time! She asked me to wait till after Halloween before showing the results. I am so excited about the idea! It is separate from One With Copper`` and is all photography. The main problem with the idea is getting people to let go of there inhibitions. Hmmmmmmmmmm??My art installation was not well thought out, I was felling rotten and wanted to be outside. The great thing about the results is that the video is fantastic! The combination of ribbons in the trees, the movement of the wind and the landscape was so much better then my still shots. Again I will be posting more photos on Flickr.
In the studio I revisited my images from last week on my computer and made transparencies reworking the baby idea. I have a small amount of the exposed ImagOn left to play with still. Next week I hope to do some music themed etchings.This is a few of the transparencies I did on the computer working with last weeks ideas.
I love working with ideas with the computer and sometimes the printer adds its input to the creative process also. The printer would not print with out lines no matter how much I augured with it. So, not wanting to wast the transparencies, I started filling in the lines with a sharpie marker. Halfway through coloring in the lines I decided to see if they would expose and etch well.
This is my favourite for this week. The plates and proofs worked great. Left INTAGLIO and right side is RELIEF.
This is the copper plate with ImagOn, all ready to be put in the etching bath (Edinburgh Etch)
Finally the etched plate. The copper plate was etched for 5 hours.
Yes all that mirror and copper is very heavy to carry. I am a happy nut and it really is a good work out now that we no longer have a car!

That is it for this week in my Ottawa studio.
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A Printmaker and Her Sewing Basket

Before Etching and After Etching

This has been a wonderful productive week in the studio making plates out of ImagOn I was almost going to throw out a number of times this last year. I have lots of scraps of ImagOn stored in tubes for later use. Not a good idea! Light seeps in through the cardboard seams or my ImagOn was accidentally exposed to lots of light some time. Whatever happened, the ImagOn I am now working with is a dark blue color. I can not even see the copper plate under it when I laminate it onto the plate.
I had a lot of fun playing with a bunch of stuff I found when I dumped my sewing basket out on the floor. A lot of the imagOn is not usable, but you can not tell until you start developing. This is because when you take it from the exposure unit, the ImagOn does not show any shadow of an image or color change. I tried different times for exposer and for some reason 3 minutes works best. If you happen to accidentally expose your imagOn, just relax and play with it. I love my plates this week. The copper plates were etched for 5 hours and work great inked up as relief or intaglio. Lots of fun!
A lot of the ImagOn went like this in the developer really fast!! I choose to keep this one and etched it. The others I just stripped and kept the copper plate for another time.
As long as the ImagOn is stuck to the plate it will resist and protect the copper plate from the etching solution.

The Plates In All Their Glory

The plates are really pretty and they ink up like a charm!

Here are some of the proofs of the plates and again I will be putting extra pictures on Flickr.

This is one of the sets of copper plates inked up as a relief, printed on the press with damp paper.The same same copper plates inked and printed as an intaglio. Two more plates and then I will stop for this week.

Inked as a Relief and printed on the press with damp paper.

The plates inked and printed as an intaglio.

My grown up daughter stopped by last night and when she saw my plates, the first thing she pointed out was: "Mom, Baby's shouldn't play with scissors or needles and pointy things!" Ah, but I am all grown up now, so it is OK in my art. I am so glad my kids made me want to get into safer printing process's. It is because of wanting to be a Mom at home and being there for them that I am now working in non-toxic printmaking and loving the results.

Happy Thanks Giving Everyone
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Rain Causes A Flood of Studio Time

Week 42 in the studio "One With Copper"

This week was spent in the studio because of the weather outside. I got a lot etching, proofing and even did a studio still life installation. It was hard picking out what to put on the blog.

My still life in the studio was fun trying to get the right angle for a photo without all sorts of odd studio stuff reflecting in the mirrors.

At one point I was almost standing on my head to take a photo. No, No, I do not want to be in the picture!

"Take Care"

That is better, and I am going to add one more picture of the art installation before I start talking about all my printmaking plates. I am going to put more up on Flickr, later if you want to check it out.

"Lost Memories"

I only had one mess up in the studio this week. I over etched a couple of plates. Make sure your backing is secure on your plate or this will happen!

The top plate is an etched plate with the backing secure. It really ate away with the edge of the copper plate. I redid the plates and have decided to hang the two ruined plates in the studio to see what will happen to the copper over time. One plate is going to have ink on it and the other is going to be dipped in future floor polish. This I hope will help me make up my mind on how to treat the plates for the final sculpture.

Now I am going to walk you through the process of how I did
my two most favorite plates of this week.

In the beginning I exposed the line drawing transparency to ImagOn laminated on the plate.
This is the plate all ready to go into the etching bath. I work with the Edinburgh etch for copper.

The copper plates after a 3 hour etch.

Using straight Screen Filler to draw the juggling balls.

Next I used 50/50 water and screen filler for a rough aquatint. The screen filler and water was sprayed on the plates with a dollar store misting bottle.

The copper plates were left in the Edinburgh Etch for 2 more hours. This is what the plates looked like after being rinsed off. Then they were put in a soda ash solution to strip off the ImagOn resist and left over screen filler.

I proof everything different ways because I am still deciding how I want to print the final images. There is going to be a kite series for sure and maybe a big collage of the best plates done somewhere on a big press. I am dreaming of renting a big press somewhere sometime. If not, I can do a big relief print by hand.

The left print is a relief of the above plates printed by hand with a roller on the back of the paper. The print on the right is what was left of the ink on the plate after I did the relief print. I dampened some paper and ran the plate through the press. It did a beautiful intaglio type print!

"How Do"

I plan to add more photos of the plate proofs to my Flickr account because my blog this week is getting pretty long. I enjoyed every minute of everything that I did in the studio this week.

Comments and Questions welcome
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UP UP IN THE SKY

"Flying High"
Yes, I Love playing with my work.

I had big plans to print in the studio on Monday. It turned out to be the most gorgeous sunny day that begged me to go out and play! So, I packed a few of my mirrors, some broken mirror pieces, two copper etched plates and my camera in my knapsack. My husband and I walked over to the park to play.
(I did print in the studio on Wednesday, and I have some proofs that I played with to show you also.)

Terry and I on the way over to the park.

I have some amazing video of us just standing on the path with light magically happening all around us. It was just one of those perfect days to be out. I take video of my art installations and this one simple set up turned out to produce the most wonderful video. I am so looking forward to showing this whole show (edited) because there is a lot of stuff! It is exciting!

"The Choosen Spot"

I still have a lot of exploring to do in Ottawa. I choose to go to the Andrew Hayden Park, just because I am familiar with the area.

It was a small installation, but I got a lot of fantastic images, ideas and video out of it.

"Don't Get Tangled Up On The Way"

There are a lot more photos of the art installation, but I want to show you how the two copper plate proofs turned out. I used AKUA Intaglio ink for my proofing this time. I love it because it works great, and washes up with soap and water. Non-Toxic Printmaking makes life in the printing studio so relaxed.

The copper plate inked up as an Intaglio

The copper plates inked up as a relief (I just rolled the ink on the plate)

The played with Intaglio proofs

The played with Relief proofs

"One With Copper" is all about the Art of Playing, and I love blowing bubbles! Please note if you do this in your laundry/studio area to take care not to get any of the bubble and pigment mixture on other members of the family's clothing. Oh Well, such is life! No one but me noticed so far.

Step One blowing Bubbles

All Done.

I have an enormous amount of etching to do, ideas to collect and lots of printing to do. Life is not boring.

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The Etched Plate As The Image

Idea for "Let's Go Fly a Kite" series

I am referring to this week as "One With Copper" week 40#3. I am just beginning to get organized in the studio for some serious fun. I set up my exposure unit for ImagOn this week. The relief when I unpacked my light for the unit was great! It was intact and is working great.

Image from Art Installation week 1 for "One With Copper"

Before I left PEI to move to Ottawa I made a transparency of this image. I love how it etched!

Once the image was exposed to the plates with ImagOn, the plates were developed in Soda Ash and water. The same stuff you soak in at the spa's hot tube!

Non-Toxic Printmaking = No Solvents or Acids

Overnight Etch

I do not have my Aquatint area set up yet or even unpacked. So I did an overnight etch for a great relief plate.

ImagOn is an amazing resist in the Edinburgh Etch.

The copper etched plates are so Gorgeous!

The two Copper plates.

Another Idea for "Lets Go Fly A Kite" series
Playing with the plates with ImagOn still on the plate.

The same Idea with the ImagOn stripped off after etching.

I am so in love with the etched plate and the printmaking process, that none of this is work. The play potential in printmaking has kept me enthusiastic for quite a few years.

Next week I am looking forward to more etched plates and some ink on paper.
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Whats Happening In the Studio

What is happening in the studio is a lot of testing, organizing, and having fun messing about!
Good New is that I remembered my plate in the etching bath and we have been blessed with lots and lots of sunshine.

I didn't mess with the clock, honest.
1 hour etch

Before I put the plate in the etching bath (Edinburgh Etch) I scratched on the plate again with the same tools as last week. Mark making is a lot different when the plate is dry.

This is a photo of the etched plates inked up.

The printed test plates

I favor the black ink (Graphic Chemical W/S Block ink # 1659c) because it is the most versatile can of ink to have in a studio on an ordinary artist budget. It has never let me down when teaching all age groups. That said the 3 inks mixed together works great!

A lot of the texture on the plates comes from the old roller I was using.

Now an update to my studio personal working area that I share with the laundry and storage.

This was last weeks fuss getting the water hooked up.

I have not started working with ImagOn yet. So things will move about as I work. I am having a problem of dirt on my clean paper area!!!!!!! So, move it or figure out what and where and how come the dirt is falling on my clean paper. Bother!

"Look At Me I Am Strong"

This woodcut, whenever I finish carving it out, will most likely be printed in black or brown. I love drawing with the sharpie maker and the black on the wood really appeals to me.

This is Strathmore watercolor paper socked in tea. I am trying to get an old, old aged looking paper. I used one of my old plates from the past that I never editioned, but love. I have a lot of plates that do not get editioned. Life happens and I move on to something else. I guess.

The plate is a combination of ImagOn, aluminum etching and screen filler painted on for the figures and the sun like thing.

"The print"
I think the figures need a little more work, maybe.

Even though this blog entree is really long I could not resist putting a few of my photo picks in again this week. No, I do not want to start another blog! This one keeps me centred on working on the process of "One With Copper" in about life's interferences. I do not want to make another blog commitment.

Enjoy the photos.

This is just a simple weed! Its beauty takes my breath away.

Nature knows how to Knit!

"Gold leaf"

It has been a great week here in Ottawa, Thanks for stopping by.

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Dragons and Printmaking

Let's start at the very beginning for week 40 working on "One With Copper"

Getting water in my basement work area turned out to be a big fuss. I got lots of water, just not in the sink. My favourite quote of the week was "Lucky you have a hole in your floor". Yes, I am very grateful that the basement has a drainage hole. Today I washed up my tools in the sink for the first time. It was great!
Since my work space is new, my Edinburgh Etch is new and I wanted to talk about printmaking, I decided to do a test plate. I love to use 3 different inks for my hard and soft grounds. They are: Graphic Chemical W/S Block inks Peacock Blue # 1669, Black # 1659C, and Crimson Red # 1661C. Lots of printmakers add different stuff to their ink to modify it to their specific wants/needs. Me, I love my hard and soft ground straight from the can. Little things help as you get used to working with the process. Such as when to draw marks on the hard ground. It can be worked on wet or medium dry to bone dry. Depending on the color of ink when working with a soft ground, sometimes it helps to let it dry a little bit before working with it. It all takes experimentation to get exactly what you think you want. Happy accidents are my favourite experiments.I did make marks in the hard ground while it was soft with the above tips. I also did a wash effect of the three colors. I know from the past that the black works best for a wash effect. I plan to etch the plate for 1 hour and I will show the plate and print next week.

The black ink is my all around favourite of the three inks for wash effects and hard grounds. The first mark was made with the metal tip needle, the second mark was with the pen, and the third mark/line on top was with the end of a paintbrush. From right to left you can see 1,2 and 3 rolls of ink on the plate. I like the one roll of ink for a quick aquatint effect. You can draw with a sharpie maker on a prepared plate and then roll ink on top. This works with one layer of ink rolled on the plate best. I forgot and rolled over my sharpie marker. Such is Life. I just will not clean the plate really well so you can see where the original color ink was next week.
I couldn't resist! When I was cleaning up I mixed the left over ink colors all together. This is the experiment plate for the three color hard ground. Note the lines drawn on the plate and the above marking tools.

Now for my photo picks this week

"Dragons In My Window"

"Magic Magic Everywhere"

"Dragon Visit"

If you are looking for more information about printmaking check out my links on my website and my printmaking page. Next week if I do not forget the plate in the etch, I will show you what happens in a one hour etch.

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The Glass Princess

"The Glass Princess's Beginning"

I promised a photo experiment and here it is. It was a very beautiful sunny day to play out on the back porch. A very kind neighbour donated some wonderful pieces of mirror, I am very excited!

"Her Back Against the Wall"

I love the pebbles in our back porch slabs. It is a lot of fun playing with the color and texture.

"The Glass Princess's Party Outfit"

"Goon Swimming"

I also had a lot of fun playing with mirror on mirror. Playing with reflections is a lot of fun and the possibilities are endless. I usually start with an idea and end up somewhere else.

"Rained Out Princess Ball"

That is the last image for this week and next week water or no water in the studio I will get back to printing one of my "One With Copper" plates. The workmen or work women, did not show up today as scheduled. Very disappointing! But, the show must go on anyway. It has been nearly 6 months of limbo of packing, moving, moving and unpacking. Definitely time to get back to work.

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Something To Look Forward To

"It's Hot!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

It has been very hot and humid in the house this week. Yes, I am still playing with water reflections and photography. It is a lot of fun and it is so healthy to be a grown up kid. I am making a commitment in honor of back to school assignments. Week 40 for "One With Copper" will be documented the first week of September. Teachers and students are back to school on the first of September this year! It is always a scramble at the last minute to get organized for the beginning of the school year. Good Luck Everyone.

This was a super hot evening at the Andrew Haydon Park as the sun was setting.

I am looking forward to "One With Copper" and working in the studio in September. I hope to be back next week with a another photo experiment.

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Happy Art Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Art Day is a Holiday for the Arts!

To celebrate Art Day I printed my first print in my new studio in Ottawa. Yep, I am a happy Artist Printmaker. I made a big mess of the studio trying to find a certain plate, I am sure it is somewhere in one of the bins. I did find this interesting experiment with future floor polish I did last fall and never editioned. I think I called the plate "Washed up on Shore". Here are some images from my first printing adventure in my Ottawa studio for Art Day.

First I boiled about 20 bags of tea. Brought it all down to the studio and socked some stonehenge paper in the tea. I wanted to age the paper color a bit. Some really neat spots happened on the paper.

Unfortunately they are starting to fad a bit as the paper drys.

This is the copper plate "Washed Up On Shore" and I fondly like to also refer to as "Happy Blob On The Beach". We have wonderful walks along the river here in Ottawa, but Ottawa I am sorry you have very funny beaches!!!

My first pulled print in Ottawa to celebrate Art Day, August 14, 2009

And now clean up!

I do not have my water hook up in the studio yet, so clean up was a hoot!

I did the initial clean up with the tea and then went upstairs for clean soapy rags to finish up. I did take my plate after its tea bath upstairs and washed it in clean soupy water. It is a crazy plate but I love it. There are now three editioned prints for "Washed Up On Shore".

**Party**

While working/playing in the studio I started planing an Etching and Printing party in the studio shortly after the water is hooked up. Just to celebrate being able to clean up with clean water and to break in the studio. I have some old small plates already etched on one side that I would give to anyone who brought me an old phone book for wiping plates. That way I will celebrate Art Day all over again.

A Very Happy Art Day Everyone

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Happily Looking In All The Wrong Places

"Looking In All the Wrong Places"

That is how it is exactly in my work space! I am mostly unpacked, but still can not find what I am looking for. Lots of sorting, decluttering and organization still to be done before I start printing again. Ah, but it is summer and I am enjoying looking around Ottawa.

My Studio Space as of first week in August.

The good news is that the cardboard boxes are gone. I am so looking forward to putting ink on paper soon.

Happy Printmaker

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Kitchen Art In Ottawa

"If We work Together We Can Hold It Together"

I wanted to see how Redbubble printed my Photo Collage's for "One With Copper" as a large poster. I used this big space in my Ottawa kitchen as an excuse to treat myself. I am not disappointed, Redbubble did an excellent job of printing the poster.

I love taking pictures, here are a few Ottawa photo picks for this week:

Playing tourist downtown this week, I could not resist photographing this reflection in another building.

The lighting was so beautiful that day, as you will see in the next picture also.

The sky was such a perfect color background for the church steeples.

Walking along the river in the evening in the Bayshore area.

There are lots and lots of seagulls where I am living. Every morning I wake up to the sounds of seagulls talking.Too end this week is a late evening photo on the water. I call it "Magic On The Water".

Tea and Copper

"Tea Time"

This is an image I took at a Tea Shop in Ottawa. Tea with friends and family are some of the best times! Terry and I are still working hard at getting our place unpacked and organized. This week we are working on my studio work area. We both agreed that we had done this to many times. So, we stopped and had a cup of tea. Yes, we are both very tired. We have been in a pile of boxes since February!

"The Centre of my Copper Soul"

I stopped unpacking and played for a short time with some of my installation photos. This is another of my maybes for the "One With Copper" show.

Looking forward to working on fun stuff.

We Are In Ottawa

"Copper Ice Cube"

We are now in Ottawa unpacking lots and lots of boxes!!!!!!!!!! I love my studio space and can not wait to get back to creating. This is just an Hello posting, "One With Copper" is on hold until I get a little more settled or fed up with unpacking.

This is an image taken at a park close to where we are living now.

Last PEI Blog

I had to smash my last big piece of mirror so that I could pack up the pieces for moving. My limbo time all of a sudden has disappeared! I love the way it smashed and could not resist taking pictures.
This was done for last weeks blog that never got posted because life just got wonderfully crazy with graduations, special family and friends get together times. The afternoon that I photographed this set up, was again sunny and very warm. I played with water and took lots and lots of great photos to collage together. FUN FUN FUN!

"Copper Light"

This is one of the fun possibilities from the photo shot. Once we are somewhat settled in Ottawa I plan to continue playing with this idea and get back to etching and printing.

Terry and Debra at Cavendish last week.

This is Bye Bye to PEI, and after I get my computer hooked up again I will be blogging from Ottawa about how "One With Copper" is progressing. Week 40 will happen in Ottawa.

Picture Story

"The Water View"

This week 38 working on my show in my limbo stage of my move to another province has been a photo week. I played a lot with my images from my experiment last week and went for a walk on Sunday at Stanhope Beach.I wanted copper kites in the water with the ribbon moving gently. BUT............

Just shortly after taking this photo everything washed away. I scrambled to collect everything.

So, I reset up on shore and took lots and lots of photos, but it was not what I really wanted. I have another idea that might work to hopefully try before leaving the Island in a few weeks. Look to the centre of the above photo for the position of the Blue Heron.

"Resting Spot"

"Lunch"
"What, I Didn't Burp" "Gee, Some People"
"View Looking Towards Stanhope"

"A Labyrinth On the Beach"

On our walk back to the Van at Stanhope, Terry stopped to walk a wonderful Beach Labyrinth that someone built. It was very beautiful and obviously took a lot of effort to construct. Thank You to whoever built the Labyrinth.

"We Are Who We Are"

Have a great week everyone and thank you for stopping by. Comment Here

Playing at the Beach and on the Porch

Week 37, One with Cooper at Basin Head, PEI

The family drove up to Basin Head for a walk on the beach on Sunday. I snuck a few pieces of copper and broken mirror into my knapsack just in case I might have a chance to do something. It was a beautiful day and everyone was OK about sitting and relaxing in the sun while I played on the beach.

Basin Head is an incredibly beautiful place!

I am so in love with the color of the copper plates, sky blue and the sand. Plus the shapes and texture of the three elements in the installation are a big wow for me. The natural and the unnatural combined to accent each other.

It was a perfect Sunday afternoon to play at the beach!
And, now a few images of what I did on the porch yesterday.

"Muddled Puddles"

This is my first try with colored water and mirror and I am so excited about the idea. I have 300 images to look at and edit, but the possibilities are enormous and so much fun. The installation did create a lot of mess to clean up!

"Reflecting Thoughts"

It was lots of fun trying to quickly catch the moment before everything changed. The water dries really fast and moves, plus the wind was blowing the dried Queens Ann Lace around. All in all I am really excited about the effects I captured with my camera. Next week I hope to add my copper plates to the installation and see what happens.

"What Happened"
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Thank you for stopping by on Week 37 of my journey with "One With Copper"

Shattered Art

"Looking Glass View"

This week I worked out on the back porch trying to get lucky breaking more mirror. It is surprisingly hard to smash a mirror! I was trying to get larger broken pieces this time, but the mirror does as it wishes. I still have more mirror to smash and it is lots of fun working with whatever happens.

"Shattered Art"

This is how it usually goes when I work at home: I started working mid afternoon and had to leave to attend to family stuff, took more pictures, braked for supper, more photos, then went for a walk around the Marsh out back of where we are living right now, took more photos of the installation on the back porch, clean up was just before dark. How many of you have neighbors that vacuum there outdoor porches?

"Porch View"

All the shapes created naturally when I smash the mirror are saved for later Art Installation ideas. I chose 85 photos out of the batch of images I photographed this week. It was hard knocking them down for the blog. I also did some other experiments with the mirror that needs more perfecting before incorporating into an art installation. I love ideas that branch off into other ideas. That's when everything starts rolling! Lots and Lots of Fun!!!!

"Shattered Art Evening"

Behind the scene of my weekly blog I am working on ideas for etching the copper plates. I have an enormous amount of images to draw inspiration from. As I work on the ideas, I turn some into transparency's for working with ImagOn. I am so looking forward to setting up my studio again and working on paper and fabric. Till then, I am having a great time with my camera.

I have tried to fix my error that I am sure I committed concerning the Comment Feature. But No Luck! So if you have a question or comment please go to my website at www.debrajamespercival.com and click on Comment Page and Thank You.

Week 36 "One With Copper"

Mirror, Mirror In The Woods

This week 35 of my blogging about my show process for "One With Copper" we went tramping through the woods to set up a photo shot. I say we because Maida took pictures of me working and Terry volunteered to carry a large piece of mirror down a trail at Stanhope Beach.

OK, I am lucky! He really did volunteer.

The trail at Stanhope were we set up this week is in between the beach and the road. The video that I shot has a lot of road noise and one of the short videos even has a plane roaring overhead. Even so, there is a lot of wildlife to listen too on the trail. There are lots of birds and friendly squirrels on the trail.I love the old wood growth as everything dies and renews over and over in a circle. Every stage is beautiful.

I could not resist adding some broken glass to the art installation with the copper plates.
I had such an enormous amount of fun doing this!

Only a few more weeks to work on PEI and then we are off to Ottawa, Ontario. I am very excited to set up my Printmaking studio again and get back to working in the studio. Before then I want to do a few more beach installations, but I am sure there will be water areas that are interesting in Ontario too.

Happy Printmaking Everyone!
"One With Copper" week 35

Here's To Good Luck!

My New Toy To Play With

This is wicked fun! I had an idea to add broken mirror to my photo shots while working with my copper plates. This is to help amuse myself; and keep working while I am in limbo without a Printmaking Studio to mess around in. A Special Thank You to all the people who where so positive about helping me get pieces of mirror to play with! Thank you, Thank you.

There are a few problems such as how to transport broken pieces of mirror to out door installations! This week I am going to try wrapping special pieces up in cloth and carrying them in a plastic bin, that should work. Awkward, Yes! especially with all the other stuff I need to carry with me. It is good to be crazy.
I am going to need so much help editing this show next year. I already have thousands of images, some video, plus other stuff to sort through and I have barely started working! It is all very exciting and great in a way not to be tied to any grant, university, or to anyone other then myself. I am free to wander through ideas and explore possibilities. Don`t get me wrong, money does help with the freedom of exploring materials, but right now I am truly loving just creating for the simple reason ``Because!``

This weeks installation was done indoors on the kitchen table.
I love contrasting elements- metal, glass and organic dying tulip.

I am looking forward to playing with my new toy outdoors.

Thanks for stopping by for week 34 on my journey working with ``One With Copper``.

Random Rambles

Robinson's Island on May 3,09

I love Robinson's Island because of its natural wild look. It is a very short drive from Brackley Beach. In the summer there are lots of Blue Heron to photograph of to the left as you walk down the trail to the beach. I have added two photos to show you what I love about changing seasons before I get into my copper installations. Just for fun!

Left hand view walking down to the beach in the summer.
Lot's of Blue Herons.

May 3, 09 and this is a close up of the same view. I was interested in the old wood/driftwood when I took this photo, but afterwords I thought of what an interesting color extreme from my previous summer photos. In a month or less here, there will be lots of green.This is the trail/path down to the beach at Robinson's Island on May 3, and now my photos for this weeks installation with my copper plates. I am in a random mood these days after so much organization while packing and disposing of stuff for our first stage move off the Island. The driftwood thrown up on shore was a perfect setting.
This may be a stretch for some folks but this reminds me of photos placed on a mantle or pump organ in an old home.

Before Photo

Another view of the installation at Robinson's Island.

When I placed my plates that I chucked into my knapsack this weekend I was not thinking about Mothers Day. Now when I look at the photos I notice that I placed the etched plate of my kids image in the middle of all the other plates. Being a Mom is the best thing in the world. Love ya Kids!!!!!!!!!! Also, before I left that evening I could not resist doing a quick installation with the sandstone on the beach.

The colors are so gorgeous!

The layers and texture in this sandstone and many more always make me want to photograph them. It is all about the "Art of Playing"

Plates are all packed and heading back to the city.
Thanks for stopping by and Happy Mothers Day to all the Mom's in the World.

So In Love With A Place

Last fall I did an art installation for "One With Copper" on week 6 at this same location. This spring I went back as I most often do, as soon as I think the snow has cleared on the trail. The trail at Strathgartney Park still had snow but I had my camera and a few of my copper plates in my knapsack. It was a gorgeous beautiful warm spring day, and I had the time of my life walking around the park.
The park and trail are still closed so we parked on the side of the road and walked down. This is a view of the West River at Strathgartney. Prince Edward Island is small and maybe God took some extra time with his paint brush.

This is the entrance to the trail and I was so happy to see that my favourite log was still there, but different.

The log had broken, which just added interest for me to play with.

The trail still had a lot of snow still on it, so I got to work and played with an art installation for "One With Copper" week 32.

I used the log as my main interest point for photographing the copper plates.

The natural texture of the log is so beautiful and organic in contract with the copper plates.

I love the early spring sleepy look of the woods and the old blanket dried leaves on the ground.

I also love my family for being patient while I play and I love that they love being outdoors also.

I call this photo "Stretching to Wake Up"

When I am going through the photos for the blog, it is always difficult to choose images that show off the beautiful areas and the art installations. This image was chosen to really show the contrast of nature and the copper plates. I am still in love with this log as much as I was last fall.

Thank you for stopping by for another week with "One With Copper" documentation of a show in process that is all about "The Art of Playing".

Strathgartney Park is a gorgeous unique piece of Heaven On PEI.

Happy Earth Day!!!!!!!!!

***Three Cheers for Mother Earth***

Brackley Beach Sunday afternoon April 19, 2009

Today is Earth Day and blogger' s all over the world are blogging to celebrate our wonderful planet. My camera and I went for an outing on Sunday to document trash!!!!!!!. I love my Island but Hey Charlottetown is a stinken mess! Garbage, garbage everywhere, it is a big eye sore in the spring when the snow is melting!!! We are exposed for the pigs we are, and yes the clean up is underway and slowly it gets better in time for the tourists. Now, Mother Nature is as usual better at it then us humans. The beach was clean and beautiful on Sunday, until I went on a trail that lead to the beach.

Trash Trash Everywhere!

Our Island has the most incredible natural beauty. One of the best kinds of family outings are picnics. Prince Edward Island has so many wonderful places to picnic. I have very fond memories of the kids lugging heavy picnic baskets to a picked special spot to picnic. We always had a good time and ate a lot and lugged lighter baskets back to the Van. Do people not want to enjoy the same picnic spot more then once? If we love and respect Mother Earth, she will take care of us and our future generations.

I love this fence at Brackley Beach.

There is something about the natural decay and aging of this fence at Brackley that I love. Some folks may think it is an eye sore, but I love it and take a lot of pictures of it. Maybe it is because I sense some human out of concern for the dunes thought it would help protect and help preserve the dunes structure. Whatever the reason I have never had a negative feeling concerning the fence. Over the years watching nature interact with the fence has been interesting.

So "One With Copper" wanted to be documented with the fence.
Yeah and Pray for Mother Earth!

I made another stop on Sunday at Stanhope Beach. It is only a short distance from Brackley Beach, but very different in its look. Prince Edward Island has so much visual variety to photograph and it is all so close together. You just got to love it!

Stanhope Beach Sunday afternoon April 19, 2009 The Dunes at Stanhope Beach

Unfortunately it is at Stanhope that I found a lot of trash. The parks people will go to a lot of work this spring to gather it all up, but my big beef is that they should not have too. There is no reason or excuse for people leaving there trash on the beaches or trails. Mother Earth cleans the beaches with her waves as a broom, but at what horrible cost to the marine life!

"One With Copper" and melting snow,Yeah!

Happy Happy Earth Day

Lets celebrate Earth Day Everyday.

This is week 31 for "One With Copper"
A very Happy Earth Day Everyone

Blank, What Now

I Need to Turn On the Light

It has only been a week of not knowing how to regroup and get back to work on "One With Copper". I have two excuses for not doing outdoor installations. One is it is -Too Cold and two is- I do not have an idea. So what is the real problem I am asking myself???? Not having a set idea; never bothered me before. I just jumped right in and let things happen. This feels different; it is as if I am physically holding myself back! Got to get over this soon, I have three months of limbo and no studio.

I took out my plates that are etched and put them on the kitchen floor in the apartment to look at** in hopes of inspiration**. Um, that sounds like a good title maybe.

So until next week this is me at my computer in a corner by the bathroom. It was the only free spot that did not have stacked boxes, furniture and equipment that is selected for the final move in June.

Got To Make Art!

Happy Easter 2009

Happy Easter

I wish everyone lots of sunshine and chocolate on the weekend. I have so many good memories of Easter. When the kids were younger we would blow out dozens of eggs and decorate them. The Easter tree had to get bigger and bigger every year. At one time I think we counted something like 29 dozen decorated eggs. It all was so much fun. I honestly miss the mess!

Just before we moved out of our house; I mailed off the LandFillArt decorated hubcap. I made a slide show of some of the steps in making "Up In the Air"

I am counting my blessings this Easter and my cup is full.

Working Play

"Escaping Demons"

(Etched copper plate that was played with)

While packing this week for our first stage move off the Island;I found this plate with ImagOn still on it. It had already been stripped down to the copper for a relief like print in 2005.

"Which Key Is The Solution" 2005
Intaglio Type Print

Just trying something to see what happens is a lot of fun. When I picked up the plate to chuck it into the stripping solution (strong mixture of Soda Ash) I stopped and thought "I wonder". My air brush was already packed somewhere in a box; so I put the plate in the Edinburgh Etch with out any aquatint. The plate was left in the etch over night and is a perfect relief plate. I can not wait until my studio is set up again somewhere. Something to look forward too.

This is the copper plate with the ImagOn still on the plate after being etched.
Photo of the plate after the ImagOn was stripped off.
Photo of the plate after it came out of the deoxidizing solution (mixture of salt and vinegar).

This and the bottom image are close-ups of the plate to try and give you an idea of what a beautiful deep etch this is.If all the re- hooking up of all the wires and waves work out; I will be blogging from my temporary design centre. No studio work for the next 3 to 4 months.

All the best Everyone

Boxed In!

In April after the first move, I will put a slide show up of all the steps.
(I took lots of photos of the process while making this)
I still don't have a name for it?

I took a break from packing and added a few finishing touches to my LandFillArt Project. I also finished my Butterfly for the WWAO April exhibit. I will show my butterfly to you in the first week of April. Whoops, maybe the second week of April because we will be moving studio and home to an apartment that week for storage until the end of the school year. It is July when the big jump over the water happens and we move to the Ottawa area.
I moved all the boxes out of the studio into another area in the house last week. This is just some of this weeks filled boxes! It is getting done, because it has to be all cleared out in two weeks.

That is all for Week 28 "One With Copper"

Moving News

www.Landfillart.org

Special news this week! The studio and family are moving to Ottawa, Canada in July. We have to be out of our house by April 3, so I am feeling a bit insane right now. I have two projects that I wanted to contribute to in April, so I am packing and taking little breaks to work on Ken Marquis Landfill project and The Butterfly Project for the Worldwide Women Artists April Exhibition. For more information on this special project check out Staci Rose Designs blog.

This is week 27 for "One With Copper" and the project is donating two copper plates to the Landfillart project. I have two ideas, but may only be able to work on one, what with everything that is happening.
I am packing everything I think I will need to work with in special bins so that in all the mayhem of moving I will be able to find "One With Copper". Yes, I am still going to work on my show during the three months of limbo in an apartment here in Charlottetown while our teenagers finish the school year. Also, even while we move in July. My art keeps me sane, HONEST!

Happy Printmaking!

Working Backwards In Time

"The Kids"

I made a silhouette of the kids walking on the beach together for one of my copper plates. It is a very positive memory of wonderful times together. On Monday we had an ice storm and yes it was pretty, but very dangerous of course. I stayed inside and took some pictures from my kitchen window. I could not resist playing with one of the photos.

The copper plate inked up and ready to be printed.

I do not like the image of the kids in reverse, so the print is not one of my favourite ones. However, for the final sculpture all the plates have to be made not in reverse. I love the traditional print and inking and proofing plates is all part of the fun. I do plan to edition some of the plates when I am finished etching. When I started this project I had 71 plates to work with. That makes 142 images to be etched.

"The Grad Clown In Flight"
It is just plain fun to play!

Close up of the copper plate.

All my copper plates are etched in the non-toxic printmaking medium. I am personally in love with the Edinburgh Etch (combination of Ferric chloride and citric acid) solution for etching all my copper plates. It is so worry free with no fumes, and it will not burn your skin on contact. It does stain everything it comes in contact with, lovely messy stuff. This plate was left in the etch for 3 hours without any attention. **Remember for common sense safety when dealing with chemicals wear rubber gloves, apron and goggles!

And finally a couple of pictures of ice.

This image was taken from my kitchen window Monday afternoon. I focused through a glass star hanging in the window. My oldest gave me the star as a gift many years ago.
This image was taken Tuesday morning after the storm day. My Holly Bush looks really sad, but beautiful.

This is week 25 for "One With Copper"
and if anyone is keeping track of the week numbers, I am working backwards in time because I skipped week 25 last week. This is more for my records, but it has been 26 weeks working on "One With Copper".

Happy Printmaking Everyone

Getting On With Life and Etching

Lot's of news this week! First: My art work is down in Mexico for Tóxico International Encounter of Engraving 09.


Second: I did not blog last week because I was away in Ottawa visiting my daughter. I am turning 50 this year and the family gave me a plane ticket to visit Eliza Jane on her Reading Week for my 50Th Birthday present. So I am playing major catch up in the Studio! It was the best of best Birthday Presents!

My Favourite Plates for This Week
#1 "Flying High" the transparency and the ImagON plate ready to go in the etching bath.
The copper plate etchedThe copper plate inked up.

The proof.
and
#2 is a line drawing done from a photo collage that I played with for the Worldwide Women Artists March Exhibit. I love how it etched!
The original Photo Collage is titled "Dinner Time Dance"
I will post the exhibit on the sidebar as soon as it is up on the Internet.
The copper plate inked.
The proof for the copper plate "Dinner Time Dance"
and the final plate #3 for this week was an experiment with an old ImagOn plate from 2002 that I was stripping to reuse/recycle.
The Intaglio Type print "Water Dreams" 2002
I am putting a slide show of the steps I put the plate through. I love the etched plate, but not the proof. I did not get the detail I wanted. However, the plate is beautiful for the final sculpture!

Thank you for stopping by for Week 26 of "One With Copper"

Playing With Scraps of ImagOn

Five plates etched this week 24 for "One With Copper"

Printmaking is a step process that involves lots of exploration. If you like to think a lot about an idea; printmaking is a wonderful medium to work in. "One With Copper" is a lot about the beauty of copper and all the possible ways to manipulate it. There are so many ways to work with copper and this week I played with some of my reject ImagOn. Over the years I have put pieces of ends of rolls away thinking I will find an interesting use for them and I have.
At the end of a lot of my ImagOn rolls there has been this stuff that has this funny wave in it. I have no idea how old this piece is, I just decided to experiment with the stuff. I found out when experimenting with exposure times that longer is better for my line drawings. The plate below is one that was exposed for two minutes and has an interesting cloud look. The above plate was exposed for three minutes. It does not effect the etching at all. As a stop out resist ImagOn works great, if there is any at all on the plate nothing will etch in that area. So you really have to make sure your down to the copper of your line drawing you exposed if you want to etch any copper.

This image is called "Circle of Love" and the photo was taken right after the plate was rinsed off after coming out of the Edinburgh Etch solution. You can buy T-Shirts on Redbubble with this image on my Redbubble profile.

This is "Trying to Come Together" all inked up and ready to be printed. The balloon I painted on with Acrylic stop out to try and not etch some of the bubbles in the ImagOn did not work. I still like the plate a lot anyway.

Proof of "Trying to Come Together"

So there is a good reason not to throw out old ImagOn and tail end scraps. They work great for line drawings and probably lots of other ideas. I etched five good plates this week, lots of fun.

Before I finish up I would like to introduce you to a wonderful artist on Etsy( ozbushfireappeal's shop)
Her name is Bridget Farmer and she donated artwork to the OzBushfire Appeal shop. I found her there and you can see more of her work and find other links to her by going to www.bridgetfarmerprints.etsy.com. I really liked her etchings!

Happy Printmaking Everyone

Clowning Around With Copper

That's me this week, SPLAT! It has been a crazy, crazy week in the studio and out. I spent most of my studio time arguing with a second hand Epson printer. I think perhaps maybe it has won. I am not satisfied with anything I produced using it. So for fun I played with my graduation gift my sister made me in 1984. She made the clown doll and used some of my hand woven yardage I had left home when I went to college. My sister Janet is a very talented women!
I really love fooling around with my camera. Taking lots of pictures and arranging ideas for still life photography is just fun. That is what this image is all about and I refer to the image as clown in copper bed. And talking about Still Life's this is my traditional still life with vase and flowers:
I really super hate the cold in the winter and Terry being a sweetheart cheered me up with some beautiful tulips. I love the expression of the clown in this picture, the posture is just perfect for how this week has gone on. I took lots of photos of the clown with the tulips and plan to make a decision soon and put one on Redbubble.

Now here are the photo cards.
Starting top left the titles are: "Everything's Going To Be Alright", "Click",
"Centre of Attention", "Circle of Love", "Hey You", and "Heading Home"

My sister suggested that I trim all the duds and and mount them on a card. There were a lot! that did not print straight on the paper and such. I have started trimming and mounting said duds. Not sure yet what to do with all the cards.

Week 23 for "One With Copper"

Lets Go Print A Kite

Proof "Lets Go Fly A Kite"

Another wonderful week in the studio. When I was working on my plates I took a photograph of the two Eliza triangles on top of a blue bin. The idea of kids, kites and of course Mary Poppins 1964 movie popped into my head. So I had to do a proof of the idea right away. The result is above and I foresee doing more kite ideas. The background is an old ImagOn plate from 2005 print called "Hug Me" and the Hand Model back then was my daughter Eliza. All of which tied the print subject together very neatly for Me.

Printmaking is very much a step process. I love every stage form coming up with the initial idea, getting it on the plate and inking the print. The best part of printmaking is the pulling of the print for the first proof. There is always that little bit of a surprise element of what is going to happen.

I have been doing some sorting through old stuff lately and finding some really interesting plates that I had made in the past and not printed. The large triangle above is a soft ground image on copper that I made way back when I first was gifted with the copper. The above half circle is a marker and aquatint plate. I am really glad I proofed them along with one of the Eliza plates.

This is the first stage commitment to the Journey Board.

Thank you for viewing my blog.
This is week 22 for my project "One With Copper"

So-In-Love with Etching

What a wonderful week, lots of sunshine, lots of fun work done in the studio, and even positive politics!

I am so in love with what I do for a profession. An Artist Printmaker gets to experiment and play with all sorts of different ideas for one idea. This week "One With Copper" was in the studio mucking about with ImagOn, Acrylic grounds, and etching solutions that do not have any toxic fumes. I took lots of pictures to help tell the story.
















In the first group of pictures I did a repeat pattern with fossilized leaves bought at the craft store. I exposed the leaves using ImagOn, developed the plate in the soda ash solution to strip the lines down to the copper. In the next step the plate was aquatinted with Badger Acrylic solution for printmakers. Next the plate was etched in the Edinburgh etching solution invented by Friedhard Kiekeben. The etched copper plate is so beautiful.













































In the second grouping of photos the first photo may seem uninteresting, but is extremely important. Don't forget to put a backing on your plate after you sand and clean! I took my cut-out image of Eliza and transferred it to my copper plate in reverse for printing. Using a sharpie marker as a stop out, Eliza was filled in so that she would not hold any ink (some neat faint texture will happen). The next step I put a ground on by roller, some areas over lapping to give lighter and darker etched areas. There are so many ways to play with the Graphic Chemical w/s black #1659c when using it as a hard and soft ground. I did get a bit carried away with this plate and started painting with the roller on the plate. Now I have to wait for awhile till it dries in order to etch the plate.

















































The third group of photos: You can see the plate I am talking about in the top photos. It is the two Eliza's holding hands of Love. OK, it is Valentines soon. Again I used the sharpie marker as a stop out; then rolled the w/s ink#1659c over the plate. I wanted something different in the figures, so I used a wet paint brush to loosen up the ink to make a wash effect. The wonderful thing about all this is that after etching, scrub with soap and water! The plates are so beautiful inked up or clean. By this time next year I will have to decide if I want to have color in the lines of the plate or leave them clean for the sculpture. I am looking forward to the end and enjoying the adventure of not knowing how it will all end up looking like.








































I was sorting through old plates and decided to throw an old plate to strip the ImagOn off; in with my leaf triangles. It did not strip hardly at all after all day, so just for fun I put it in the aluminum etching solution of copper sulphate. Then I forgot about it.














I really like what happened and wish the photos could show you the real amount of ink on the paper. Before I put it aside, I want to do a relief print of it. It is all for fun and exploring possibilities.

The original plate and print was called "Here let Me Help You" from the show "I'm telling You A Story"2005

First pull and the shadow print.









Happy Printing Everyone
Week 21 "One With Copper"

Back In the Studio