"Copper Ice Cube"
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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"
Terry and Debra at Cavendish last week.
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"
Week 37, One with Cooper at Basin Head, PEI
Basin Head is an incredibly beautiful place!
It was a perfect Sunday afternoon to play at the beach!
"Muddled Puddles"
"Reflecting Thoughts"
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"Looking Glass View"
"Shattered Art"
"Porch View"
"Shattered Art Evening"
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!
My New Toy To Play With
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``.
Robinson's Island on May 3,09
Left hand view walking down to the beach in the summer.
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.
Plates are all packed and heading back to the city.
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".
Brackley Beach Sunday afternoon April 19, 2009
Trash Trash Everywhere!
I love this fence at Brackley Beach.
Yeah and Pray for Mother Earth!
Stanhope Beach Sunday afternoon April 19, 2009 
The Dunes at Stanhope Beach
"One With Copper" and melting snow,Yeah! 
Lets celebrate Earth Day Everyday.
This is week 31 for "One With Copper"
I Need to Turn On the Light
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. 
Happy Easter
"Escaping Demons"
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.
In April after the first move, I will put a slide show up of all the steps.
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.
www.Landfillart.org
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!
"The Kids"
Close up of the copper plate.
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.
#1 "Flying High" the transparency and the ImagON plate ready to go in the etching bath.
The copper plate etched
The copper plate inked up.
The proof.
#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"
The copper plate inked.
The proof for the copper plate "Dinner Time Dance"
The Intaglio Type print "Water Dreams" 2002
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.
Proof of "Trying to Come Together"
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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.
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.
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Proof "Lets Go Fly A Kite"
This is the first stage commitment to the Journey Board.
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.
Do you ever get an idea and it just feels so right that it is pure joy? Well, while dwelling on the theme of “patterns and textures of life” I was thinking of cut out dolls, praying hands, ripples in the sand. Wow, I remember a picture of my daughter at the beach the last summer she came home to look for work, perfect! I remembered a photo of her doing a little jump in the air at the beach. What a wonderful cut out shape! Now I am looking through photos of the family for cut out patterns that would work as repeat patterns. So I am off and hot on the trail until the next eureka!
My Soap Box
I love the technology age we are in; there is always something to figure out. That said, the simple tools that are a big time saver to me are the photocopy machine, scanner, photo editing tools, I really appreciate and love them. Graph paper way back when was wonderful, but boy am I ever glad I do not have to resize a drawing that way ever again. Sketch an idea turn it this way,that way, shrink, and enlarge at will. Yeah!
Digital photography and exploring photo collage possibilities is extremely fun and invigorating. I love it all, bring on technology. OK, I am not a Romantic about the past in some things. But, the original hand-pulled print in all its legitimate glory as the final crowing result is extremely important to me and my art. The original-hand pulled print is the real drawing/painting of my art. The hand- pulled print is royalty, the king, queen, prince, princess of the print world. It is not archaic, nor is painting and drawing. Remember folks, photography did not replace landscape paintings. Face reality and be honest with ourselves, no one would buy a digital reproduction if they could afford to buy an original painting. As artists, we all need to be proud of what we do, be it original artwork or reproductions of our artwork. The bottom line is honesty!
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This is my Journey wood block; well that is what I am calling it right now. I have not completely made up my mind if it will be horizontal or vertical. For sure there is going to be a 1.5 inch border around the story board, with little objects which again I want to visually tell a story. There are 5 knots in the wood that I am strongly considering turning into eyes. All the rest of the story images will have to work around the seeing eyes. Since my journey started on PEI, I decided to use the “Washed up On Shore” image first. I sometimes refer to the image as “I’d love to be a Blob on the Beach” which is true. So I have not started tracing anything onto the board (in reverse) yet. I need to think some more, because I want the board to evolve over time telling a story. I can make it part of "One with Copper" by inking the board up with metallic copper ink. *SMILE*
This has been Week 20 for "One With Copper"
Last night our wonderful Christmas tree came down and was dragged out to the curb. Not a fitting end to something so joyous and beautiful. It was surprisingly warm out with a pretty snow falling. The studio is a national disaster area with lots of boxes and clutter waiting to be packed up with the rest of the Christmas decorations. All of which is a major job before any printmaking can begin again. Not wanting to start my blogging year off late I took some of my plates out to the backyard and played. We have wonderful neighbours who decorate their backyard, which made for a great background for my spontaneous art installation.
Lots of copper etching and a large evolving woodcut piece to be worked in the very near future. As soon as I finish blogging today I will start again with the packing and tidying up of house and studio. It was truly a glorious Holiday Season! All the effort was worth it. I only have one regret, everyone was too busy going in many different directions for a Christmas music night here at the house. But, I did get to enjoy lots of Christmas music concerts elsewhere.
Happy Printmaking Everyone
Happy New Year Everyone!
Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree
"That's A Wrap" for this year, time to kick back and relax with family. Check back in the New Year for lots of information on Non-toxic copper etching. Take care and stay safe over the Holidays.
If you live in Charlottetown stop down at the Arts Guild and look at the "Prince Edward Island Council of the Arts Members Show and Sale". I framed up two of my original hand pulled prints and entered them in the show. Look in the corner where the bathroom is and you will see my artwork. I framed up one of my "I'm Not Anne" prints and one of my woodcut prints that I printed on canvas. I love printing on fabric, I guess it comes from my good old days of working in textiles.
There are only two prints in the edition of "When You Lose Your Footing" that are printed on Canvas. The image in the show has a bright yellow background.
"A Prayer For The World" is an aluminum etching.
A few images I took along the way while working on "Love Thy Bum".
Merry Merry Christmas Everyone
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"Hey You Dolls"
"Want to be My Friend"
"Paper Dolls"
This last image is an idea for repeating patterns in a circle. The praying hands are part of this years Christmas print.
Week 16 for "One With Copper" proof of etched copper plates.
The family started setting up for Christmas Monday night. We had our first Advent on Monday because our young adults were both in Honours Band on the weekend. It was a fantastic concert on Sunday. OK, Terry and I are very proud of our teenagers.
The War against Aids
Just think of what we could do with all the money spent on fighting people wars. Why not spend the money on fighting aids and other diseases? I am only dreaming asking the question, I know that we are cursed with the human ego. Until the world and its entire people can let go of their egos, there will be war.
Just think of all the benefits to the economy if we spent the war money on Aids research for a cure. There would be new jobs for all the buildings to be built, people to be employed as health care workers, lab technicians, scientists, doctors, more nurses, and educators of all sorts and on and on. All the good people working in the army could go back to Peace keeping spreading the positive flow of hope. Just another one of my Christmas wishes.
Week 15 for “One With Copper”
There are seven plates etched on one side for the show. I didn’t get a chance to proof them yet, but they look great! I did lose one plate; however this is a loose and whatever happens experience. I am not too concerned right now, because I am designing as I go. The story of “One with Copper is just starting to unfold.
The Child Theme is a big influence with Christmas so close. I do not belong to any-one religion. I feed off of just the Peace aspect of all religions. The rest I delete. The story of baby Jesus; full of hope and goodwill belongs to everyone.
One of my Christmas wishes is for All peoples to respect life.
Hey Printmakers did you know that this stuff dissolves Golden acrylic stop-out varnish? Well it does!
I had some tough spots on my plates last night and I just gave up. This morning I wanted to get it off and for some lucky reason I grabbed the bathroom cleaner. Lysol I love you.
Happy Printmaking
For everyone who lives in or around 
I had every intention of photographing my copper plates in the first snow, honest I did. I couldn’t face the damp cold today. It was to much of a shock after all the wonderful fall weather we have been enjoying. It wasn’t a pretty snow just cold and icy on the windshields of cars. However I did take pictures of my son’s trombone against the copper plates.
I have begun the next stage of “One With Copper”. For the first pattern on some of the plates I decided to put the ground on in a free form way in order to create an organic background. This way lets me perhaps add something else to the plate later on. It is a very messy job, but I enjoy letting whatever happens, happen. My son Thomas took a short 1 minute video of me messing about with the acrylic ground. The black ink I am using for the acrylic ground is Graphic Chemical 1659. I does look like I am making a lot of mess, but the good news is that it all cleans up with soap and water. Next week I will have the etched plates to show.
Happy Printmaking and Good Luck Staying Warm!
I drive myself crazy when I start taking pictures.
What is the doll doing in the art installation? Simply because I love it and this is my show and journey of discovery. But, if you need to have a so called intellectual justification; how about “It is Christmas time and the porcelain baby doll is a symbol of rebirth. The shadow on the copper plate is a representation of what we are; even when we try our best to be spiritually good - just a shadow of the goodness of what the Christ child represented."
I did get some ink on paper this morning. It was very small paper. Me and my coffee watched a movie this morning and I worked on five ACEO artist cards. Another artist told me that they would become additive. She may be right, they are wonderful small little gems to play with. I will be posting them later this evening after I publish this post. So check out my Art Everyday Month link on the side bar and take a look.
I strongly recommend not picking up a piece of plywood that has been lying around the studio to carve into. The wood in "Love Thy Bum” was so dried out and splintery it was very unforgiving to work with. Oh Well, it is all cut out now.
This a very special week for “One With Copper”. First my project took part in “Blog for Peace” and now again on this November 10 I am joining with Bloggers Unite for “Refugees United”. I hope and want to have a voice, scream above all the dull noise of my happy, busy life to somehow let someone far away from where I am know that I care. Knowing the Fate of Family Is A Human Right
My God has unconditional Love and no tolerance for violence in the name of any cause.
Refugees United is a non-profit organization that helps refugees relocate family and friends through the use of the internet. Refugees United provides refugees with an anonymous forum to reconnect with missing family. By registering with nick- names, scars, former locations and other markers only identifiable to family and close friends, everyone can remain 'invisible' to all but relatives.
"Fung Safe"
Wonderful morning news headline!
My family fixed up an old bank and turned it into a studio and home. Our backyard is all paved for parking, so we do not have a grassed backyard. This fall the trees just all of a sudden dropped all their leaves and put a beautiful colored blanket on our backyard. I wanted to do an image for today and this is what happened.
When I put the installation together I was thinking a lot about human injustice of all sorts! Plus the horrific thoughts about women/men separated from their children, husbands/wives, basic comforts of a home, and the violence of what comes with war. (Horrors of which I do not want to open the door of my mind to wide) The bird I can easily explain it is a symbol of peace. The dolls are part of the art of playing, and could be explained as a symbol of how fortunate we are here in
Again and again like a mantra: Love is the Key to Peace.
Happy Printmaking Everyone
This week 12 of “One With Copper” is very honoured to take part in a special event: “Blog Blast for Peace” Dona Nobis Pacem. I was clicking around looking at other people’s blogs and I clicked on something about peace. I was so impressed with what one person has done with an idea to bring people together to stop and think PEACE all on the same day; I wanted to be part of Blog Blast for Peace too. I told my two teenagers about what I wanted to do and they both wanted to help. So Monday night Maida and I took my copper plates out and put together an idea on the living room floor, photographed, packed each bird, the circle, and letters up separately with a photo. Our special plan was to take the art installation to the beach on Wednesday to photograph as the sun came up and that is what we did.
Thomas, Maida and I all got up at 5am, stopped for hot chocolate and coffee and headed for 
I am positive the world could achieve peace if we found a way to love and take care of each other. Not just the more fortunate taking care of the less fortunate. That’s great and good; I am talking about a deeper love and caring. I am talking about a love and caring that comes from the soul of all walks of life that can not be earned by giving cash out. Like helping someone less fortunate (bad health, loss of a loved one, lonely, etc…) in ways that money can not help, that is true love and caring, giving of self. A love that is given without resentment, a love that does not expect a pat on the back, you can be dirt poor and caringly help an elderly person across the street even if they do have an expensive coat on and you do not. Simple acts are honest to God Caring/Love! I guess I am trying to say lets stop resenting someone because we think the other person/country has it better. Let’s try all year round to give something special that does not cost money. Simple acts of Peace, everyone can do it: age, wealth, lack of wealth, religion, cultural differences, any walk of life can do it... The world needs a good old fashioned Hug.
Driving out to the beach the weather report on the radio was a bit scary talking about high winds. There is always wind on PEI, but nothing to worry about for us this morning.
"I'm Freezing! How many pictures are you going to take?!"
"Grant Us Peace"
This is what we saw when we stepped onto the beach Saturday. It was the most perfect warm fall day to go to the beach. Last summer when we (family) were at Tracadie there was a beautiful section of beach with crushed shell. I was hoping to find the same sort of texture for my copper installation for this week.
We had the most enjoyable time trapping all over the beach looking for a crushed shell area. We didn’t find any, of course with the tides and time everything changes at the beach. I did find a nice area with large shells to set this weeks installation up/on.
This where I end up setting the instaltion up for Week 11
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My Printmaking/Installation/Etching/Sculpture project “One With Copper” now has 63 plates filed and sanded. The plates and I played outside this week in the back yard. Next week, the plates will most likely go to the beach on Saturday, because of the wonderful warm weather forecast. I have resolved myself to stacking and arranging the plates until I finally put the sculpture together. I hope to make the finished sculpture sturdy enough to travel back to some of my favourite locations. The idea of the project completing a full circle fits with the idea “Patterns and Textures of Life” theme for the etching stage for “One With Copper”
There are three Photo Collages completed for the project. It does not mean they will be the photo collages that make it into the final show. It is a very enjoyable process of putting ideas together as I go and this blog will be documenting the good, bad, fabulous and the Oh My’s!
"Autumn Glow"
"If We Work Together We Can Hold It Together"
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This week in the Studio
"Love Thy Bum" received a big red ribbon.
Thank you for stopping by and Happy Printmaking
There were a few set backs and disappointment when getting ready to photograph the plates this week. Twice I thought that I had a solution for attaching the plates together instead of piling them on top of each other. My first idea was to use the plastic stripes for holding up posters, but the roofing copper is to thin and slips out. I was going to cut it up and glue two flat sides together so that I could clip the plates together. On the weekend after Thanks Giving Dinner I was talking with some friends about what I am up too. It was suggested that I try a spring, which was a really good idea. However, I can not use the spring for clipping the plates together right now. I had fun putting the plates in really interesting ways on the spring. However, it marks the soft roofing copper with a very round indentation where the spring grips the copper. It works, and I might use the idea at the end when I am putting the sculpture together. Until I finish printing the plates, I need to find another idea to clip my plates together for this stage of the project. My goal next week is to find a solution.
In a few weeks I will be stating on the next stage of the project. Before starting designing the plates and arrangements for etching I need to pick a theme for “One With Copper”. Well, the whole project is all about 1) “The Art of Playing”. I love the texture idea for the soft ground etching idea, so 2) “Patterns and Textures of Life” could be the theme. There is also the idea for 3) “Masks” to be part of the theme. I love masks for all there shapes, expression, color and that they hold so much meaning in every culture. I need to do some research work before I make a final decision.
I still have four more panels to make. The great thing is that I can pick them up and stack them away until the next time I work on them. I had some masonite in the studio, so I wrapped the canvas around the back and fastened it. This is not the order the panels will be in for the finished mural. I still have a lot to work out. The size of each panel is 15 x 22 inches.
The wood subtraction "Love Thy Bum" will have a big red ribbon printed this week. I added this picture of the plate being carved on, for you to see what a wonderful crazy piece of plywood I am working with. It is very dry and splintery! All the cooking oil I use each time I clean the plate isn’t improving the plywood’s nature.
I love the look of the piece of birch bark after I cleaning the ink off with cooking oil.
I left home with 46 plates and came home with 44 copper plates. Oh Well! someone walking in the woods will probably think it strange to find copper triangles laying around. We came home with a bag of apples instead. It was a great afternoon.
ners.
This is week 6 for "One With Copper"
a log. It was just so beautiful!
. "Love Thy Bum" is ready to have its next color printing. I did work on "Flying High" but unfortunately I cut out the background in the wrong reverse. Oh well, I can start over again. Not wanting to wast ink on rollers, I played with the woodblock on some mono-prints I had in the studio. Flying High is now a varied edition. I have added a few at the bottom.
This is what do you do with a pile of copper plates on a rainy day that keep falling down! As soon as I picked up my camera everything would crash.
This is a copper plate that I painted on with acrylic stop out and watered down India ink. I rolled Graphic Chemical W/S block print ink black 1659C. I left enough copper showing to get an aquatint.
This is the etched plate. It just came out of the Edinburgh solution a short while ago.
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This image was created with photos taken at Argyle Shore when my young adults were Kids "Memories of Wonderful Days"
Here on Prince Edward Island we have lots of physical beauty. Not very often do we witness human physical acts of violence, but this week was different. I am blessed to say it is not the norm. I hate the fear and loafing it sets in my heart. All the war torn countries in the world, I pray and I pray. I love the stories of the power of prayer. So this week I took my plates to a place I consider to be a little piece of heaven here on PEI. I needed to escape my feelings of anger and disgust. Yes, Argyle Shore did help. I felt a lot better on the drive home. The contrast to the images I photographed with the plates and how I felt surprised me until I realized I was not thinking about events while working with the plates. I was lost in the act of playing. My little waterfall at Argyle Shore was a raging torrent. We have had a lot of rain recently.
king a mental caution note about where I take them to photograph. It took me a whole evening to sock the plates in a salt and vinegar solution and to re-sand all the plates. Seawater and sand would be an interesting etching experiment. One thing at a time, sort of.
One
This plate is only 3 x 5 inches and I call it "Click". Everyone who loves to take pictures should be able to relate to this image. I take my camera out walking with me and I click on just about anything for color, for texture, for shapes, for shadows. for ideas that go on and on. I love to Click.
“One With Copper” is the beginning of an idea I have had for years. I am committing to this solo show for late 2010. There are 71 plates in the pile to be sanded on both sides, and etched with only non-toxic printmaking methods. Along with the traditional prints on walls, the etched plates are going to be an important center of focus for the show. Each week in this blog I will be posting photos of the process. I hope you can stop by the blog and see the growing pains of working through the design and technical aspects of the journey. Plus along with “One with Copper” I will be doing my best to continue to promote my art and studio to make a living as an artist. 
Confession, I took lots and lots of photos of the pile of copper. I love them.
I know for a fact I am going to be playing with the copper and photographing every stage all along this journey. Fun, Fun, Fun!
Some day I am going to buy myself a proper Baren, until then I have been using wooden spoons and spatula's and this time a sponge to get the really nice grain in this piece of plywood.
Simple but very effective way to carve your blocks.I refer to them as bench hooks, but I am sure there is another name. This sensible idea has been around forever.
Happy Summer Printing Everyone!
I love mixed media printmaking. This is an image of the prints in two stages.Whew! It has been a wonderful week of summer weddings, and computer work.
My computer project has been setting up shop on Etsy. You can check it out by going to DebraJamesPercival.etsy.com. I still have lots more to add to the shop, so check now and keep coming back. Having my own computer is wonderful, but also time consuming moving out into the big world of the internet.
This is why my woodcut print “Love Thy Bum” I started last week is just a pile of paper with registration marks.
I did get the most important printmaking project printed and drying. I finished up the last of the “I’m Not Anne” edition for Prints for Peace. In order to make my aluminum plate fit a 10x10 inch piece of paper I sawed of some of the top and bottom. I have four drying and the best one will go to the peace project.
Printmaking is my painters brush and art is how I explore and question what is happening in my everyday life. Sometimes the print subject can be serious and thoughtful, and other times it is just playful. I like to represent ideas in my art. The print “Love Thy Bum” is meant to be playful, where as the print “The Whisper” is meant to be serious and questioning.
Although when you are going out for an evening and you discover all your summer cloths no longer fit you; that felt serious. It is serious how the media represents the female body as being thin, and thinner. The print “Love Thy Bum” is meant to be light-hearted. However, the positioning of the figures arms with mittens is my why of saying Stupid Puppet! Why am I worried about what others think I should look like? As regards to the lacing in the image; it is meant to represent the old fashion lacing in of the Victorian waistline The big bow is meant to represent a female package all wrapped up nice and pretty. Smile, so I can’t walk on water.
I choose “The Whisper” as a visual comparison, because it is not meant in any why to be taken light-hearted. It is one of my favourites for expressing the visual question about Who are we listening to spiritually? What happens to our innocence of thought and deeds? Personally I think children are listening to Angels until adults corrupt their hearing.
As for the technical side of how I am going to print “Love Thy Bum” it is going to be printed as a wood-subtraction background and when all the background is cut away I am going to print the image as a woodcut.
Happy Summer Printing
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