News

Corona Virus Explorations

I’m tryin to use this time to explore some new techniques. I have been thinking about emulsion on glass, in my case a cyanotype emulsion on glass but I’ve never done it. Then a few days ago it hit me that I should put the emulsion on the metal I paint on. Finally, a way to integrate the photographs and paintings. If this works, it will allow me to do my cycle of time pieces I’ve been thinking about for so long!! So, I’m very excited! Polished some metal pieces to use as testers yesterday. Had to wash them in a mild acid and then scrub them with a mild abrasive cleaner and steel wool to make sure there was no grease or fingerprints.

Stay tuned.

Upcoming Show at Umpqua Valley Art Center

I’m really excited to announce my upcoming show at the Umpqua Valley Art Center in Roseburg opening in March. I’m going to turn the space into a blue room of images of Oregon, past and present. My cyanotypes are going to go into the windows of the room. I’ve been doing tests with various Japanese papers to find one that works well with cyanotype. The room is HUGE with 10 windows that are 4 feet wind and 7 feet tall!!!

Here is what my paper needs to be able to do;

keeping the image clear

not curl

can withstand washing

won’t tear easily even when wet

will let light through

but not too much light so it will stay legible when the sun hits it

Here are 21 successful 4” x 5” tests, first on the wall and then in the window of my studio. Of course being able to create a 4” x 5” image doesn’t mean the paper is easy to work with when wet once it is 16” x 20”…. A few notes about the process - I used the same negative and exposure time for each test using an exposure unit I built. Cyanotypes are slow compared to some of the UV light sensitive printing methods. Each exposure took 20 mins.

So happy to be so busy creating! More soon!