detail from a breakdown screen before printing

Art work is hard work. It’s not hard work like digging a ditch, although it can be physically demanding. It’s not hard work like interpreting the law and representing clients, although it can be mentally taxing. It doesn’t have the high stress of a service job like being a waitress or a cashier, unless you count trying to ignore your inner critic.

breakdown screens set up to dry

What’s hard about making art is harnessing introspection, perfectionism, focus, and inspiration, into some kind of tangible “object” and showing up until it reaches that magical state of being “finished.” Somedays every motion in the studio takes tremendous energy, fighting self-doubt all the way. Some days, the work is satisfying, fun even, reaching that elusive “flow” state.

printing with a breakdown screen

After over ten years as a studio artist, I know the most important thing for me to do is just to show up, even if it’s only to sweep the floor. Lately, I’ve been finding lots of ways to distract myself from being in the studio and many of them are part of being an artist, like writing proposals and grants, keeping up with email, teaching workshops. These, although important, pull my mind away from the work, the hard work of creating.

removing a doily used to create imagery on the dried screen

And even though it doesn’t feel like it, I have been working. A body of work based on driftwood is starting to take form. I’ve had paper patterns for seven new sculptures since February that keep getting moved around the studio to be out of the way. I’m trying to reinvent (again) how I work on the wall. It’s exciting and yet I find that I’m stopping myself from moving forward.

first print from the doily screen. you can see the red “freckling.”

This past week in the studio I printed some breakdown screens and monotypes on fabric based on driftwood imagery. I like some of it. Some of it was just frustrating because I had technical trouble with the dye “freckling.” I spent some time on the phone with Nancy at ProChem and she had some advice that I’ll try the next time. But take my advice and avoid “Rust Orange” when doing Breakdown.

I think that “showing up” here on the blog is another part of my practice, one that has been largely missing the last few months. It’s another kind of accountability to myself, to reflect and record on my process. Let’s call this post a good first step on my way to the studio.

second print from the doily screen with more freckling

printing up a storm in the studio

I’ve been intrigued enough by making monotypes on both the homemade gelatin plate and the commercial Gelli plate to explore in a more systematic fashion. So far, I’ve tried four different media, Speedball water-based printing ink, thickened dye, Golden Fluid Acrylics, Akua soy-based ink, and Dy-Na-Flow paint. Each gives different effects, each has its benefits and weaknesses.

My first experiments were with the Speedball water-based inks. I got some great effects on the Gelli plate. The ink rolled out beautifully and I got wonderful detail. The downside to the water-based ink is that it isn’t permanent. I tried to use some washes over the top, and even after drying and applying a spray matte fixative, the ink ran when I applied anything with water.

Thickened dyes gave me some good results, although the alginate thickener is problematic for monotypes. The nature of the alginate (like a big pot of mucus) makes the prints blobby and streaky. Interesting in its own way but not a smooth background. My blog post Printing with Gelatin details these trials.

When I got back from New York I tried Golden Fluid Acrylics. These gave me just terrific results on the gelatin plate. It brayered out beautifully and gave me crisp details and interesting positive/negative effects. I haven’t tried them on the Gelli or the plexi yet. Those experiments are up next.

Golden Fluid Acrylics on the gelatin plate

another print with the Golden

detail of a “ghost” print with the Golden

Akua Intaglio on a gelatin plate

Akua on the Gelli plate

Positive Akua ink of the Gelli plate

Next printing session was with Akua soy-based Intaglio Inks. I tried them on three different printing substrates: the gelatin plate, the Gelli plate, and a plain old sheet of plexiglass. Again, different results with each type of plate. On the gelatin the ink didn’t roll out smoothly. It gave a “pebbled” surface, which I kind of like since I’m all about visual texture, but didn’t afford the kind of detail I got with the paints. I got a better result on the Gelli plate, but again, not as crisp as with the paint on the gelatin. Interestingly, I got really great results on the Gelli plate when I pressed the inked up doily onto the plate and then printed the “postive” image rather than the negative. My third try was on the plexiglass and that didn’t work at all with the doily I was using to make marks.

Akua ink on plexi

Trace monograph using Akua on plexi

The one thing that worked better with the Akua on the plexi was a Trace Monotype (also known as a Draw Through). A trace monotype is when you ink up a plate, put a piece of paper (or fabric) on the surface and then draw on the back of the material to create a design. I’ve done this with inks and with thickened dye and love the effect, especially because you can then create a negative of your drawing by printing what’s left on the plate as a “ghost” print. This technique didn’t work at all with the gelatin or the Gelli, perhaps because I was afraid to really press in case I permanently damaged the flexible plates.

Dy-Na-Flow on gelatin

Last test was today with Dy-Na-Flow paints. The paints are specifically for fabric and have a very light hand. They are quite “watery” and formulated to work much like dyes. I’ve used them for batik when dye wasn’t appropriate. I figured that they might work much like the Golden Fluid Acrylics. Well, they did and they didn’t. I wasn’t able to roll the paint out with a brayer because it’s much thinner in body than the Golden. I applied it with a foam brush to the gelatin plate, the Gelli plate and the plexi and again, got different results with each. Surprisingly, it worked much better on the gelatin and the plexi than the Gelli. It completely separately on the Gelli, and though it made an interesting texture on its own, I wasn’t able to make any marks into the medium.

Dy-Na-Flow on Gelli

Dy-Na-Flow on gelatin plate

“ghost” print of Dy-Na-Flow on gelatin

The best results were on the gelatin plate. The paint created an interesting “bubbly” texture which carried through to a second “ghost” print. The plexi results were okay, got some detail but the application wasn’t very thick so the color is light in value.

More testing to come with different media, different kinds of paper, and layering. I’ve already gone through over 300 pieces of paper. One of these days I’ll have to figure out what to do with them, but for now it’s just fun every day in the studio.

Dy-Na-Flow on plexi

I’m new to gelatin printing, both with the Gelli Plate and by making my own gelatin plate. I’d heard about it for several years but thought, why not just use a sheet of plexiglass? I bought a Gelli Plate about a year ago on a whim. It was kind of spendy, $30 for an 8 x 10 inch sheet, but I thought I’d try it out. I took it home and promptly forgot about it.

Sometimes when I’m feeling a bit dry in the studio I’ll pull out paper and ink and do some monotypes. A few weeks ago I bought a bunch of paper with the intention of just getting some ideas down on paper to free things up in the studio and I rediscovered the Gelli Plate.

Wow! It’s really fun and kind of addictive. I pretty quickly went through about 200 sheets of paper. I like the marks I made with Speedball water-soluble ink. The Gelli Plate picks up really great detail and makes terrific “ghost” prints so that I can work with positive and negative imagery.

Yesterday I tried the plate with thickened dye. The instructions for the Gelli said not to use dye on the plate because it will stain–but the Speedball ink had already done that, so why not? Thickened dye doesn’t act like paint, it kind of streaks and blobs because of the nature of the alginate thickener (kind of like snot, really).  You can’t brayer it out the way you can with ink or paint. I spread the dye as evenly as I could with a plastic spreader and then used a doily for visual texture. I still got the characteristic streaky look but I think it holds better on the Gelli than on the plexiglass.

Here are a few images from yesterday’s dye session. I was inspired by the colors of the faded hydrangeas I photographed in our Arboretum. I think the images are just okay, I forgot to fully mix the Maroon dye and it left spots. Argh! But I like the layering technique and am looking forward to more exploration.

I’m excited about this new tool but I’m frustrated by the size of the plate. The larger 12 x 14 inch plate is $70 so I’m working on making my own gelatin plate.

I’ve read the on-line tutorials and it seems pretty simple but so far I’ve made some dumb mistakes. On my first attempt I didn’t let it set up long enough before I tried to move it and it broke up into little pieces. I threw it out before I realized you can remelt it and reset it. Second attempt I jiggled it before it was set up and made a bunch of ripples in it. Damn! The good news is that once I put it in the fridge for a couple hours I was able to take it out of the pan and it looked like the ones I’ve seen on-line (with bonus ripples). I took a few prints off it anyway using dye on paper and promptly stained it! Results were meh.

I think this is what they mean when they talk about trial and error.

Tomorrow is another studio day and I’m going to try again. This time paint! I’ll report back with more pictures.

The view in the studio

Things are being built, painted, drilled, washed, ironed, painted, strung, and washed again.  I have been working long hours in the studio with so many wonderful helpers, and the work that is coming out is really, really beautiful, if I say so myself.

check marks are adding up!

Today will be our second test build and Seattle Celebration at Sandel Park in North Seattle from 3-6pm. I am both excited and nervous about this. Will it work? Will we be done when people get there? I am completely confident that every element in this installation will be beautiful, but will it work together? Are the dimensions correct? The poles the right height?

So many questions. And only a few hours until many of them are answered.

It’s a busy morning. I’ve got banners washing out in the basement. Scarves to iron. Other banners to pick up. A coffee run for the crew who met at 8am to load the vehicles. And then head over to the park to help with the erection, wink, wink.

But before I run I have to say a little bit about the overwhelming feelings of gratitude I have for every person who has helped out on this journey. We could not have done this without you and I am humbled.

Well, maybe not today. Today has been orthodontist, drug store, groceries, and waiting for the dishwasher repair man. All important, sure, but not what I really want to be doing.

But Wednesday and Thursday were exciting, all right!

Wednesday was the test “erection” for the structure at the center of our Burning Man project. We had to dodge some raindrops, and do come head scratching, but basically got to a place that answered most of our questions before we took it down again.

First two legs attached to the center point

adding the third leg

half-way there!

all eight legs on–it’s only missing the horizontal pieces that will stabilize it

And it is so beautiful! Peter has done an amazing job. The attention to detail shows in every way. There’s still some work to do on fitting the horizontal pieces and the whole thing will get six coats of clear stain before it hits the playa. But wow!

Thursday in the dye studio was a big day, too. I got two of the 6 foot banners dyed leaving only one more that size to dye. I had help from Norma and John (and his daughter, Rose, too).  I’m still hoping to get to the studio today to dye the last 6-footers. Then I can steam and wash them tomorrow and have them ready for the eager sewers.

Norma working on a design from the Swat Valley in Afghanistan

and finished

a design from the Caucasus Mountain regions

the dye studio

There is still so much to do but it is exciting to finally see the project come together. I am so grateful for our amazing and dedicated crew, and also to all my friends who have been helping out in the studio and with sewing. I’m one lucky gal.

looking up from inside the structure

Things are happening fast these days! We got back from our annual trip to the Oregon Country Fair a week ago. It was a lovely time and some really good relaxation and connecting with friends in and among the chaotic beauty of the Fair. Above is a panorama of our installation there, Yew Are Here, a little idyll of a public park.

Back here in Seattle, Peter has been working double-time to get the structure for Playastan Crossroads up. Our new crew member, Charlee, is a rock-star addition and has been a huge help. They got a test “erection” up on Thursday and are installing the whole thing this morning. I’m headed over there as soon as I finish typing this update!

A quarter of the structure installed at Peter’s.

The happy crew, Giovanni, Peter Weston and Charlee

In the dye studio I’m busy trying to get banners dyed so that my ace sewer, Ann, can get back to work. I got four 6-footers done last week and will get to the rest of them this week. Here are some process shots of the banner I dyed yesterday. And I’m off!

I started with the lightest values.

added the reds

and finally filled in the darkest value, the red-violet to finish

It’s been over a month since I last posted here, but it’s not been because I have been twiddling my thumbs. No, indeed, I have been working away and putting in long hours on my Burning Man project. I’ve been drawing and waxing and having meetings. I’ve been emailing and plotting and planning and buying a cute little trailer.

I’ve also had openings for two shows, shipped artwork off to Michigan, written a proposal, and watched my daughter graduate from high school. Currently I’m squeezing in more work time while packing for our annual trip to the Oregon Country Fair. Life is full!

patterns everywhere

Life in the studio is full, too. I hit a bad spot a few weeks ago when I realized that, as designed, I didn’t have enough time to finish before I needed to leave for the event. I talked it over with my good friend, John Boylan, who gave me some excellent advice. He told me to think about how I could fulfill the original scope of the project and streamline the process without compromising the intent. When he said that I immediately knew that I needed to reduce the number of designs and make some duplicates. I’ve also reduced the size of the last set of banners from 10 feet to 9 feet. It’s a small time savings, but much easier to manipulate within the confines of the studio, especially given that I’m only a little over 5 feet tall myself.

some of the motifs in the banner patterns

In the end, I’m only repeating four designs but that translates to at least four days of work. Plus, I’ve been getting some great help. Ann Darling, fiber goddess and designer of custom wearables, is doing the sewing for the first set of 12 banners. In the studio, my good friend and studio-mate, Pam, helped out with the waxing last week and my former intern, Vivian, has been helping me with some of the drawing. It’s so good to have the help and the company keeps me going.

I only have five more banners to draw, then waxing the last nine and it’s forward to dyeing! I’m feeling much more encouraged, much more confident in my ability to get ‘er done. Every day I just keep rolling the ball down the street, every day I get a little bit closer to the finish line in Black Rock City.

Hubby and I with our new to us 1976 Trillium trailer