Experiments from the Garden of Roses, Part II

Anthotype science. I like this kind of stuff.

The rose petal extract demonstrates a classic pH indicator color change. I wish I had a pH meter to compare my guesses but for now these estimates will have to do. I noticed that when I washed out anything that had been in contact with crushed red rose petals, it would turn the water blue which would be around pH 7. Last week when I suspected the leftover rose petal extract was oxidizing to a brown, I added a classic food preservative, citric acid, to the fresh rose petal emulsion. It went from a cool red (pink red) to a warm red (crimson). Yesterday evening I again added citric acid to the latest batch of red rose petal emulsion and saw the warm red effect. In washing out one of the beakers I created about 3oo cc of faintly blue water into which I added a pinch of citric acid. It shifted the water to a faint red before it went clear. Now the question is, what was the pH of the pinch of citric acid in water that I created? Probably pH 4-5.

In creating some green Anthotype emulsion from grass, I noticed that adding citric acid created more of a brown green or olive color and possibly contributed to flocculation. For the grass I am probably going to just use distilled water and crushed leaves (blades). As of yesterday, the sheet of paper I have coated has about 5 coats of green applied to it.

Pictures soon. Of immediate concern is tracking down some coffee this morning.

Experiments from the Garden of Roses

For my own notes. What follows is tedious paper + anthotype research.

I really didn't expect this to do what it did.

The anthotype emulsion, for what ever reason, is very sensitive to the paper it is applied to. The color changes in response to pH and, because the color you start out with is the color you end up with, coating issues related to internal sizing of paper are magnified. Two papers that I have tried, Utrecht drawing and the washi paper from Kochi didn't have enough size which created a problem with applying the emulsion evenly. It would soak through the paper before it could be spread out. Noticing that spilled emulsion would dry down beautifully on plastic spoons and varnished table surfaces, I decided to try something the exact opposite of an unsized paper, Yupo. This polystyrene sheet absorbs nothing. You are basically pushing around a liquid until it dries. I was hoping it would dry dark like the spilled emulsion or the emulsion left on containers and spoons.

The Yupo was extremely frustrating. It separated the larger pieces of rose pigment that had made it through the coarse filter from the liquid creating a speckled look. Where there was lots of homogenous liquid, it appeared uneven and lighter than I had hoped.

Frustrated with my attempts to let gravity pull the liquid over the surface of the Yupo, I went back to my dorm for dinner. I came back about two hours later to a lovely surprise. The emulsion had dried down darker. While it is still uneven and speckled, I am happy with the degree of color and will try once more with the Yupo, filtering the liquid through a finer mesh and perhaps applying the emulsion with a spray bottle.

A bit boring but a wonderful discovery to come back to after a day of limited success. It reminds me of the story of Marie and Pierre Curie returning to their lab at night following dinner to witness the beautiful glowing color of  the room (from their research into radiation).

Gleaners of the Rose Garden

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to work with our student assistant at Emmanuel College, Lauren Nauman. She has been working primarily with the 3-D artists of the residency, Drew Ippoliti and Darien Johnson, so today I wanted to get her out of the studio. We ended up going to the rose garden in the fens behind the Museum of Art. A bit hot to be gleaning rose petals at 12 noon, so we only spent 15 minutes there collecting what we could.

Even though I brought the camera to the rose garden, I neglected to take pictures. Blame it on the heat. In the future I will be sure to get documentation of myself or Lauren in the act of gleaning.

Returning to the studio, we began separating the freshest petals, the ones with the highest moisture content, from those a bit too dried out. Half the petals are getting the freezer treatment to break them up and create the emulsion; the other half we went about grinding up with tap water and our mortar and pestles.