what a mess I've made

The devil is in the details from what I've heard. Here are some current details.

I've thawed out the remaining poke berries from last fall given to me by Nate Smyth. What a mess I've made!





I also invented something to make my job easier. The crushed pokeberries make a thick liquid which is more syrupy than watery. A good potion of this syrup clings to the seeds.

In order to avoid rinsing the seeds with water to reclaim as much pigment as possible I developed a press to push out the liquid. I used three plastic containers, two are pint size and one is quart size (which becomes the default collection container). The middle container gets holes drilled into the bottom. This middle container holds the seeds and syrup slurry which I push down upon with an empty container with a lid closure.

All the containers share the same diameter (and lids), so they fit into each other (creating a stack). Since the largest container has more depth than the smaller containers, it never comes into contact with the liquid being separated from the seeds.




A note of warning. The previously frozen berries create an environment for fast decomposition. Gasses will build up in the bottles in which the liquid is collected. Leave lots of space in the bottle to prevent a magenta explosion!

Finally, I bought some fabric to make the lab coat and have done a small test coating of the material. This swatch will become the upper pocket on the front of the lab coat.

Progress Report

June 02

June 03

June 05

June 06

June 6th, detail

Lot's of pictures showing the progress of the fading and small misfortunes.

The garment is slipping a bit from bringing it inside in the evening and taking it out in the morning. Addtionally yesterday there was  a small downpour. This is something I wanted to introduce to the image but it is a bit different from the first Clem Wolfham. The image is being exposed sideways which is a "number of clamps" and "size of plexiglass relative to the plywood backing" issue. So the drips run perpendicular to the way I would like to introduce these marks. Additionally the plexi doesn't cover the entire surface area of the paper so the pokeberry emulsion has completely run off the paper in these areas.

I am getting closer to exposing the fabric of one of the anthotype lab coats. Now I just need to teach myself to sew and maybe I can pull this off.

sun spot

Notes on the limited sunlight in the yard: probably closer to just five to five and one half hours of sunlight unattended in the backyard.

Yesterday's pic showed the Anthotype in the sunny corner of the yard at 10:48 a.m. Today's image was taken at 4:48 p.m.

Clem Wolfham in fuchsia, day 2

Today is a bit of a wash for exposing outside (continuous rain) but I did get to wear a cardigan and jeans on this first day of June.

Here is a picture from yesterday. My best estimate is that the anthotype can get six hours of sunlight unattended in this one spot in my backyard.



Yesterday, I did get out to glean some mulberries. I have about 3 pints worth of berries but the lab coat may require a lot more.

clem wolfham in fuchsia, day 1

It's out, getting a small window of intense light each day. Check back for progress reports but I expect to keep this out until roughly the summer solstice.

After this will be a pokeberry anthotype on a labcoat. First, I have to thaw out and mash up some pokeberries from last fall.

the color fuchsia

It’s not summer until I begin a large anthotype and because I planned ahead (or perhaps never got around to it), I have pokeberry emulsion in late May! This is going to be a re-print of the Clem Wolfham anthotype which is badly faded due to mixing the original emulsion with water.

Don’t do that.

I suspect the diluted emulsion caused the image to fade but I don’t have a good guess as to why. Another sheet of paper I had coated a year and a half ago also faded quite badly in the dark. It’s something I noticed last summer after I got back from my Boston residency.

Last fall, after picking and separating berries, I had pokeberry juice all over my hands and made a  hand print on blotter paper. The image is still quite vivid perhaps hinting that maybe this emulsion shouldn’t be diluted.

The images below are the uncoated sheet of Fabriano Artistico Extra White Hot Press and the coated sheet. It is a bit streaky but the color is intense. As intense as fuchsia can get.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, will be the first day of exposure. Even with the heavy tree cover surrounding the back yard, I expect the exposure to take less than two weeks.

Gone Bananas

I think I've gone bananas trying to make prints I will send to reviewers I met with at FotoFest.

Working title ..."Ridiculous Nebula"

a slightly complex photograph

I've been concentrating on reprinting "Don't Take This Personally" for a Houston based photography collector. I've been working this, off and on, since late March. Teaching and other exhibition obligations have limited the amount of time available to focus on this slightly complex photograph (or is it a collection of photographs).

This week I have had the whole week available to address color variation, flaws in coating, flaws in paper or exposure concerns. It's almost done. Today I am going to spot the sections, draw guidelines for the framer in Houston, trim down the paper, flatten them and figure out a way to sign this piece. Then it gets boxed up and shipped to Houston.

Ugly Experiment

The water pistol image needs and explanation. I ran out of patience with the rate of anthotype fading with this pigment so I broke out the water pistol to encourage streaks and drips. Removing some of the top spring clamps, I pointed a stream of water down the paper. It's turning into an ugly experiment. Tomorrow I will continue to work on this anthoype with a sponge to lighten up the ground around the sleeping dress.

This is dangerous territory. More painting than photography. Less automatic and more hands-on.

I have some images from Jason Franz of Manifest documenting the reception for Botanical. I'll post these in a couple of days.

Explanation Needed

I think I'll explain this tomorrow. In the meantime here is the result.

Somewhat Abstract

Today, I return to a favorite subject: Trash. For many years now I have looked longingly at prints rescued from the darkroom trashcan. These are prints that may or may not have recognizable "lens-based" content but usually exhibit some sort of insufficient chemical processing. Often the silver appears to be plating out into swirls of iridescent or gold. They are unloved and transient; changing even as they are photographed especially if they are scanned. Gone if one tries to fix them with hypo.

Red Tulips Work (Sexy Momma)

Nightie Negligee (Red Tulips) Anthotype

I was looking through documentation of the anthotypes and came to the realization that I didn't take a snap of the latest one, Nightie Negligee (Red Tulip), when I first set it outside. Somewhere there has to be some record of when I started it. Perhaps I put it together prior to leaving for Houston around the fourteenth of March or maybe I put outside after I got back home.

This has to be either a 3 or 4 week exposure. Either way, I ran out of patience and ended the exposure today. Bridgette's been giving this one the title of Sexy Momma since it has been going out with the baby sleeping dress which is much bigger.

The day after Friday the 13th

An after Friday the 13th find on the floor of the third floor of building 13 at Sinclair Community College.

File Under Book Keeping

Pluot at Red Filter Gallery

Japanese Pear in DVAC's 17h Annual Auction Preview

This is one of those posts where I list current exhibitions. Sorry. Some people keep a spreadsheet. Some keep a binder. I use this blog on occasion to keep track of shows and what work was exhibited in specific venues.

Currently I have one piece, Pluot,  over in New Jersey at the Red Filter gallery in their Alternative Views exhibition which runs from March 1, 2012 - April 22, 2012. This is a re-working of the Transferred exhibition last fall in Alexandria, Virginia.

Dayton Visual Arts Center is previewing their 17th Annual Auction. Japanese Pear is in the silent auction and is part of the preview exhibit at their gallery 118 North Jefferson Street here in Dayton, Ohio. The auction will be on  April 27, 2012 at Sinclair Community College’s Ponitz Center. Please visit the Dayton Visual Arts Center's website for specific hours and ticket information. The preview exhibit is free and runs through April 25th at . Gallery hours at  are 11 am—6 pm, Tuesday—Saturday.

Last but not least, I will be showing Honeycrisp in Manifest gallery's Botanical:An Exhibiton of Works Exploring Plant Life which has an opening scheduled for Friday, April 20th and runs through May 18th. Manifest is located at 2727 Woodburn Avenue,  Cincinnati, Ohio 45206.

Honeycrisp at Manifest Gallery

in search of a death color

red tulip anthotype about 12" x 15" made using Barbie's "Nightie Negligee"

Ten days into April without a post. I've been playing catch-up with grading projects which means the artist hat that I often wear is put away for the time being while ideas stew and paper waits to be coated.
I think I hinted at talking about a direction for the anthotypes based upon reviewer comments in Houston. I was getting the Adam Fuss read from Barbara Tannenbaum of the Cleveland Museum of Art. Lamenting a not so good start to Fotofest, my next reviewer gave me a bit of wisdom "no artist owns subject matter". I do want to concentrate on the men's pajamas to avoid any unnecessary connection with Fuss' Christening Dress.

So the direction I want to go with these will encourage the accidental and play up the ephemeral. Drips will be introduced to the anthotypes. I will also shift the garments mid-way through their very lengthy exposure. And I may even attempt to create a "death" color, something blackish from mixing plant pigments.

I am interested in trying two pigments from the backyard that seem to co-exist quite well: dandelions (for yellow) and the henbit (for purple). This latest idea will be difficult to pull off. I want to create a two color anthotype but the application of a second color may undo the exposure of the first. Another consideration: the exposure might be twice as long as a straight forward, one color anthotype.

Henbit and dandelions in the backyard

Next stop, sewing lessons

My best laid plans of blogging while in Houston never materialized. As a backup, I planned on writing when I got back to Ohio which was Sunday. There was a lot of work to catch up on, mostly writing lectures and grading projects and papers.

So here it is Saturday, with plenty to do, no idea where to start and a blog I haven't attended to.
Without re-hashing every meeting, with all of the good and the bad. I want to condense it all into a sense of direction. I got to re-visit Dr. Frangst and by re-visit I mean reacquaint. I had to discuss work I really haven't talked about in a few years and I was forced to think about where the project ended. Getting reacquainted with a project means thinking about what worked and didn't work. It also means after a few years of water under the bridge, finding a way to reconnect with the project.

The last image I did was of Dr. Frangst hold a "baby" tree trunk rescued from my neighborhood. It really was a homage to the Jan Svankmajer film "Little Otik" (image one) in which a childless couple raises a ravenous tree stump as their offspring. I don't think it was a misdirection but rather a mis-edit for the project. The last really successful image is Dr. Frangst in the Gingko Photogram coat. This is where I think I can re-enter the project.



Creating more of these photogram leaf coats and wearing them in the Ohio landscape. Additionally, the lab coats themselves will become photographic objects that I will display.

This means teaching myself how to sew (maybe having Bridgette give me some lessons and getting her sewing machine repaired) because I am going to be using a sewing pattern to create pieces of coats which will be exposed and processed in the cyanotype process.



Next up yellow and purple together in the anthotype process.

It's always foggy in Houston

Today I woke up to a foggy Houston morning. This is the last day for reviews at FotoFest 2012 session II. So far it has been worth the trip to Texas and I'll detail this in a future blog post.

I've developed a better way of taking notes following reviews which will help with the all important follow-up letters and thank you notes.

Last night was the open portfolio night which is the connection to the image below. We each had four feet of table space.

It's a bit awkward writing a blog post on the light rail so this is a good enough stopping point.

It's always humid in Houston

At the start, let just get this out of the way: I do things the hard way.

I am basically carrying a chunk of what I consider my studio. For Houston, I brought 5 large anthotypes, rolled up in a tall plastic tube as well as  two smaller ones. Next is the hard case, a too large to carry-on suitcase which has my  clothes, two larger portfolio boxes and toiletries. Addtionally I have my messenger bag with lap top, an Agfa 11x14  box with some extra prints to exchange or sell, chargers for the computer and cell phone, a hard drive, etc. etc. etc.

Here's the narrative of my travels today: lug this stuff to the check in counter at the Columbus airport after an hour drive at four in the morning. Did I mention that my flight departs from a city different from my final return trip city of Dayton?)Retrieve the luggage after a turbulent re-route of my Houston flight (an extra two hours in the air). Forget the large tube of anthotypes while retrieving the hard suitcase from a locked cage near the baggage carrousel ( I evidently took my time going wee, eating a Tampico burrito form Papasitas).

Not realizing I had forgotten my tube until I was handing my luggage to the Super Shuttle driver. Running back to locate the tube, finding it and running back to the shuttle.
Checking in at the Meeting Place office. Did I mention I liked to do things the hard way. Instead of going directly to my off-site hotel, I decided to lug all of the luggage through the Double Tree (three bags full, sir) and then track down my hotel.

Going out Dallas street to Main (maybe five city blocks) to pick up the light rail. Buying a ticket on the correct side of the tracks to go to my hotel. Thinking it was the wrong direction and walking up a block to board the light rail going in the wrong direction. Taking it in the wrong direction for one stop. Exiting and re-boarding the correct direction.

Taking the train down towards Reliant Park and the Medical Center while talking to a suspiciously friendly dude who was telling me he inherited a Houston Pedicab company. He technically didn't call it a pedicab. He described it as a three wheeled bike that has two seats in the back and was a business.
Exiting the train at the correct stop but walking the wrong direction (away from the hotel) and then back again.

I should have checked in first. BTW, I think this room is half the size of our house and it has two flat screen TV's in it. Thank you Margie and Ray! I think I will watch cable and avoid tomorrow's portfolio reviews. After all, it's always humid in Houston for a gent carrying too much of his studio on foot.

apple (again)

The last few weeks have been both chaotic and structured in preparation for Houston. Good printing days and bad printing days. Bad printing days followed by no printing days. I really shouldn't be mussing with gold and palladium toners with the Van Dyke Brown prints this close to FotoFest.
Needless to say, all the lack of blogging will be followed by an avalanche of correspondence once step onto Texas soil. In between now and then, how about a little synchronicity between my new favorite muse, apples and perhaps my even newer, new favorite muse, images of planetary nebulae from the Hubble telescope. I came across this, strangely enough, from a recent Los Angeles Times column about their decision to scrap the star rating system for restaurant reviews.

Planetary Nebula NGC 6751

 

apple (again), gold and palladium toned van dyke brown print

Mommy and Daddy are Alright

Just a quick snap of the new saffron anthotypes, "Mommy" & "Daddy". Better pictures on Monday.

that word seems strange to me

Article. That word seems strange to me this morning. Am I spelling that correctly?
There is an article in the Dayton City Paper regarding the nature of the jurying process that most artists at one point or another must go through.

Here's the link, http://www.daytoncitypaper.com/the-jury-process/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-jury-process.

The article gives some insight into the challenges faced by one juror, Mary Gaynier, who selected the works shown in the current Works on Paper exhibit at the Rosewood Art Center gallery.
Also interviewed for the piece is Amy Anderson, the gallery director, who discusses the high quality of work that didn't make it through the jurying process. She actually documented some of the rejects including a wonderful piece by David Kenworthy and posted them on the Rosewood Gallery site on Facebook.

This link should get you there or try http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150659929941802&set=pu.92709556801&type=1&theater.

Two Twenty-nine (All Day)

It's two twenty-nine all day. Also the eve of the University of Dayton's short midterm break. I had two (out of eleven) students show up to class so I took them outside to photograph and work on their current assignment which has a closest focus component. While they were photographing, I was photographing and now I have something to blog about. Pictures.

ImageOhio again

It is a worthy exhibit in the wonderful space that is the Fort Hayes Shot Tower gallery, this ImageOhio 12. Another compelling reason is Christopher Yates. Read his review in the Columbus, Dispatch which I will link to here. The juror statement from Chris Stults is also a good reason to see his selections.

Cut Grass Anthotype, Victorian Sleeping Dress in the Shot Tower gallery

ImageOhio Artitsts Talks

From yesterday afternoon's ImageOhio talk. I was too wrapped up with my late entrance to snap the participants and Fort Hayes students. The bottom image shows two new photographs by Ardine Nelson.

in progress (sign of impatience)

It's frustrating making anthotypes in Ohio in the winter. Here is a peak at the Nightie Negligee photogram anthotype. I've been exposing it since January 25th give or take a week of clouds.
It's still got a ways to go but it is working. The working title is "Saffron Night Gown".

eight days later

Eight days later and this is all I have to show for myself.

Birds on a wire. A lot of birds and a sky that can't decide whether it wants to snow or not.

On the way to pick up clear acrylic from a vendor in Moraine (Ohio) I drove under a flash mob of pigeons. It does sort of suggest a solution to photographing very dramatic clouds on a winter day. Put many birds on(to) it!










Just a word of warning that the next blog entry will be an update on the anthotypes in progress. I have been exposing the saffron anthotypes during the last week. There were sunny days on Friday, Sunday and Monday so the ground is starting to fade.