She's Carnivorous- new etching

She's Carnivorous, 5" x 7", etching, soft-ground, aquatint, and drypoint, edition of 20

My Love Letters Etching Series stems from my deep obsession with diversity of flora and fauna in the natural world, and most specifically from the ocean. I see these new works like deep and intense obsessions with celebrities. I desire to write love letters to all my heroes in the form of small, process driven intaglio prints. I’m interested in the balance between the menacing/beautiful and between the man-made/natural. I seek to both catalog and respond to various natural phenomena and micro to macro relationships in the art making process. How many letters can I write and how many different organisms or sources can I incorporate into my work? Naturalist, biologist, and artist Ernest Haeckel drew over 5,000 species of radiolaria during his lifetime. I seek to incorporate a similar number of flora and fauna into my work during my lifetime. New species are still being discovered every day and we have only explored less than 10% of what is actually in our oceans. While my works are inspired by the natural world, the forms don’t necessarily exist and are created through inventing and adjusting actual references. It’s important that I’m combining a variety of source material in the work and not just documenting different species. My paintings series, The Pocket Pod Series, includes over 250 original works made between 2008-09. My last big series completed in 2012, The Daily Drawing Project, encompasses 52 weekly series with 366 original works. The Love Letter Etchings builds on those ideas and but takes cues from the Census of Marine Life, a 10-year research project that involved 2,700 scientists and 6,000+ potential species.

She’s Carnivorous

She’s Carnivorous, inspired by the newly discovered Carnivorous Harp Sponge, is strikingly beautiful like a harp, but it is also very ominous at same time. The balance between the menacing and the beautiful is exciting to explore in the printmaking process. I’m interested in investigating the duality present in a variety of creatures and environments. 

How do you make an Intaglio Print?

Intaglio is an umbrella term that incorporates etching, aquatint, soft-ground, and drypoint techniques. I wanted to talk about the process because I know many of you may not be familiar with intaglio. I started "She's Carnivorous" by putting a hard ground onto a copper plate. Next I composed a line drawing directly on the plate with metal etching needles. The act of drawing scrapes away the ground and reveals the copper underneath. After creating a line drawing, I drop the plate in acid to etch the line drawing into the plate. All the areas where I scraped away the ground will create grooved lines in the plate. These grooves are perfect for holding ink. After I'm satisfied with the line etch, I can remove the ground and print a proof of the plate. Etching plates are printed by putting ink on with a card and slowly wiping it off by hand. There is a special technique necessary to learn to do this properly and it has absolutely gorgeous effects. This antique art form is very different then digital or offset printing as each print is wiped very slowly by hand. Intaglio printmaking is a very artistic process and requires a great deal of finesse to get each print just right.

Aquatint makes tonal values & Drypoint is drawing without a ground

Next I wanted to add tonal values and texture to the background so I decided to add a soft ground to the plate. I arranged pencil shavings in the top of the print and ribbon pieces in the bottom. With the all the textures on the plate, I ran the plate through the printing press. After the plate came out, I removed all the pencil shavings and ribbon pieces. I was now ready to add aquatint with an airbrush gun; this sprays tiny dots onto the plate and it's a great way to get tone on an etching plate. I then etched the plate two different times. First, I etched the top (pencil shavings) section very quickly as I did not want the value to get very dark. After the plate was etched I took the plate out of the acid and blocked out the top area by painting on more ground. When I put the plate back into the acid the top portion will not etch. Next, I etched only the bottom section of the print (because the top was blocked by ground) for a longer time because I wanted a darker value. I was now ready to remove the ground and print a proof of the plate. After printing and looking at the proof I decided the plate needed a few more lines, so I started drawing directly on the plate without a ground. This technique is called drypoint, and this creates the effect of a glowing halo around the line.

Printing the edition

I printed another proof and decided that I was happy with the image. Each print is wiped delicately by hand and due to the process it has beautiful rich tonal qualities. I started on this print in April so the process has been very slow and deliberate. It's a very different artistic medium than painting and I really enjoy the differences. I've been very excited to work on this process and I'm happy to answer questions you may have.

CoCA Seattle exhibition

Packing up La La Lure for an exhibit that opens on July 18 at the Center on Contemporary Art in Seattle.

COCA Collision: Center on Contemporary Art

Artists' Reception:
Thursday, July 18, 5-9pm

CoCA Georgetown Gallery
Seattle Design Center, Suite 258
5701 6th Avenue South, Seattle, WA 98108

*catalog available

July 18, 2013 - September 15, 2013

Packing up La La Lure