Hooray because my blog is back online. It's purely by chance that I discovered this to be the case. It was taken off line on the 3rd of April for a "spam check" by Google. The email or notice from them, said that it would be checked within four business days. However the actual amount of time was more like nine days or seven business days. BUT I suppose I ought to thank my lucky stars given that some Blogspot users have had to wait a month or so.
Going through this experience has made me realize how important blogging is to me. I mean there are phases where I don't post to my blog but thats usually because I am really caught up in making work for a specific goal/exhibition etc. I really do appreciate that this facility i.e., Blogspot, exists and is available to me.
Thing is that even if there was a charge similar to what Flickr charges for an annual album/account - I would be OK with paying that. That costs about £15 by the way. In actual fact, I would be more secure , if that were the case because then I would know that it could not suddenly be removed from me. I would "own" it.
Part of the reason that I am saying that it's important is because for this past four days my spinal condition has been horribly exacerbated in terms of pain levels. Gawd only knows why ??!! Maybe it's something to do with the fact that I did some printmaking at FDPW on Monday Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. On each of those days, I was only there for about two hours - I was not physically capable of any more than that.
In the course of my various applications eg "hard ground" and applying liquid ground, I used turpentine and white spirit as well as car spray paint. I did wear a respirator mask. Although I felt that some of the fumes did penetrate etc, none the less. I had a bit of a headache and dryish throat on both Monday and Tuesday evenings. My sinuses were also affected and still have not gone back to their usual 'stuffed up' level. In fact my nose is still kind of sore.
I ordered an aquatint screen which has been dispatched today from McClains in Oregon USA. I think using those chemicals and their subsequent effect on me as well as my frustration with not being able to get an aquatint in my etching pushed me towards putting the order in for it. The total cost including the postage is about £55 odd. That's $109 US dollars.
When you consider what it is - it's quite expensive but I did look into it and it's pretty difficult to generate one yourself.
I have also this week been in contact with one of the staff at a company here in the UK, about buying an airbrush. I want to use it to apply the Lascaux acrylic resist etch aquatint liquid. After our short correspondence - I now know which one to buy ( there's a huge choice) and the compatible compressor - I am just waiting for the chap I have been in contact with there, to confirm his opinion re. the compressor. There was some mention of 'low pressure' and as I have never even used one of these I want to make sure that its OK for the airbrush model he recommended. That's going to be an outlay of £265-00 eeeeek.......but if I wait until they get one at the print workshop it could be a long long wait and well I just want to be able to get on with things myself. One advantage of not being able to go out and about is that I don't spend money in that respect so...............
I have always mainly spent any money I have had, on art books and art materials anyway. I once bought a book for £80, in a bookshop in Cork Street, London. I am trying to remember the name of the shop ...no it won't come. The book is a monograph of Mimmo Palladino's graphic works. Of course he has lots of print technicians to help him - how nice that must be!!
The closest I came to that, was when I was on a residency at Lowick Print Studio in Cumbria and I had the lovely Emma Grover to help me.
She does some excellent printmaking herself, I liked her work, the minute I saw it. I remember being at the biennial of the Printmakers council in London in 1999 and we both got an award presented by the then Secretary for Arts and Culture, Chris Smith, for our works in that exhibition. Lowick Print Workshop is sadly closed down now - such a shame -it was a beautiful print workshop. Those eight weeks I spent there were one of the best times I ever had. And thanks to Birna (who I am spending a fortnight with, in Iceland - this coming August) for encouraging me to apply.
Hi Ainesse,
ReplyDeleteI have a way of applying an acrylic aquatint you might try. I use one of those devices for the kitchen that pump air into a container of liquid so it can be sprayed. I think they are meant for cooking oil. I make sure I wash it immediately after I use it and haven't had it clog on me yet. If it did I'd run ammonia through it but your air passages might not appreciate that! So I put future floor polish or the Lascaux hard ground in the container and pump up the pressure. Then I go outside (hopefully it's not a windy day. I use a dust mask but sometimes I just hold my breath so as not to breathe the aerosolized acrylic. I stand where there's a background dark enough that I can see the droplets in the air and I hold the plate horizontally in my hand and spray the acrylic up in the air and catch it on the plate as it descends. I usually let the first droplets go by before scooping my plate into the "cloud" of acrylic. It makes a nice aquatint with a variety of drop sizes and I haven't had trouble with even coverage. I have asthma so I appreciate your problems. I bought an airbrush like you did but I decided that I really didn't like the overly smooth and perfect effect that the airbrush makes based on pictures in a book. I haven't tried it out so maybe that tendency can be overcome. I like Goya's aquatints so that's the look I want and I suspect a spray gun would be too perfect.
Lynn