This image is a multi-plate that was started a couple of semesters ago. I was unable to finish before the end of the semester, and it was put in a drawer with the intention of picking up with it at the beginning of the next semester. However, other passions and interests took over and it has languished in a drawer, waiting for my attentions to it to return. I plan on working on it over the precious few days remaining in this semester, and perhaps take it home with me in order to work on it over the summer in my own studio. It holds promise, and I think deserves better than what I have given it so far.

This is the image derived from my latest, and no doubt last, plate of the spring semester of 2006. Once again it is based on a photograph. However, the original photograph was very abstract to begin with, and I further abstracted the image, perhaps to a point where it is non-recognizable. It is an attempt to take the abstraction of a photographic image even further. My hope was to retain some portion of the reality inherent in the original image. There is only the original acid bite affecting the plate with no further work such as aquatint or use of hand held tools. All color variation and textures were achieved by ink viscosity, rolling, and wiping.

While I am waiting for my next plate to emerge from the acid, I am working with my "trad" plate, trying different things, and even managing to learn a bit. It's quite amazing all the things that can be done to influence the look of the final print. So many simple things that one doesn't always see or think of. Frustrating to spend all this time working and miss so much that is in front of one's eyes.

The Spring semester 2006 at UW-L is rapidly coming to an end. I'm working furiously to get as many prints done as possible. The problem is the other students are doing the same and the printshop only has so much inking areas, presses, and print drying space. I went in to print this afternoon, but several others had already beaten me to it. So, I did a few other things that needed doing, and then readjusted my mental attitude to having an easy day. Not many of those come around lately, it seems.

Chaos is the intention for this latest series of images. I let the ink, burnt plate oil, density of the roller, and wiping of the plate to have their say about the final image as much as what I have to say. To not be compulsively in control of the entire process, but instead to allow the materials to speak their language in their way as well. This image has its' origins in a piece of photographic cellulose, and this time although the image is abstracted I have allowed it to retain much of the properties of a photograph. That is the ability to capture the reality of a moment like no other medium can. While I continue to find my voice as well as the voice of the materials, the next plate is already being bitten by the acid.

Krishna Reddy's viewpoint on man's relationship to the world around him, and how to harness this viewpoint to the materials we use to produce prints is something I find very exciting. I intend to spend sometime trying to intertwine his thoughts with mine, and then move those thoughts onto copper joining somewhere with ink and finally paper.

Over Spring Break at UW-L when the printshop was very quiet I had the opportunity to do another of my litho/photo prints. This one is from a series I shot this past summer about disappearing farm technology. It started when I noticed the old wooden barns were disappearing. However, they weren't just suddenly disappearing, but were being neglected and allowed to deteriorate and decompose slowly and sadly. I felt compelled to shoot them with my camera. This project then expanded into shooting the old tractors and farm implements that were also dragged off to the side of a field, and allowed to rust and share their space with weeds and vines that were feverishly trying to make them their own. I began to think about how these items were at one time so very important, even vital, to their owners and were so appreciated. Now, due to the evolution of technology they were no longer wanted or appreciated, and were being quickly discarded. As I was shooting I was wondering why I was feeling this emotional connection. I began to realize it was about me. I am approaching 60 years of age and retirement. Would society also begin to under appreciate me? Would I also soon be discarded and allow to decline by myself?

My latest series of prints involves transferring a photographic image that has significance to me to a plate, etching it, and then experimenting with various hues, wipings, and roll up techniques to try and express the emotion the images evokes in me. The original image is abstracted as it only serves to stimulate my emotions, and cause me to search for a means of suitable expression. I came the closest with the image that has a red hot blast furnace look, with a bit of cooling around the edges. Many of the others were enjoyable adventures in technique from which I am learning. To see some of the other images click here.