Lycoris and Adrasteia are the first characters to be drawn, etched and printed at Project Atelier – and here they are in their first state. There’s a long way to go with this image yet and I’m not sure what the next step will be.
15 June 2009 was a great day for me – my etching press arrived! I still can’t quite believe it. It was delivered in the most enormous crate and I wondered if I had been sent the wrong thing; or I’d got my calculations wrong. But thankfully no, it was just exceptionally well packed for its journey from
With the help of a couple of friends (thank you Gareth and Georgia) it was lifted onto the bench and, after trimming the blankets and putting in the bed, I was printing! Works like a dream; I pulled a perfect cardcut and an etching first go.
This morning I mixed up my first batch of copper sulphate solution and etched a plate – another first for Project Atelier. Put the plate through the press and the Undertaker’s sisters-in-law were born. I have my own etching press. I am very happy.
Work continues to go on in and to the studio; the workspace is evolving as I settle into it and find the best ways of using it. Having spent several hours on Saturday dismantling an eight-foot long, floor to ceiling built-in wardrobe and shelving unit, I’ve happily found a use for some of the bits that I haven’t taken to the dump. One of the wardrobe doors has provided me with a larger work surface and the small cupboard doors will make excellent print flatteners. It’s functional rather than aesthetically pleasing, but that was always the Bennett Price way, so I’m content to continue the tradition. Just three doors, two end pieces and half a tonne of three by three to get rid of now…
More found objects: an old 1950s movie projector and film splicing thing. A feather eiderdown. And a wok. A snooker cue, a sail maker's palm, two cans of spray adhesive, fishing weights. A china doll, a
In the loft: An old box brownie, an early 35mm camera, two bowler hats. Another movie projector, a slide projector, model planes, a five foot tall wooden standard lamp carved in the shape of a lion. A wedding dress, corsets, pictures, a silver tankard, a tea service, old books...
Phase one continues (three car-loads of stuff to the dump so far, more to go) but being an impatient sort, I’ve started phases two and three as well.
Phase two: shifting all my existing printmaking and art-related equipment into the studio – going well and almost finished.
Phase three: procuring the necessary items that I don’t already have like heating, inking slab, etching and water baths, copper sulphate and a press. Doing well here – heaters ordered, baths bought and inking slab reclaimed from behind the garage. The main window of the studio used to have a hole in one side of it (it’s double-glazed) and when I was in there at the weekend, I realised there was no hole in the current one. Dad must have replaced it at some point. Had a look behind the studio and there was the old window, just waiting to be turned into a massive and magnificent inking slab. It’s about three feet by four and was wedged into a narrow gap between the fence and back wall of the studio, so took a bit of huffing and puffing to get it out. Also to get it onto the bench in the studio! It’s a perfect fit though so I’m well chuffed with that. The photo shows the slab in situ, and my hotplate and general inking area.
Just need to get the copper sulphate now, and the most difficult and most expensive part – the press.
Other objets trouves: a brass letterbox, an air pistol (delivered to the Police on Thursday), an old copper kettle, framed photographs of unknown early 20th Century gentlemen.
