Contents
- Introduction
- Funk Ceramics
- The FrogWorld
- FrogFood
- Papier–Mâché
- Other Works on Paper
- Plexiglas
- Engravings
- Assemblage
- Curriculum Vitae
We've
redone the text for this page to reflect some of the changes that have been
made to this section. Clicking on a thumbnail on this page will take you
to another page where you can just mouseover a thumbnail to see a larger
image and each thumbnail on those pages can be double clicked for a detail
of just the plate. Download times are still a concern but, our youngest
tells us this is not a problem since "Everyone
has DSL or T1 except us." Ahhh, 56kps modems, bandwidth. Problems,
problems.
I got my own problems. Engravings. It is usually desirable to start with a clean, scratch-free surface. The plate has to be prepared. That is, it has to be cut to the size you want and the edges have to be beveled, the surface polished, degreased. All this has to happen before you even start on the image that has to be etched or cut into the plate. If you make a tragic enough mistake, you start over again. The Vegetarian Last Supper took 5 plates before I got it right. Then you print the image on the plate onto the paper.
Printing is not an immediate
medium. Planning is involved. There seems to be an
excessive
amount of delay between the idea and the actual image on paper.There
is a tendency to think too much, instead of just doing, when so much planning
is involved. Laziness becomes an asset.
I leave deep scratches in. If the plate gets scratched (and I really do try not to let that happen) or if the plate is already scratched, I usually work around or with it. You have to recognize when laziness is an asset and when it's just plain laziness, too. Or maybe it isn't laziness. Maybe it's solving the problem in a different way by not starting with everything absolutely clean and neat. The work around. That's what creativity is, solving problems in unique and different ways.
I use scrap aluminum plates that come from a local heating and air conditioning
shop.
I pick thru to find pieces that are relatively scratch-free. I cut the plates
to 
size
with a saber saw and I bevel them with a door sander. I can use an electric
engraver to get the image onto the plate because aluminum is relatively
soft compared to, for example, copper, and a lot less expensive. The plate
breaks down in the printing process more quickly, but I think that's an
asset, too. I'm not tempted into printing large editions.
For an added bit of preparation I practiced drawing with a crow quill pen and some lusters on every dish in the house that had an undecorated surface. I wanted the experience of drawing on an uncomfortable surface that I had to move with, where every line was more or less a committment. I honestly don't understand why Camille objected. She said that an insect or beetle at the bottom of a plate or bowl would be unappetizing to some people. I suppose, but I used gold luster, I did tasteful pen and ink drawings and I thought it would be kind of fun to have insects on all of our dishes. Our dishes don't match anyway and this would be a way of tying them all together.
Her
other point was that the outside of the dish would be better than the inside,
that people don't want to finish the contents of say, a cup or bowl, to
find a beetle or insect in the bottom. Again, I did tasteful, almost scientific
illustrator-type pen and ink drawings in gold (real gold!) luster. And yes,
since it was luster, I had to
fire
her dishes in a kiln. (I still keep a small kiln and use it mainly to keep
one of the studios dry in the winter. Although, once in a while I do a ceramic
piece or two.) A few pieces did some odd things. There was some running
of the existing glaze on a few mugs which kind of made her mad. Well, not
mad, but she gives a brief sign, an audible exhaling of air, actually, and
her face gets real small and tight.
I do understand her not wanting me to use her kitchen spoons for mixing plaster, or the ice cream scoop for making ceramic ice cream cones, or using her cake decorating tips for decorating ceramic cakes or even using her pasta machine for shredding dollar bills or other paper currency (I did a few prints on handmade paper that incorporated shredded money). I don't agree with her viewpoint but I do understand. I truly don't see her point about my drawing practice.
Anyway, I bought her a set of matching dishes and drew a snail on the outside of her favorite coffee cup. It made her happy.
Created 23 October 2007