New Print on Rock Skipping

I am waiting, waiting, waiting for word that I can move into the new studio. I've started clearing out my home studio to prepare for the move, but I'm at an impasse. I've run out of real estate to stash studio supplies as I dismantle my studio's shelving unit. Nightmare! All my stuff is big. A full sheet of printing paper is 22x30," and I have lots of paper and printmaking plates. (This exercise has made me face the true magnitude of my paper stash.)

Some stuff stays, such as finds for future assemblage projects, as well as sewing and craft supplies for kids. Random stuff alone will be plenty for this home studio to hold--plus we plan on putting in a bed or futon for guests!





So, due to the impasse, I actually did work on a new plate. I mentioned Jill Alo's fantastic print in a recent blog post. In an effort to try her technique of a gessoed plate, I put several layers of gesso (4, I think) on a large piece of mat board after sealing the back with 100% gel medium. I used carbon paper to transfer some images to my plate, then started to scratch into it with a wood carving blade. I have no idea if the lines will be too fine to show up with all the gesso texture to compete with. We shall see.

My framer gives me mat board scraps, so this piece was already beveled.

You can see the gesso texture on the plate a little better in this detail shot. After considering how fine my lines were, I sanded in places with a scraper tool since sandpaper seemed too large and unwieldy. I can't wait to proof this thing! I have more scratching to do, and it'll probably be awhile before I can get on a press, but boy it feels great to be working on something!