Factory Film Sculpture Prototype

  While taking the Certificate for Photography Program at the University of Washington this term, I was in the darkroom as much as possible.  I would do my own film developing at home for my 4x5 negatives then take them to the Art Building darkroom to do contact prints and enlarging on photographic paper.

I decided for the last critique of the class I would do some architectural /art drawings based on the factory paintings and sculptures I did earlier this year. I scanned the Sumi/watercolor/ink drawings and inverted them in Photoshop then inkjet printed them.  Lights and camera were set up and the inkjets were pinned to a wall, the negatives were developed and dried then cutout with a sharp hobby knife.  This prototype was taped together with a couple of different Scotch tapes.  Not sure what the next batch is going to be, but I think I will shoot the next negatives in a n 8x10 format. Fun!

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Open House for MDA donors

  Here a couple of shots from donors picking up their prints after generously donating to Muscular Dystrophy fundraising this fall.

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4x5 Pinhole Camera Build

  During the last several weeks of taking classes and working in the darkroom at the University of Washington for the Certificate for Photography program this fall and visit with Jen Dalley, a partner with Thomas Bath at Parallel Lines Studio in Ely, Nevada just before classes started (Jen has several dozen cameras and has made a bunch of pinhole cameras), I was inspired to make my own camera.

Here are a couple of images that show some of the components during the build and some photos of the finished camera.  I just bought some 8 x 10 film holders so I am going to scale this idea up for that format. Both cameras are optimized for the fixed focal length of the pinhole that roughly matches a glass lens coupled to a shutter and adjustable aperature mechanism.  The 4x5 has an older Kodak lens - probably from a 2 1/4" format box or folding camera that I picked up from Jim's Camera in the University District just before he shut his doors for $10.  The 8 x 10 camera will have a lens board with a pinhole and a lens board for a 210mm f/8 lens in a Copal shutter that I use in my Horseman 4x5 cameras.

More on the 8 x 10 at a later date.

If you double-click on the large photo, you will get larger images in a slide show that will have arrow keys when you pass  the mouse to the left or right of the image.

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Sculpture becomes Spacecraft

  I have given myself a goal of making 12 new sculptures by the end of the year.  Most are less than 100 square inches varying in height from a couple of inches to around ten inches.  Most are made of steel plate, used steel tools and formed pieces like angles and channels that are joined by MIG welding.  Added to some sculptures will be wood or pieces of acrylic.  The wood and acrylic may be adhered to the steel with screws or rivets or epoxy. A couple like the one below as no steel, just wood and acrylic resin.

This piece is a composite of 2 x 4 scraps - one kept silver from weathering - with added scraps of poured acrylic resin, dowels, and bamboo.  I really didn't have an idea of what it was going to be, I was just creating from scrap and constantly testing component forming on a band saw and disc sander and drilling dowels for the legs then checking composition of elements on top and adding bamboo antennae or feelers.

A friend of mine, Kim Krech had seen some of these at a party and was curious about them.  I told her I had made up a story about one of them, the piece pictured below.   She asked if I could come by Bellevue Community College and talk about this and other sculptures and architectural models in the context of concepts to her design students who are trying their hand at early idea models. I agreed I would.  More posts on the progress of the dozen sculptures will come in the following months.  Double click on the image below for a larger view.

New October Linocuts for MDA fundraising 2012

  Here are two exciting  new lino cut additions that donors get to choose from for this year's Muscular Dystrophy Association's fundraiser.

The plates can be seen on the Relief page under Printmaking.

Sewing Shop

This isn't very far from the real sewing machines used at Taylor Art House.    The depiction is of an Singer 29K patch machine and a very robust Juki 1508NH, a heavy duty industrial machine used for multi-layer sewing of leather and nylon webbing and other hard to sew materials.  The Juki has a modern synchro motor with electronic controls. - it is very precise and user-friendly.  The Singer is a classic design that is over a hundred years old.  It has a new motor, although many leather shops used this with the wheel moved to the front face of the machine to do very fine machine work without a motor, feeding the piece through the machine by turning the wheel by hand.  The  top-only feed dogs rotate 360 degrees so sewing can be accomplished in tight places. This machine is on a modern sewing stand that rests on a mobile steel dolley.

Photo Studio

The Photo Studio proofs are a depiction about a sitting model and a photographer using a large format camera, some lighting from a side window and supplemental lighting from studio lights in an small space, maybe as small as 8 x 8 x 8 or 9 feet tall. I have thought I might pick up one of the smallest used box vans from UHaul and/or build a little room off the plaza to the north of  the Taylor Art House printmaking and painting studio.  This idea started from the fledgling Double Exposure Project. This as well as the Sewing Shop cut are studies in light and composition and use white and black to a greater extent than used before in the linos.  They were cut thinking they would be rolled up with black ink and the results are very pleasing. The pattern of the cuts in this print are economical to give the composition the right balance of objects, pattern and amount of black and white.

Relief Prints and Muscular Dystrophy Association

Both of these prints work well as a pair, I can see a series of this type of composition and light in the future.   Both images depict part of the art process at Taylor Art House and some pieces of the real art produced have and will use both photography and sewing.   The Factory Quilt made for the Print Paint Flow show  at Johnston Architects used both instant film, film packaging and the final piece was assembled with a couple of sewing machines.

Read the previous MDA Linocut post for more process information on the printing of linocuts in general and for this great fund-rraisiung effort for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

If you are reading this post before October 18, 2012 feel free to donate.

(Go to http://www2.mda.org/goto/JonTaylor to donate)

Linocut proofs for MDA Jailbird Fundraising 2012

I volunteered for this year's Jailbird fundraising for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

(Go to http://www2.mda.org/goto/JonTaylor to donate)

I think everything that could go wrong with our car and our computer happened in the last two weeks so I am a bit late getting started.  For this fundraising anyone interested can get an un-framed proof of some lino-cuts I started in Maui a couple of years ago, another plate cut earlier in the year to make a double print and a recently cut factory image made last week.  For everyone donating $30 dollars you can get a single print, anyone donating $60 dollars or more will get two prints.  There are several prints that have images from two plates that will be counted as a single while they last.  All proofs are made with extremely high quality components: inks are Charbonnel etching inks and the proofs are printed on a tabletop Takach etching press on Arches Rives BFK paper.  These will be un-framed and un-trimmed.  There will be a date on the back and a signature on the front.  In printmaking terms these pieces are all unique prints, so there will be no numbering system.  Similar prints were on sale at a recent show and sold for $100 each.

This first image is of the current plates being used for the fundraising.  The Beach 1 plate to the left was the first plate I cut in Hawaii a couple of years ago. I had another sister plate that was like fronds overlapping that I could never get to print as an underlay for the beach scene.  The second plate cut earlier this year, Beach 2,  was to be a better aligned background for the first beach scene, but although it was better, I never really liked the combination, although a couple of proofs were alright, a bit more detail will be added to this second plate and it will be used as a single.  The last plate, Factory, was a spin off of the factory theme that evolved from the PRINT PAINT FLOW show at Johnston Architects this year. This plate may have a couple of colors, but will probably have a background color that is overprinted with a darker ink.  A new plate with gliders over a valley landscape also has some recall to paintings from the PRINT PAINT FLOW show, it was cut specifically for this fundraiser.  The new Glider plate and proofs of all plates can be seen at the end of the post below.

Inks are prepared and rolled on a glass surface over a support painted white.

Here is  a proof that was just pulled off the plate after printing. There is a registration guide that is drawn on acetate with a Sharpie. This technique is important when trying to get a series of proofs to look the same on similar sized pieces of paper and when registering two or more plates on the same piece of paper.

A series of proofs with different inkings and plates, since these are all experiments in inking and number of plates, they are treated as unique prints.

Here is a variety of proofs

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Double Exposure Project Update 2

Two new developments:

A refinement to the backdrops and producing a film mask.

Back drops:

We were blessed with a visit in the midst of a busy schedule of an old friend visiting her parents in Bellevue with her 15 year old daughter.  I asked if they could try out some new backdrops I had positioned under a white tent. Her daughter was game and I took several images of her and myself in this mid August shoot. These were all shot with a Horseman 4x5 view camera with a 90mm wide angle lens and a Fuji instant filmpack back.  Instant film was scanned with a Epson V500 Photo scanner at 400 dpi with a dust removal program.

Film Mask development:

After the shoot, an extra dark slide was sacrificed for a "portrait mask"  Here are some images of the standard double sided 4 x 5 film holder with a full dark slide and the modified dark slide made into the portrait mask.

To differentiate the portrait mask from the silver or white used on all other dark slides the mask top was painted orange.

Double Exposure Project

What do you do when a friend gives you a container of 50 or so frozen, but past expiration date 4x5 inch Polaroid color film packs?

You give some away, you experiment with some longer exposures, you have some fun because it is free compared to the Fuji version at $30 bucks a 10 pack.

Here are some crude examples and experiments with a 90 mm wide angle and a 210 mm standard/portrait lens using an older Polaroid film pack holder set in a Horseman 4x5 view camera on our "ever so slowly being  built over the decades and constantly redesigned" stairway in Seattle.

In the future Harmon reversal black and white paper that can be used in 4x5 film holders and some black and white film will be used to be developed and contact printed or enlarged.  There will be a Mamiya RZ67 with some instant backs and film and a digital SLR and simple lighting for additional images during the shoots.

Why do double exposure on instant film when you could do it digitally? Because it is captured right on the photo paper with only manipulating a mask close to the film plane and, yes, it is cool.  In addition, it will be fun collaborating with the subject and there will be other film and digital camera data to manipulate and print in the future.

For the process,  the mask will split the image in half in landscape or vertical formats. Since the prototype masks are pretty close to the center of the image on the film or paper the two images of one person that has shifted from one side of the scene to the other between mask changes will appear as if taken once and have no "ghosting" associated with double exposing a full un-masked piece of film.

In the future dark slides will be cut for double film or paper carriers and there will be some dark slides made into masks for the instant film pack holder.

Horseman 4x5 view camera showing back with pack film holder inserted (right side of image).

Styrene cut to shape for vertical mask taped into Graflock back with painting tape. If you could be in the bellows with the lens to your back, this is what you would see, the gray plastic blocks the light.

Shooting process is to take the first shot, reinsert dark slide, take off camera back, remove - flip and retape the mask - reinsert back, change subject position, remove darkslide, take second image.  Simple, huh?

Will this be the final setup? Maybe a scrim over the window, probably some photo lights will be added. Hopefully some more finished construction.

Want to be part of the Taylor Art House Double Exposure Project?

If you are interest in modeling for this project and taking home some images of yourself double-exposed, send an e-mail to artman.taylor@gmail.com, in the subject line put, "Taylor Art House - Double Exposure Project".  Shooting times will be strung together when possible, probably on morning weekend days. Individual sessions will take about 30-60 minutes depending on your patience level.  The setup will be in Wallingford, other locations may be considered.  Photos will be used only with permission.

The intent of this project is to have a digital web-based show, possibly have a gallery show and/or publish a small edition book.  If it gets enough interest there may be sub themes - not sure what yet - it is just starting.

More later.

Panel Making for PRINT PAINT FLOW show

For the Print Paint Flow show there was just a bit less than a month to put together artwork that had been recently made or needed several hours to complete. In addition there were a number of new painting s that were to be produced which included reworking on one and painting new on four 20 x 30" birch panels;  making four 24 x 36 inch panels for stapling on archival sleeves to hold 20 x 30 works on paper and making four 36 x 60 inch panels for new paintings. On top of that there was so much sculpture and three-dinetional work that we decided to make three new platforms for this show and space. This post  focuses on how and why panels were made from hollow core doors.  Hollow core doors are relatively cheap if you can buy them at ReStore or Second Use or other recycled building material centers for about 10-20 bucks each. New blank flush doors with primed Masonite skins can be purchased at Frank Door or Dunn Lumber for about 30 bucks - these are cheaper in time because you don't have to fill hinge slots or door handle holes and they already have one coating of primer.  After the doors are cut to length, filled with new edges, glued, clamped, sanded and gesso is applied they are ready to paint.  Near the show and before transport the eye hooks are installed and they are ready to hang.

Panels are relatively cheap and much cheaper in the larger sizes than canvas or frming of canvas or works on papaer.   Panels are very stable and flat.  Panels from doors can be hung from the top with eyehooks.  The largest panels were less than twenty pounds, easily held by most hanging systems.

Process used to prepare panels:

Step 1: Cut doors to length (and width if needed).

Step 2: Make correct thicknesses for cut end fill pieces and glue and clamp. Fill any holes or mortises with wood and filler.

Step 3: Afer glue and filler is set, sand and/or plane for flushness. Fill as required.

Step 4: Sand, then gesso at least 3 layers on painted surface and 2 coats on sides and back.  These panels were painted with Daniel Smith World's Best White Gesso.

Step 5: Paint and draw.

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Welding Comes to Taylor Art House

I mentioned to a neighbor that I wanted to buy a welder.  He said that he was very busy at work and would let me use his MIG suitcase welder to see how I liked it.  He gave me several examples of how the welder worked and let me at it.  One of my first projects was to make this group of steel "mechanical fingers" out of scrap to help hold pieces together with concentrated weight where clamps are not practical.  

Shots show experiments with spot welding, welding lines and multiple weld passes. Some of the welds have been ground recently.

New steel works will be in the 5 x7 and 9 x12 sizes similar to the ceramic works and mixed media of those scales.

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