Chine Colle???

Fun to be Back on the Road Again

It’s so much fun to be back on the road again with the motorhome FANNY and the darkroom trailer FREDDY.

So many people in the world do not have this opportunity I think back to the families in the Mae Sot dump or to the people living under the freeway in Khlong Toei slum. They will never have the opportunity to camp in nature like I am. Never have the chance to make art in the wild. Never had a chance to see the animals and wonders outside cities and garbage dumps.

Yet I can, for me it is normal. People in 1st world countries rarely understand how fortunate they are.

VIDEO: Rain? No Problem!!

 

Cleaning Glass in Nature

Glass plate cleaning is tedious at the best of times but doing it in nature helps!

Cutting First Free Farm Glass!!

Cutting the first of my FREE farm glass. I will make ambrotypes of Gull Lake tomorrow on them. 

Cut it to 11x14 inch, 14x14 inch and then cut the scraps to 4x5 and 5x7 inch, not much wasted!

Somehow it seems more pure, more rewarding to rescue material like this and then create art on it! I also like it as a tribute to the old farmer who saved it all these years. It would be so cool to go from his barn to a major Canadian Gallery!

“Ain’t Photography Grand!’”

VIDEO: Upgrades to Press Room

Worked on the press room today, made some upgrades. It will be a tight working space but also sweet and cozy. Hopefully can create some beauty photogravures here from my life’s projects.

Magnetic board to ink metal photopolymer plates on (will it work?).

Sink table to hold a tray to wet printing paper

6 level drying rack

Glass to mix inks on

Floor mat to cover root seller door 

CD player allowing for tunes to work to!

Brayers are Stupid Expensive

The large brayers I got included in the press sale are stupid expensive. Thanks for including them Nick.

Prices for brayers, Above Ground Art Store in Toronto

The Press is in Place, with Extras

Around 1000lbs. The bed itself weighs in at 285 lbs. 3 men to lift it!!

Some nice extras included in the $3800 price tag  Included items were Hahnemuehle paper, inks, a large drying stand (1/3 is in the press room will need to find room for the rest later. Also got 1 large brayer and 1 super large brayer, new cost is $300+ CAD.

I hope to be making photogravures this winter.

Thank you to all who helped move this beast. The next move will probably be after I die. I am hoping I can use it over the next 20 years to produce limited edition photogravures. If I can make back my $4000, that would be a nice bonus. 

Note* Nick the seller decided to hire a mover for the 285lb press bed.  That was an additional $300 cost, we split it  50|50. So the total cost for the press and extras was $3950 CAD.

Note** Got the little desk table free earlier this week. It fits the spot but not sure I will keep it. 

The garbage can was expensive, over $100 but it is to prevent fires a safety concern. I guess with some inks the cloths that are used to wipe off the inks from the plates can SPONTANEOUSLY COMBUST and start a fire! Best to be safe, pay the money and all the rags go inside and are changed out daily.

The crazy expensive brayers

Inks

All extras included

VIDEO: She’s here!

After 2 nights of effort. After help from 6 or 7 people. The etching printing press is set up in the press room. Photogravures to follow!!!

My back hurts!

Dragged in and rebuilt, thank you team Nick!

Video: Thinking on Photogravure

The etching press transfer will start tomorrow. It might take 3 days.

With the press coming, I am thinking more and more about the prints I can make. I found these 3 small digi prints up by the computer and thought “I wonder what these would look like in photogravure?”

If I can get foot at this process, the possibilities are endless. 

The 3 great photo processes for black and white prints are platinum, carbon and photogravure. If I can get a handle on this process, I might be able to make something truly beautiful.

LINK: Claude Money

When I was younger I was not a Monet fan, but as I got older my opinion changed. Part of that change was seeing and loving Monet's water lilies and the Musee d'Orsay in Paris.

I like the line from below "He focused on eliciting a instinctive emotional response." 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_Monet 

Claude Monet Influence

I picked up this thrift store book today for $4. I love one image (detail) near the back of this thin volume. I keep thinking wha it may look like as a Ambrotype. I do that often with JMW Turner paintings, now it is starting with later Monets.

Snow Storm, or Snow Storm: Steam-Boat off a Harbour's Mouth, is a painting by English artist Joseph Mallord William Turner from 1842.

Proper Tools!

Having the proper tool for a job seems like a simple idea but it is so important at times. I will often pay extra money to buy a tool that just makes the job easier and I am never disappointed.

Case in point yesterday I was taking apart a wooden crate used for carrying my heavy metal gutting cutter. Initially I was working with an adjustable crescent wrench then a screw driver setup, both worked but were very difficult to use. When I got out my new/used mini Dewalt drill with bits bought at thrift shops. The work was easy and very fast!

Proper tools to do the job, is where it’s at!

My Reign of Terror Begins! The Guillotine has Arrived

My reign of terror begins in 10 minutes. Head chopping to start soon!! The guillotine is ready and very sharp!!

Actually it’s for cutting the photopolymer metal plates used in photogravure printing.

 

32 inch Vevor Guilitine metal plate cutter, 

A Ton of FREE GLASS, Got to Love It!, $5000 CAD?

I counted up some of the FREE glass I got today. There are about

4 large sheets of 3mm

14-15 large sheets of 4mm

and a dozen so smaller sheets of 3 and 4 mm.

Most of this glass (unscratched),  I can use to make  Ambrotypes on, Glass up to 24x24 inches. With the 4mm thick glass I will have to take the back of the holders to prevent light leaks.

There is also some textured glass in various sizes that is not as useful but that I can probably cut down and paint, to use as background substrates for framed works.

I am unsure how much this glass is worth new but my guess is $4000-$5000 CAD. The glass is far from new, muddy, scratched and some broken but still a wonderful find for the AMBROTOS KANATA project.

 I had some positive Karma today!

Thank you again Elizabeth and Keith for your kindness!!

I hope I can turn some of your fathers glass into works of art, worthy of collecting. Something that can be shown in a museum 1 hundred years after we are all gone.

 

In the barn

On the truck

Got My FREE Glass

Got my FREE GLASS!! 4-5mm thick, many very large sheets, small sheets. A variety of other glass as well. Will use it for the AMBROTOS KANATA Ambrotype  project. 

Thank you Elizabeth and Keith!!

The FREE glass locked, wrapped in carpets, locked down on the back of "THE BEAST" 1 Ton

Free Stuff!!

I have taken to getting FREE stuff Facebook marketplace. Picked up 2 large metal shelves for the carpentry room and a slightly abused picnic table last week. 

Going to get a bunch of glass tomorrow for the Ambrotype project. All FREE. If undamaged will use it for plates if scratched will use it as a blackened substrate to place behind the Ambrotypes when framed.

FREE picnic table, before and after a repair and 1 coat of grey paint

The 2 FREE metal shelves, added to the carpentry room

FREE glass I will pick up tomorrow

VIDEO: 2 Free Shelves Give a New Look to the Carpentry Room.

Placed the free picnic table in the backyard next to the RV and the 2nd free shelf in the carpentry room! Then did a cleanup!

You never understand how important shelves are until you have some and load them up. Only then do you realize how bigger the room becomes.

The shelves will help the work flow. First I have more  room to do carpentry stuff and second, I can find my tools and carpentry supplies easier!

New-Free empty shelf

Full Shelves

Press Room Ready, Waiting on the Press

The press room with 2 pieces of 3/4 inch plywood is ready and awaiting the press. Once the insurance check clears at the bank I will go ahead and transfer the press with Nick the current owner. It will probably be in place by next week sometime!!

This is what AI said about the benefits of 2 versus 1 sheet of plywood for strength and weight spreading.

"Yes, two sheets of 3/4-inch plywood are significantly stronger and better at supporting weight than a single sheet of 1-inch or 3/4-inch plywood. 

Because structural rigidity (resistance to bending) increases exponentially with thickness, the total thickness of inches provides far more than double the stiffness of a 1-inch panel.

Why Two Sheets Are Better

• Exponential Strength: Mathematically, a beam's bending stiffness increases by the cube of its height. Because of this, going thicker drastically reduces sagging and increases load capacity. "

2 More Freebies!

I picked up a second large self today, thanks Edward. Also got me a banged up picnic table. I will fix up the table and paint it. A nice little project.

BOTH FREE

Bought me a Metal Cutter, Hand Shear

I ended up going with the biggest VEVOR model metal guillotine cutter, their 32 inch. It was a $105 more than the one I posted earlier, but on sale, $359.90, down 16% from $429.99.

The main use for this cutter will be to cut the photopolymer metal backed plates used in modern phtogravare printing. I initially will be cutting the 16x23 inch store plates into 4 sections.

A bit of a gamble, hope I can use it lots. If I do them that means my photogravure dreams came true!

Note*  I can also use it for general carpentry work.

How to Cut Photopolymer?

Trying to figure out the best way to cut 16x23 inch photopolymer down to smaller sizes (metal backed). Hand shears seem the best option for straight even cuts. Part of the Photogravure printing process.

Thinking of this tool $255 CAD

Kinda has a “French Revolution's Reign of Terror (1793–1794” feel to it!

Free Metal Shelf for Carpentry Workshop

I picked up a free heavy duty metal shelf today. I washed it, added a can of blue spray paint and placed it in the carpentry workshop. It is great place to keep all my power tools, neatly in one area! Strong sturdy and free you got to love that!

I am a bit amazed how important the carpentry shop has come to be for the photography. My original thought was to make frames for the Ambrotypes but since then it has grown. I am making boxes for my glass plates, air conditioning cupboards, plywood sink counter tops and boxes for the darkroom trailer. The list of useful photography related things I can make in the shop continues to grow.

You can get some useful things for FREE