Bark 10

Finished!

New Bark Piece, Bark 10

This is the beginning of Bark 10.

I manipulated a photograph of bark from Yosemite and then used that photograph for every layer.

Surfaces from top to bottom:

The top 2 layers are lutradur that has been printed and then heat distressed

Next is canvas that is printed and cut across the diagonal

Then a layer is composed of a surface I made by using gel media, cheesecloth and inkAID semi gloss pre coat. This surface is cut in 3 rectangular pieces

The last printed layer is arial (ariel?) paper

After that-dyed cheesecloth and on the bottom - rug hook canvas that has been spray dyed

In order to assemble the cut pieces in several of the layers, I used gel media as I stacked the layers together.

Most of the time I use regular metal screen to assemble and sew the layers to a backing, but this piece just didn't seem right on that backing. I found some copper screen on the internet and bought some that is heavier then the regular scree I was using. I loved the screen, it is just beautiful behind the squares, so I chose to use copper wire to put this all together. I had to put 2 holes through each stack of layers in order to use the copper wire.

The finished results follow in the next post.

More Yosemite Falls Journal

Last month I posted a bit of my Yosemite Falls Journal. This mixed media journal is inspired by Yosemite Falls in Yosemite National Park. If you have never visited this incredible park, it should go on your "places to visit" list.

Words cannot describe the awesome landscape of Yosemite, or what it feels like to be in the presence of these natural monuments.

All of the pages have small compositions of Yosemite Falls that I digitally manipulated on my computer in Photoshop. For the top pages here, I printed these small compositions on water color paper. Once printed the images were torn and then pressed to the board book with gel media and pieces of painted cheesecloth to finish the page.

The second set of pages is a mirror print of Yosemite Falls when it was snowing and overcast. This was printed on cream mica crinkle from Creative Papers On-line. I love printing this surface, the mica makes it sparkle within the print.

The third set of pages has 2 small compositions. The left is a digital print that is torn and stacked like a paper quilt. The print is sewn in a tie through manner and then the assemblage is attached to the board with gel media. The opposite page has a print underneath and the top is a piece of rug hook canvas that was dyed. There are pieces of tree branches that have beads and wires attached on the top of the canvas.

As for the last pages- this is composed of a print of the water coming off the bottom of the falls. There is a nice little spot on rocks where the water sprays and you can take clear pictures. The print is on tyvec that is heated so that it curls and puffs up. These little pieces are connected with pearl cotton and then assembled and attached to the board with gel media. The freedom of the way the compositional elements resembles the water flow.

I will be teaching a digital printing class in Flagstaff Arizona at the end of July 2008. We will be experimenting with various techniques of creating and printing digital images.