Here's a photo I took last week of one of Jon's succulents. This particular "flower" with it's new sprout tucked under the "petals" is about six inches across. When you look at it from a distance, it looks green, but you can see that up close it has tinges of pink as though it has blood running through it's veins instead of chlorophyl.
I keep looking at these plants and hoping I can translate them in a way that makes sense without slavishly copying their structure. When I showed some of my sketches to someone today, she said they reminded her of Alice In Wonderland. That's a nice comment. I want to make them look like plants, but not exactly like plants you would see on your walk through the park or a stroll across the landscape of the internet. My plants are different. Another observer said they looked like sea creatures or plants to her. I think that she sees them bending/moving. I like the idea that they have movement.
I took my new glass cake dish to the studio this morning and filled it with some of the fresh etching solution (ferric chloride) straight from the bottle. I left the plate in for two hours and was happy to see that the solution had bitten into the exposed portions of the plate. Once I had it all cleaned off, I also discovered that there seems to be no unintended (false) biting. While some false biting gives character, the amount I had last time was too much. I'm sure all the false biting was because I didn't apply the ground thickly enough.
I now have two dishes of solution, one labeled "brass" and one labeled "copper." I'll try etching more brass when I have a piece finished. Otherwise, I learned by reading the catalog from Graphic Chemical and Ink that I can get a crystal form of ferric chloride to add to the liquid to increase it's potency for awhile. But, like everything, nothing last forever. Anyway, next time I order, I'll get some crystals.
The process of getting organized appears to be a long one. However, I felt remarkably well organized today. I put masking tape on the back of my plates. I made little balls of masking tape and attached them to the front of the plates to keep them up off the floor of the dish while they etch. I put on my old shirt now designated as a smock, I rubbed powder on my hands so that I could get the gloves on easily. I had a roll of paper towels nearby to wipe the etching solution off the fingers of my gloves when I brought them out of the solution. I had a plastic tray to put the etching plates in so that I could pour ammonia on them to neutralized the action of the ferric chloride and carry them to the sink to wash in the water. I had another tray for removing the hard ground with mineral spirits, and I had metal polish for cleaning up the plates. I also had a scraper, file, and steel wool to smooth out the edges. I even had a plastic bag in which to put my used gloves and paper towels.
I started etching plates at 10:00 this morning and managed to get three done, leaving each one in for two hours each. As a result of all my preparation and work, I managed to only get a small amount of ferric chloride on my clothes. That was before I put my smock on. The rule now is: No fiddling with the solution without the smock. And I only managed to discolor three of the nails on my right hand slightly. I've now washed my hands several times since then and they seem to be coming clean.
As it turns out, my friend is not able to get together with me tomorrow so that I can print. But that's okay. It means I have another week in which to work on some more plates and to refine the current ones a little. Also, I need to prepare some more paper for printing. This way I won't feel as though I'm rushing to get something ready. A deadline is good, but proceeding there in an organized, orderly fashion is good too.
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