We are two weeks into social distancing here thanks to the Covid-19 virus. It seems strange to suddenly have nearly infinite time available to work on projects. I’ve been an artist with a day job for a long time. Sheltering in place wasn’t the foray into independence that I had expected. The show I had been looking forward to in early April was postponed, and now I’ve got a blank slate. So, what’s an unemployed artist to do with the gift of time and the curse of no show opportunities? I’ve got thoughts, and hopes.
I’ve been meaning to start playing with a YouTube channel. I started one in college to park a couple class projects. Soon I’ll remove those and add the first of a new set of videos about what I do. This first video is an introduction to cyanotype photograms. I’ve really enjoyed the large cyanotypes I put together for my Conditions show. The process is pretty straight forward, and relatively safe as alternative photography goes.
That reminds me; read and understand the safety implications of any art process you try. Most manufacturers have MSDS reports available for their products. Read them. Understand them. A lot of art materials are toxic. There is a movement for reducing the toxins we are all exposed to. Read all you can on being safe.
In the last post, I mentioned playing with some printmaking. Before the beginning of the social distancing reality that we now exist in, I was making good headway into doing some photopolymer gravure. The picture above is one of the first plates I created. Still some things to dial in exposure wise, but it was a lot of fun to experiment with. Hopefully, this fall I’ll have some time to return to the co-op and get the process refined and get some editions printed.
Jeff Mack - Artist