Preparation and incidental art

 

Today I finished preparing 66 aluminium plates that Fiona and I will use in an etching workshop with high school students in Bettyhill Scotland in September - all going well. I have been trying to do some workshop and market related tasks associated with our next trip alongside the work on my 100 boats - to periodically give my hands and elbows a rest.

I like to think the opening photo 36 painted plates is an fleeting incidental piece of art. I used some leftover black and gold paint to seal the backs of the plates so that they are not etched as part of the etching process. I had set the plates aside to dry and was just taken by the shades of colour.

The following photo shows the 66 pieces of aluminium - all cut, ground and predrilled to attach to the sculpture post. Most of the plates are postcard size but I've included some other offcuts.

When spraying the backs of the different batches of the plates some nice patterns appeared on the cardboard protecting the workbench - more temporary incidental art???

I also drilled and polished some 300mm long plates that I etched many months ago. I think the circle pattern might fit in with the water design element of the sculpture post; and will also help to bind the post together.

In the workshop we will be using Fiona's instructions for etching aluminium plate with salt and copper sulphate. The page is quite crinkled as it sits in the box with the salt and copper sulphate supplies.

I will finish with a couple more images that could be temporary incidental art???