Never Ending

     This week has been full of bad fortune and loss. My grandmother passed away early this morning and my dog Whiskey now only has one eye. Through all that I am still working on these ambrotype cases. I have been to Harbor Freight about four times since Tuesday and Sears four times since yesterday on the hunt for the perfect saw. I have gone through three saws. One table saw from Harbor Freight, a Craftsmen fixed miter saw from Sears, and finally my Craftsmen compound sliding miter saw. Long story short I had to convince the guy at Sears to sell me the display and I have to go back and re-purchase the table saw from Harbor Freight sometime this weekend. Oh did I mention the weather man says it is going to RAIN THIS WEEKEND!? This weekend I am scheduled at the Folk Tree! UH.....


Here are some pictures with accompanying helpful hints.

Here is the saw that solved all the problems. The pre-cut Hobby wood I get from Lowe's is 6"inches in diameter and the stationary miter saw would not reach through the wood. I love this saw and would say it is awesome. Doing angled cuts on this bad boy is a bit scary, but perfectly fine. The laser also is actually accurate unlike the stationary saw from Craftsmen.

After cutting the wood here are my first two practice boxes.

Here is one of the boxes from Michael's. I am practicing wrapping it with paper. Using a super thin material like paper is way easier to wrap a box. It comes out much cleaner and fits together much nicer. There is one paper which I wrapped my box in I got from Michael's for $1.99 and it is between a paper and fabric. It does not tear easily and has a fabric velvet feel to it.

After I wrapped the box. I went to wrap the second side and realized it was lopsided.

Constructing and gluing together one of my cases/shadowbox.

Gorilla wood glue, but it takes forever to dry.

This spray paint from Blick for around $8.00 has made a huge difference to my wood trim. This paint really makes the wood look like a decorative metal foil. I am so thankful I found this stuff! I also bought a chrome/silver to use when I layer the frames.

In person it looks like metal! I did two more coats after this one to really make it shine.

The shadow box was really deep and I wanted to lift it just a bit so I added another sheet of wood inside.

In the gap I plan to drop in another wood frame to go on the outside of the gold metal one. I need the Harbor Fright table saw to cut the small pieces at a 45 degree angle.

The box is glued and ready to go!

I lightly sanded the box and then I wrapped it in paper. 

The true color of this is the red curtain you see at the movie theatres. Still working on this folding business, but I have imrpoved greatly.

Feels like a velvet and is bright bright red. In the store it looked more muted in the store.

Burnishing Workbook No. 5

  
 Mark Osterman introduced to the wet plate collodion facebook page burnishing. He posted a gorgeous image and said he burnished the plate and then added finely ground pastels. I definitely want to try this and I did. He said it really gets a full effect after your varnish the plate, (which I plan to do later), but I wanted to show my results. I hope you can see the metallic effect and the cool gray he mentioned. If you look at the image on the right you can see in the sky some of the scratches from my rookie technique. I used my finger and cotton pads. His idea of "polishing" the silver on the plate to produce different hues and tones really is astonishing. I feel so lucky to have been on facebook and seen this post! Thank you Mr. Osterman!

Please visit Scully and Osterman's website to see their work.

24th Birthday

     The fixer box was a complete success and is leak proof.... one issue though... do not have enough silver bath to fill it. Such a lame mistake to make, but that is OK. On my birthday I did get to photograph my sister for her Vintage Valentine's Day portrait. Her and I always have so much fun dressing up and working on creative projects. She recently graduated from UC Santa Cruz and has her bachelors in Art History, and she works at the MAH in SC.

Through the ground glass. Love this picture of my sister!

Make-up shot. She is wearing my wig and her lipstick is Cyber by MAC. Foundation Christian Dior Forever and Clinique gel black liner.

Color photo of the make-up and wig

Here I am holding the first plate of the day. It is my second favorite from the shoot, but to modern for what I had in mind. Totally love the look in Rachael, reminds me of when we were itty bitty kids.

 There is my new camera being used with the 4x5 reducing back and my chemicals set to the left. Used my trooper to give us some privacy because we were shooting in my drive way.

Hands down my favorite plate of the day. Describes everything I was going for. Elegant, timeless, and just a lovely portraits of my sister to show to all her friends and one day her kids.

  
Screen shot of my screen editing the images of Rachael. I am so behind on my editing, but things keep coming up. For these images I plan to try something that was discussed by Mark Osterman on the Wet Plate Collodion facebook page... burnishing and using finely ground pastels to apply color before varnishing. Lets say burnishing...from what I have experienced.... is awesome. I tried it tonight using my finger and cotton balls and it made a huge difference. I was trying to scan the plates and use my cellphone camera to capture the metallic effect and it just is not working right. What I am holding in front of me does not compare to what is showing on the screen. Burnishing is something I plan to continue experimenting with. I am no pro, but the effects I got with just trying it a few moments ago was really beautiful.

Raw Show

     So here it is! The RAW Artist RAWK Holiday show held on December 8th. A very good turn out and a well accepted respsonse by all the attendees. It was very exiciting to have plates on display for everyone to hold in their hands and get the full "collodion effect". The show could not have gone any better, and I am so exicted to share this set up in Pasadena.

    

 Not only was this the biggest show I have yet to participate in, but it was also the shortest! The show spanded for nearly four hours and was so much fun! It was a shame we had to set up and tear down that day. Luckily, for me the preptime before the show totoally paid off and the total time to set up was 15 minutes! The show was held at Sevilla Nightclub, and no walls were provided to hang artwork. My dad, John, and myself created and designed these walls that are mobile, therefore, greating a mobile gallery! It is funny to think that all my work is mobile and not exactly stationary in one place.

      This is the image of John and Ssavannah that was a definite crowd favorite. It was hilarious when people went up to John and told him it was am amazing self-portrait. People thought he was the photographer... and looking back at the set up I think I would have assumed the same.

     

     Plates on display! And awesome postcards that kept going like hot cakes!

     To be efficient with space I made the walls double sided so the people first entering the night club could see my work first and be directed my way.

     CMYK Magazine, email list, and my new plate holder box!

         

     A big success! Everyone enjoyed themselves! Thank you to everyone who came out and everyone who sent their good wishes on over. 

Finally here I am proudly standing next to my booth. I can not believe I was able to put everything together so fast and ready to put up and take down quickly. I hope to participate in the Art Walk at Riverside in January and do this same set up street style.

Raw Artists December 8th!

    
     On December 8th I will have my biggest photography showing to date! Please show your support and purchase your pre-sale or sponsorship here for my work! Thank you and see you at the show!