Confluent Series
Confluent Series
Sugar-lift aquatint and spit bite aquatint printed a la poupée with chine collé
size of print: 24" x 18"
printed on Somerset paper
size: 33" x 26"
The colors are layered and often transparent, with accents of vibrancy. I use a variety of shapes that are imagined or invented based on direct observation of natural forms and events. Some shapes in the Confluent Series resemble bird wings, yet also resemble milkweed pods. I have a Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in my field which consists of hundreds of milkweed plants essential for the Monarch's survival; all of the natural environment directly impacts my imagery.
Each print is hand pulled by the artist, using the intaglio techniques of sugar lift and spit bite aquatint on four copper plates. These techniques utilize a brush as the initial drawing implement. Each copper plate is etched with a different image. Depending on how I combine the plates during the printing process, directly impacts the psychological and emotive content of the final print. A la poupée is a method of inking each plate with multiple colors of ink. A thin gampi paper was used for the chine collé method, in which the thin gampi paper is simultaneously glued and printed to a supporting, heavier weight printmaking paper; in this case Somerset.