the sun will come out tomorrow, maybe
As 2017 came to an end, I was full of ideas and had momentum for making new work. It was very exciting, as I realized that by using large black bags that block UV light, I could prepare my canvas and paper with the cyanotype chemicals and store them for long periods of time before exposing them out in the sun. The bags are darkroom film changing bags that are marketed to photographers. The darkroom bags allow me to store treated paper and canvas in a more controlled environment and eliminate the possibility of accidentally exposing the work to too much light before I am ready. A couple months ago, in a rush to make new work, I must have mixed the chemicals wrong or something, I wasn't sure. The prints didn't come out well at all. My idea was to make 5x7" postcards with figures wearing their protective eye wear. I call these prints 'sunnies'. I made a lot of them, and somehow I ruined a lot of them. Ruin may be a bit of an exaggeration, but nonetheless the outcome was definitely not what I wanted. Many of the sunnies were washed out, so high key that there wasn't much contrast at all. After a lot of trouble shooting, I realized I was exposing the sunnies too long out in the sun. For a moment I felt like I had wasted chemicals, wasted water color paper and wasted all that time I had spent planning. I packed up the work I hadn't printed on yet and stored it in the darkroom bags. I laid it to rest for a while. This week, when I was ready to print again, it rained. It rained and it rained and it rained. I thought this was the dry season! Being dependent on mother nature and sunshine to expose my cyanotypes comes with this sort of struggle. Even though I thought I was ready to give it another go, the weather said otherwise. So I waited. Finally, yesterday we had gorgeous weather and I wasted no time. I got the darkroom bags with the remainder of my prepared sunnies and gave it another shot. I am happy to say I didn't over-expose them this time. Here are some of the awesome sunnies, and some of the 'ruined' sunnies from a couple months ago. With this type of artwork I have to accept the outcome and look forward to making the next print.
