Lyric / cyan base / EPC edition #26
Lyric / cyan base / EPC #26
.
Edition of 24, plus 2 APs
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm 100% cotton rag
Mounted to Somerset 300gsm 100% cotton rag
Printed at Spike Island Print Studio, December 2023
.
Sheet size 38cm W x 44cm H
Image size 24cm W x 30cm H
Sometime back in the autumn of 2023 I started working at Spike Print Studio, an open print space for artists working in and around Bristol, here in the South West. The opportunity to get out of my own syudio and work in a larger shared space a few times a month is irresistible, and inevitably I've been meeting new people and exploring new possibilities for printmaking. It's been a revelation in many ways...
For at least a decade now I've been exploring and writing about my interest in the hybridity between the digital and the analogue, what is gained and what is lost in the transition between these two very specific ways of working, and seeing if it's possible to navigate a path that uses components of each to create new works that couldn't have been made in the pre digital era; but that still evoke some of the beauty and magic of the more traditional techniques from our shared history. Looking backward as a method for moving forward as it were.
The Cyanotype is one such process, discovered by Sir John Herschel in 1842, it's one of the first methods artists discovered for fixing a light based photographic image permanently to paper. The studios at Spike incorporate a traditional darkroom, and so it's entirely possible to experiment with a wide range of photographic techniques there.
There's a brilliant tutor working at Spike, Martyn Grimmer, who specialises in alt photography, especially gum bichromate printmaking, and also teaches artists who want to develop their practice, or just learn more about particular techniques. I've been signing up to his classes to expand my knowledge, and also just to increase my ability to work efficiently in the space. Martyn's expert tutelage has allowed me to fast track this first Cyanotype edition, through his relentless attention to detail and expertise.
If you'd like to see more of Martyn's work, which is absolutely stunning, it's online here >
https://www.instagram.com/martyngrimmer/
If you'd like to know more about the process this Wikipedia article is a good place to start >
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyanotype
And there's a link here to find out more about Spike Print Studio >
https://spikeprintstudio.org/
These first editions are imaged onto Fabriano Artistico paper coated with a mix of ferric ammonium citrate and potassium ferricyanide, which sensitises the paper to UV light and creates an emulsion that is hardened when exposed on the UV lightbox, leaving the highlight areas soft enough to wash away after exposure.
For this edition I've used a double coating technique that intensifies the cyan colour, and then a hydrogen peroxide wash that shifts the bright cyan to a deeper indigo hue.
The final prints are then tipped into a sheet of Somerset 300gsm 100% cotton rag. Each has a full watermark, bottom right, and are signed and numbered verso.
Lyric / cyan base / EPC #26
.
Edition of 24, plus 2 APs
Cyanotype on Fabriano Artistico 300gsm 100% cotton rag
Mounted to Somerset 300gsm 100% cotton rag
Printed at Spike Island, December 2023
.
Sheet size 38cm W x 44cm H
Image size 24cm W x 30cm H
Join my Print Club here
If you’d like to add this edition to your collection, please do join my Print Club before the end of January, and I’ll post it out to you. After that, the edition will close, and I’ll start work on the Spring edition, which should come out sometime in April or May I guess.
Thanks for reading this far, it's appreciated...
Best as ever,
Chuck Elliott
If you’d like to receive three or four exclusive new editions in the post each year, alongside personal news and views from the studio, and invitations to shows and fairs, please do consider becoming a member of my Experimental Print Club. You can join or leave the club at any time, with absolutely no obligation to stay any longer than you want to.
New works are sent out somewhat sporadically throughout the year, often in line with the changing seasons. Each piece is unique, exclusive, and only available on the day it’s editioned, the size of the edition being determined by the number of members on the day.
I hope the club presents a more personal and intriguing way to connect with the studio, by creating a platform for collecting engaging new works for your home. The club is hosted online here, and I send out fairly regular blog posts and emails about the work too. I’d like to think that it’s an interesting proposition!
Membership is currently priced at £36 per month inc. UK delivery, or £42 for an international address.
