There has been a lot of discussion on my Cyberscribes group lately about my faculty piece for Letters Mingle Souls International Calligraphy Conference. Several people have e-mailed me photos which I have decided to post here. The abstract calligraphic images
were first done on a sheet of 20″ x 20″ paper. This was then cut into
16 – 5″ x 5″ tiles. These images were then copied onto a transfer film
which was ironed onto the copper and which acted as a resist on the copper.
The marks were then etched into the copper. (actually everything BUT
the marks was etched – leaving the copper marks) After the etching
Silver Black and Liver of Sulphur was used to “antique” the copper and
bring out the marks. The tiles were then mounted on black foam core
using a combination of extra sticky double faced tape and Crafter’s
Ultimate Glue. The same adhesives were then used to adhere the tile to
a sheet of patterned mat board. It was all framed in a black shadow
box frame which is lined with the same matboard. In framing, we are
taught to always use 2 adhesives, in case one lets go, the other will
perhaps, hold. I usually use the tape/glue combo, because the tape
holds things in place while the glue dries and I can be moving the
piece around before the glue is totally dry.

It seemed like a relatively simple idea for a piece. It became
apparent when applying the patina solution that this was going to be a
very important part of the process. The patina solution was originally
intended only to bring out the etching, but in the end the strokes and
colorations within the patina became a huge part of the art. The patina
was sanded off, and reapplied many times before I was happy with it,
Every stroke of the sandpaper shows and the direction and size of the
sanding strokes is a huge part of the final piece. There is 6 hours of
sanding of metal in this piece! I am looking forward to doing more
work in this vein!