Category Archives: Digital

Jump Rope with the Moon

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by
Jump Rope with the Moon, 12″ x 13″ X 3″ mixed media artwork
Now set in resin, ready for final touch up & tweaks, TBD
(actual photos of work at left, foil of photos on the right, of course)

Jump Rope with the Moon is a bas relief mixed media artwork, original pieces of artwork (paperclay, epoxy resin, fiber) set in poured resin into a found wooden drawer. Somehow playful but serious at the same time, two field workers play jump rope with a somewhat puzzled moon, attended by a swooping bird.

I decided the “shooting star” & grasses, shown in the upper photos, make the piece too busy. So these are not present in the resin set version below, and probably will not be added back in. I am considering the possibility of adding lighting inside the box/drawer, either on the left side or along the top. Would be a pain to do, but not terrible, but I am not sure it is a good idea!

I have another option at this point: I can “dull down” the glossy resin. Again, I have not decided to do this, as I find this artwork pretty satisfying as is!

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More Digital!

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

The above digital pieces are derived from very different sources:

  • the figure is a photo of a new resin cast made from my paperclay original, posed in a layered arrangement,
  • the two leaf foil variations are based on an outdoor photograph, taken in a parking lot,
  • the foil “waves” are from a scanned evening pencil drawing, and
  • the glorious “burning bush” is based on a photo of part of my engraved steel “Dancer in the Trees” panel, also used as a plate to make hand-rubbed prints (two so far).

Everything I make must serve multiple purposes!

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Working the Print

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

I am a mixed media artist, and so not a printmaker! Having put the time & energy into this large “proof” print, I need to make it a finished piece. There are so many other tools of the trade! So far, a bit of watercolor, soft pastels, and colored pencil… I think the key is shading, especially to “flesh out” the dancer. I am rather liking this now, with the work so far:

The paper, at 22″ x 30″, is slightly smaller than the plate so the edges are cut off. The full print above is a photo; I have only scanned the shaded figure, and that still took multiple scans. Wish I had a professional large scanner, but the cost would be prohibitive.

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Dancer Print

P.T. Artist Sandra Stowell Posted on by

Here I decided to use my rotary tool engraved steel panel as a printing plate. The piece is experimental; more of a sampler of textures than a finished art piece. But I am sufficiently amused by the results!

At 24 7/8″ by 30 3/8″, this panel/plate is far too big for my 18″ wide press bed, so I hand rubbed this first proof. Also I don’t have paper soaking trays, and my paper was spritzed and put in plastic, but not for long enough. The paper was much too dry, so I spritzed it during the inking in order to get something I could see (no release agent at hand).

I inked the plate “a la poupee”, unfortunately rather unevenly, using a tightly rolled & taped sock as my dauber. Then I wiped rather badly also… It was a case of “inking after drinking” a couple of glasses of wine with dinner!

So the proof print is light, uneven, and speckled! Oh well! At this point, I am not sure if I will work the plate a bit more to try for a decent print. I am not sure how much I will like the result, even with a good print.

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