Wirral Metropolitan College

Got back from Utah on Saturday. Feeling very jetlagged, but work must go on! The trip was amazing and challenging. Enjoyed working with American students very much and have forged some new freindships and contacts. Worked with a student called Dan who did one to one tutorial with me on photopolymer etching. The times for the light box were different to Twelve Quays so needed him to do light exposures on plates. The hike through the desert was a complete shock. We trecked 6 miles accross rough terraine. We were only expecting treck to be a couple of miles. The heat and high altitude were awful. Between 35 and 40 degrees at 8000 feet. We were exhausted, but it gave me a feel for the mapping project 'Mapping the West', and what the early settlers must have experienced when they were forging pathways through the desert. When we got back from the three day camping trip it was a tight schedule to get our books made for the gallery opening on the Thursday evening. We had three days. The first morning I spent printing off photos of the trip to prepare for gum arabic transfer and photopolymer etching. This wasn't easy as we were using Apple Macs and I'm used to a PC. The following day and a half were a complete disaster! I couldn't get any gum arabic transfers to work because the inks seemed different and the dry heat was also affecting the process. I felt hopeless and thought I wouldn't have a book ready. I kept on going. We worked long hours and by Wedneday morning I had managed to get some reuslts by using Lithograph ink instead of etching ink. It was a race for time and by Wednesday night I had printed off all my images and made the covers for my book. Meanwhile I had to scrap the etching plates I had done because the images weren't strong enough. We also had to source and buy all our materials from the University campus. I walked miles collecting ribbon, photocopies, end papers etc. Thurdsay morning we got in early and I finished my book a little after the deadline at 12 noon. The opening night went extremely well and it was sad to say our goodbyes. Now home it's back to the grindstone and thoughts are now turning back to degree show and planning my time.