http://www.iomtoday.co.im/news/hazel_photographs_a…
If anyone wants to have a read the newspaper article about my residency went online (above). Im really pleased with the article and it has already started to generate visitors to the gallery and interest in the project.
Another busy weekend and several sites covered. I have continued my editing break as the gallery have offered me a window display to coincide with the residency and the newspaper article which comes out tomorrow.
I am really pleased with my window installation and I plan to use the space to practice display and layout options for my final exhibition.
I have also been making use of google maps to locate exact locations of buildings as the roofless ones show up quite clearly and this helps to avoid driving endlessly along the many country lanes! I have now taken to clearly planning routes and marking exact locations on the map and this way I can cover many more sites on each trip.
I intend to begin editing again tomorrow and hopefully will clear some of the backlog that has now accrued, I also want to start collating information about each site and working on some mixed media techniques.
Hanging week again (www.colleencorlett.com) and I must admit I am enjoying a few days off from editing my images. I now have over 100 sites marked on my map and I am starting my research into the history of some of these places. I am hoping I can find old images of some of the buildings that I can superimpose over my own images. I am also looking for as much information as I can find with a view towards publishing a book at the end of the residency.
I was interviewed by the local press last week and the article should run next Friday so hopefully that will generate public interest and increase the number of visitors to the gallery. It will also help me to get first hand information about some of the sites. Unfortunately, the Manx people have been very slow to take to the internet so I am struggling to do my research online as I usually do. The Museum library will be most useful but I will have to depend a lot on local knowledge from local people.
At Last! After much experimentation I have found an image transfer method that works for me.
Turps and carbon copies was unsuccessful so I went back to the internet and discovered that a mix of turps, soap shavings and water is effective. I had no soap shavings to hand so first tried liquid soap with some good results but the transfer was not as vivid as I wanted. I then bought some soap and ‘shaved’ it. It took a while to get the consistancy right (it can only be described as gooey) but as you can see from the photo I am now able to transfer my images onto fabric. This method works well with standard prints as well so no need to photocopy images athough its worth noting they will be reversed. This process is also non-destructive so although the original image now looks worn it can still be used elsewhere.
A reletively good 2 days of exploring Monday means I also have another 500 images to edit. Note to self: double check maps BEFORE walking miles in the wrong direction!
I have had a busy week looking into image transfer methods.
The first and easiest one I discovered was the use of cellotape. Apply cellotape to the front of the image and simply turn over and rub away the paper using water. This produces a clear sticky transfer. Also works with sticky back plastic to produce larger images. (top left corner). You can also try masking tape and parcel tape. (bottom right corner). I tried turps which can be used to transfer images to fabric but this only works with xerox photocopies so I dont yet have any results.
As the sticky finish produced using tape was not suitable for my needs and does not transfer the image onto fabric I brought some acrylic medium and acrylic paint to try. Simply paint onto the image side of the desired image, place onto fabric image side down, burnish and ensure there are no air bubbles or large bits of medium. Once the transfer is dry again rub away the paper using water. (bottom left corner). Although this is very effective it is time consuming to remove the paper for large scale pieces.
I have had some more public interaction this week with over 20 sites added to my map so I will be busy visiting those in my spare time. I have also contacted the local press and prepared an advert to run which will hopefully encourage visitors to the gallery and public interaction with my project.
