Studio life by Kim Major-George - 'Golden Time Slip' - Blog 2

Golden Time slip – part of the’ Elegant Universe Collection

This is another blog about what goes on in my studio and the life of an artist. The artwork I have featured in this blog is’ Golden Time Slip’ which is part of the’ Elegant Universe collection’ and is a new image, so it is hot off the press . It was shown at my last exhibition along side 'Golden Glimpses' -  they make a great pair when hung together.

           ……… Taking a closer look ...........

This medium size collagraph print is created

 using two plates, the title and image for this

 design was inspired as a result of my personal

 reading on quantum physics. Time is such a

 transient concept and we have all experienced

 time slipping – a deja vu – the feeling of time

 slipping  through a worm hole into a parallel 

universe, often portrayed in so many science

 fiction films.

The design was sketched up on sketching paper and, I decided to use two plates  to create the effect I wanted, these  were measured and their, roles and sequence documented, I was ready to get started. 

Making the printing plates

The final drawing was traced off onto tracing paper, flipped over and transferred to the waiting

mount board.

Plate 1 – background.

the simple image on this plate was created by tearing up thin card and  tissue sticking them to the base card with PVA glue. Polyfiller / glue was added to the circle of the sphere to help create the spinning of time, extra glue was used to create the slip element of the spinning disc, all these elements were left to dry and sealed with two layers of button polish.

Plate 2 – top plate

This image was sketched and traced onto thin card,  glue was spread at the top and bottom with a spatula and carborundum sprinkled onto the waiting glue. Tissue and selected cards were screwed up and stuck onto some of the remaining parts, chalky paint, a particular favourite of mine, was dripped onto many areas of the plate. All this unstable material was left  to dry for several days, then the plate was  sealed  with two layers of button polish in the normal way.

Printing the plates

Plate 1 - Prussian Blue intaglio ink and a touch of Burnt Umber were applied to the plate with a toothbrush and burnished back with small squares of tissue to create mood and variation and also to create the spin lines of time around the sphere. The plate was laid onto the bed of the press, 300 grams soaked Somerset paper laid on top and the press was pulled.

Plate 2 – top plate

The same ink was again applied with a tooth brush into the carborundum and a ball of scrim was used to twist the ink into the carborundum  surface, This results in a beautiful dark velvet finish when the plate is pulled through the press. The rest of the plate was inked up using a homemade dollie with a light application (dollies can apply the ink in varying degrees of intensity), and again tissue squares were used to soften the tones on the design.

The plate was laid onto the bed of the press and soaked/ blotted Somerset paper laid on top and pulled through the press, layered up with tissue and placed under weights to dry.

Crackling and Hand embellishing with gold / silver leaf.

Working with the background image :

The now dry background image was stamped with my ‘Om’ sign and the gold leaf size was applied with a small brush. When dry, the gold leaf  was applied in the normal way, helping to create the swirl of the time slip  The two coats of the Crackle solution were layered on 
( see ‘All Cracked Up’ my Master class booklet on the use of Crackle on hand pulled prints ) and just like magic the cracks start to appear, which were further enhanced by rubbing in oil paint into the cracks with a small bit of kitchen roll. 

Working with the top image :

The top image was torn to the desired shape, again gold leafed as above and crackle was applied all over. This double layering of crackle leaves the paper very stiff, and ideal for float mounting - two layers of mount board were stuck to the reverse side of the image, and this floating image was stuck to the finished background, reflecting the ever moving space between time.

The finished collagraph was placed in a deep French mount, the title was added plus my signature and the finished piece presented in a stylish black frame. I was very pleased - it had it first outing in July this year. Many people resonated with this image and subject matter and it caused some very stimulating conversations - a kind of time slip from our ordinary lives into a parallel universe - very exciting.

To see further images connected to the Elegant Universe Collection go to my gallery page on my website www.majorgeorge.co.uk