Fly-Fishing Montana

My good friend and professional photagrapher, Noah Clayton,

and I went on a little fishing adventure last week.

It was one of my best fishing experiences ever.

Noah caught the day - digitally.

Check out these awsome pictures he took

and then visit http://www.noahclayton.com

to see more of his work - thanks!

The Shed/Playhouse Re-Visited

It's Alive!

It's a Roof!
It's a Living Roof

and it's growing!

Growth is Good

Here I am, back in June, trying to figure out how the hell I am going to pull this all together.

I've got a roof, now how am I going to get stuff to grow on it?

After deciding to use more of my old sheet metal roof for the fence-

reinforced with license plates- I came up with this idea.

The rubber membrane is the same type used to line backyard ponds

and, once again, "Building Green" by Clarke Snell & Tim Callahan

came in handy when I was trying to figure this out.

Once again, check out: http://www.thinkgreenbuilding.com/index.htm

for more information about this book and its ideas.

Notice that there is no wood to water contact

to combat wood rotting.

This was what it looked like after installing the fence,

throwing a whole lotta dirt up there and planting. This is what it looks like now after a couple monthes of growth.
Early Summer

Late Summer
Everybody asks me about drainage. In the little drawing above, you can see

that most water drains between the fence and the rubber membrane.

However, up here in Montana we sometimes get very heavy rains

so I've got drainage holes punched into the sheet metal to let overflow drain.

Eventually, I'd like to capure all of that water

in a barrel and use it to water the garden.

We didn't get stuff planted early enough this year

so garden veggies will have to wait til next summer. Water draining from roof.
Door to upstairs playhouse.

The kids and I did sleep up here one night

but it doesn't hold any heat the way a tent will,

so it was pretty chilly - even with our heavy duty sleeping bags.

This is our only view of Big Mountain on our property -
through the north truss.

Storage under the kid's deck.

Inside the shed.
Transforms easily into a functional bar for backyard parties.

Gone fishin'. Open for business!
Handy counter space...
holds all of my tools.
This fall & winter I'll spread bird seed in the bird playground window. Playhouse fun Stop! Hammock time!

This hammocmk we purchased in Ecuador.

We have another chair hammock

(you can see it in the backgorund of the picture of me above)

that we bought in Nicaragua. Hammocks are a delight.

Pretty silly, huh?

Once again big, big thanks to my wood pimp,

"Balancing Axe" Jeremiah Anderson,

amazing timber framer and friend.

Check out some of the stuff he does on You Tube at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkCWmCU4xHo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8wnrgxKktqA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTWYMyJnHB8

The End

see: http://kneelingbullmagic.blogspot.com/2007/11/shedplayhouse.html

for info regarding the earlier stages of this project

Collagraph Workshop Part 2

The second Saturday of my workshop

at Stumptown Art Studio http://www.stumptownartstudio.org/

will cover printing the collagraph plate.

Here we have my finished plate.

To get ready for printing;

I first soak my paper to soften it up,
make a template for positioning plate and paper,and get the press set up with blankets
Next, I get my ink out
(we'll have black, blue and brown available)...


and start spreading it on to the plate -

a very small amount is needed.

Here the plate is covered with ink.

The rubber spatula makes it easier to spread ink

in to all the cracks and crevices of the plate.

Now, I begin to wipe the plate.

I start by scraping the top layer of ink from the plate

with a piece of mat board. This removes most of the excess ink.

Next, using a balled up piece of tarlatan,
I wipe the plate. The surface ink gets picked up in the weave of the tartlatan

and you end up with a wiped plate ready for the press.

Be sure to wipe edges of plate as lumps of ink can accumulate

and cause blotches in the print.

Using my template, I place the plate on to the press bed.

Now, using a bent playing card to keep my inky fingers from

leaving finger maks all over my paper,

I remove the soaked paper and let it drip...

...and then I blot the paper dry.

Once again using my template, I place my paper over the plate.

I roll down the press blankets and run everything through

the press rollers, mashing everything together.

After passing through the press,

you can see the embossing of the plate

on the back side of the paper.

Peal the the paper back from the plate

and, voila!

A Collagraph Print

These inks take a good deal of time to dry

so I like to give the print a week or so before

handling or framing. After that I've

an archival print that should last well beyond

my great grandchildren's lifetime.

Collagraph Workshop Part 1

I'm teaching a Collagraph workshop at the Stumptown Art Studio

(http://www.stumptownartstudio.org/)

on Saturday August 16th and 23rd

Here's pretty much what we'll be doing that first Sat.

CREATING A COLLAGRAPH PLATE

Here's the most important thing to remember:

Keep It Thin!

The other thing thing that is important to remember is

all of the values in your print will come from the textures

on the plate - the rougher the surface the darker value

and the smoother the surface the lighter the value.

Basically, I create my plates from trash.

I collect trash with interesting textures and

stash it in these bins. So I rummage

through them and come up with...

1. Cardboard - base for plate

2. Old sand paper - for some nice dark values

3. Letter "G" stencil - for shape

(prints will be REVERSE from plate-

for lettering to appear correctly on print

it must be backwards on plate)

4. A self-portrait on butcher paper - for fun

Next I adhere everything together with an acrylic gel medium

(you could just use white glue for this part).

I like using plastic wrap to really mash everything down together

without getting medium all over my hands

as shown in these three pictures:

Self Portrait Cut Out
Next I cut out the plate...
and seal the edges.
Next I use the gel medium establish some lighter values.

Then using some fun tools to poke my plate,
I create values with the stippling.
Notice the texture in the these photos:



After sealing everything with a very thinned down gel medium wash,

I create my lightest value by laying platic wrap over wet gel meduim

and letting it dry totally before removing wrap.

This is basically how I arrive at a collagraph plate.

COMING SOON

Collagraph Workshop Part 2

Printing the Plate

My Walk to Work

So recently, I started walking to work - for two reasons : gas is expensive and I'm getting fat. I did not, however, count on it being a source for photographic inspiration. So here it is, join me on my walk to work...

New Condo Across the Street

Building yet another CondoStoplight at Wisconsin and Edgewood
Nice, New Winding Bike Path

Viaduct over Railroad

US Flag over Railroad
Tower over Railroad

Bike Path and Trestle Bridge
What sign? Trestle/Train BridgeI always cross to walk on the south side. So that if a train comes, I won't have to wait on it... ...like this guy.

Train Art

View of the Valley

Up the hill, through the gap in the bushes by the yield sign...
...and into the cemetary.
Beyond death lies work. The roof in the back ground is part of the club where I'll be bartending in just a few minutes. Stop by, mention reading this and I just might buy you a beer.

LIVING ROOF

It's alive!

...and seems to be doing pretty good. More blog to come as my summer winds down and I've more time to spend with the computer.

COMPASSION SHOW!

This is what these pieces look like stretched, framed and hung.

More pics from the show's opening night coming soon!