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Artist
In Residence |
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| Brahma Temple and Zoroaster Temple at sunset |
Veranda studio at Grand Canyon Lodge |
| In July, 2006, I had the honor of spending three weeks at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon as Artist-in-Residence. I hiked, sketched, drew twigs and leaves for a brochure illustrating the trees and shrubs of the North Rim, gave two Evening Programs about my work, and--several days each week--demonstrated the enameling process in my temporary outdoor studio perched on the rim of Transept Canyon. Each morning, I walked down the Bright Angel Point trail to draw as dawn struck buttes and cliffs and reached into the shadows of Bright Angel Canyon thousands of feet below. | |
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"Canyon Lifeblood," the piece I donated to Grand Canyon National Park as part
of my residency, on exhibit at the North Rim Visitors' Center, 2008 |
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Canyon
Lifeblood (2007) |
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Each Artist-in-Residence is asked to donate one piece, inspired by the
residency, to Grand Canyon National Park. My piece, "Canyon Lifeblood," came
out of my original residency proposal to focus on water as "the lifeblood of the
Canyon." The central panel is a view of Ribbon Falls, a moss-drenched, cool
oasis just off the North Kaibab Trail about eight miles down from the North
Rim. The two side panels are Canyon views from the rim and from its depths.
I hiked down into the canyon and camped two nights at Cottonwood Camp, where metal ammo boxes and tall steel poles are provided for hikers to store all food and hang footwear overnight, to keep them from ringtails, scorpions, and other desert dwellers. The north rim is 8000 feet above sea level, conifer and aspen forest; even in July a pleasant climate. At Cottonwood Camp, just halfway to the river from the north rim, but 4000 feet lower in elevation, daytime temperatures in July can exceed 120 degrees Fahrenheit. It cools down to 80 at night. The best place to be down there during the day in July is beside (or in) Bright Angel Creek. Or to rest, mesmerized, at the foot of Ribbon Falls, in its sweet, cool microclimate; cool breezes, butterflies, canyon wrens, columbines. The waterfall has formed an enormous mound of travertine, over which water pours and trickles down long braided ribbons of deep, thick, emerald-green moss. One can lie on the sandstone below the falls and gaze up to plumes of spray spilling over the cliff above. |
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For the central panel's waterfall, I used ginbari, a Japanese enameling technique. Silver foil is annealed and pressed into a form--in this case, a form I made from thin wires to give the texture of the moss--and fused to the enameled copper. The brilliance and cool sparkle of the silver shines through the transparent green enamels fired over it. For the cliffs behind the falls, I used separation enamels to emphasize the textures of the rock strata. | |
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The enameling technique used on the top, bottom, and side panels,
basse-taille, involved etching the copper, then firing transparent
enamels over it. For the side panels, I drew the images on bare copper with an
acid-resistant paint. When the piece was immersed in ferric chloride, the areas
of copper not protected by the paint were etched away. The left side panel shows
the view from Bright Angel Point looking down toward Cottonwood Camp; the
foreground includes pinyon pine, Indian paintbrush, and the endemic Kaibab
Swallowtail butterfly. The right side panel depicts Bright Angel Point seen
from below, near Cottonwood Camp. The foreground includes agave, yucca, and
desert spiny lizard.
To see how the etched copper versions of the side panels (above) and the top panel (below) look after the enamel is applied, double click the image. Single click to return. |
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| For the top and bottom panels, I photocopied some of my plant drawings onto clear acetate to use as film positives and, by adhering a photosensitive film to bare copper tiles and exposing each to sunlight, transferred the drawings to the copper. In this case, the positive areas (the drawings) were etched away in ferric chloride, while the rest of the film acted as a resist, protecting the copper surface. |
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North Rim Artists-in-Residence Exhibition |
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On that same backpack into the Canyon, I spent one day exploring a side canyon. Wall Canyon epitomizes the extreme variety of microhabitats defined by water at Grand Canyon: riparian along the creek, shady and gentle with alders, cottonwoods, canyon live oak, mosses, columbines, dragonflies, canyon tree frogs, horsetails, and ferns...and, scant yards away, the spiny, thorny life of the hot, arid desert: prickly pear cactus, yucca, agave, catclaw acacia, lizards. In hiking down Grand Canyon trails, one descends from one geologic layer to another, passing through nine different geologic formations by the time one crosses the mouth of Wall Canyon. Toward this side canyon's lower reaches, the creek sculpts its way through layers of lovely Tapeats sandstone. A pause along the creek as I climbed back down from a long hot hike up three geologic layers, to where the spring that feeds Wall Creek emerges from solid Redwall limestone, inspired this piece. Faint from hours of steep scrambling on crumbly shale and three-digit temperatures, I drew refreshment from the chilly, splashing water, horsetails, maidenhair ferns, dragonflies and damselflies that danced with life against a backdrop of bare Tapeats stone. In this piece, I created a low relief effect in depicting the eroded sandstone layers by using the sgraffito technique. I scratched through unfired enamel to bare copper before firing, and the exposed copper oxidized to black when fired. |
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Ravens On a sketching outing, my visiting cousin, Ariele, and I drew a twisted log overlooking the Canyon near the top of Angels Window. I later used my sketch as a basis for one of the pieces I began as a demonstration at my veranda studio, where I had access to an electric outlet for my portable electric kiln, and a view as broad as the Canyon.I worked in the mornings until the space was no longer in shade, then covered my equipment with tarps to protect it from the afternoon monsoons. Later, in my home studio, I completed this piece. |
