Woman vs Machine

There have been several small tussles, believe me!

The day started well with my usual quick run round.  A little overcast this morning but it’s remained warm and sunny all day.

I went to take a look at the newly cleaned Public Library building, which looks stunning now it’s done.  Almost eerily white, it shines out like a beacon on Fifth Avenue.

Into class then, and another idea for the list – printing on the thin mulberry leaf papers using a kitchen cutting mat as a carrier sheet.  I’ve got the things secured and primed but haven’t yet printed – there’s one for the list for tomorrow.

I had a whole heap of papers primed and ready to go, including that black sheet on the top.  Having sifted through my images, I’d decided on that photograph of the flatiron building I took last evening and prepared both image and paper for printing.  As I did, I spotted a look of concern on Mary’s face and over she came with a sheet of tyvek which she suggested using to fool the printer into thinking it was printing a normal, white sheet of paper, because unsurprisingly, it wouldn’t like printing on black.

Both sheets were fed into the printer, but before the print button was pressed, the white tyvek was to be pulled out at the last minute.  But my printer wasn’t so easily fooled – as soon as we took the white sheet away, the error message came up and all was lost.

Time and again, we reloaded both sheets.  Time and again the printer thumbed its nose at us.

Not so easily beaten, Mary explained about the front feed – these printers have three feeds and perhaps by using the one at the front, we might be able to fool it in a different way.

As if.  Once again, the printer won.

By this time it was getting near lunchtime and I’d achieved very little.  Time for a quick win.  I loaded my textured sheet and created a composite sheet of images for it hoping that this one would go through easily.

At last, success.  Four good clear and crisp images on the sheet, well placed and a satisfying enough conclusion for the morning.  I went to lunch feeling determined to get that black print sorted this afternoon.

As we headed out of the building, the great images on the walls stopped me in my tracks again – this one is on the way to the ladies loo and makes me smile every time I see it.  I’ll save Jordi’s blushes by not posting the photograph of her posing as an additional character!

We made a dash over the road to Kinokuniya, to take a look at the new craft books there

That embroidery book!  So cute!

We grabbed a bite to eat before rushing back to tackle those printers again.  I’d already set myself the challenge of printing the flatiron photograph in a “frame” created on a funny piece of paper I’d brought from home – we’ve spoken a lot about the placement of images, getting them set up just right and how we want them to be – for the first time, I was 100% successful and felt rather pleased with the outcome here.

I still hadn’t printed the black sheet, however.

Just as I was summoning up courage to tackle it again, Mary demonstrated the aluminium transfer technique and prepared another aluminium plate for direct printing tomorrow.  Hang on a minute, I thought – if I can’t print a sheet of black paper, how on earth am I going to print a sheet of aluminium?

As I prepared the image and the paper, Jordi had a suggestion.  Perhaps…just maybe it might work?  Who knows?  Worth a try…

Ta dah!!  Not only did her idea work perfectly, my experience this morning of locating the image perfectly on the sheet, right way up meant that I was able to get the variation in coloured substrates in the correct place to work perfectly too.  I had applied red inkaid in the area around that red sign on the left, to make it “pop” and to get a kind of shadow on the building.

And what little flash of brilliance did Jordi contribute to this success?

A strip of washi tape along the leading edge.  Brilliant!

Returning to the studio, we found Mary demonstrating the gel print to Louise’s mirror.  Now, having just conquered the black paper issue, were we ready to contemplate peeling off what amounts to a sheet of handmade cling film, printed with an image to be applied to a 3D object?

Not really.  We watched and promised ourselves that tomorrow, we’ll tackle it with ease.  Fingers crossed.

We returned to the hotel for a quick freshen up before dinner, noting that once again, the news crews were outside (I’m staying in the same place as a certain notorious Frenchman) and headed downtown to Otto.

Otto is a favourite of ours and yet again, we enjoyed a memorable meal.  The food is delicious, the atmosphere buzzy and service charmingly efficient.

Of course, there is also the added attraction of the gelati.  Our all time favourite Olive Oil gelati, the seasonal favourite Sweetcorn gelati and my favourite pistachio too.  Oh my word, were we full?

We walked through Greenwich village past this shopfront – Textile Arts Center opening soon?  I have a sneaky suspicion that my friend and mistress of the washi tape will be back.

We waited for the bus reflecting on another great day.  We’re tired but delighted with what we’ve done so far and with one more day to go, have plenty to keep us busy.

And, in the woman vs machine stakes, I think we are still ahead. 

Just.

Press the button and…

see what happens!  After a day preparing surfaces and doing a few little quick and simple transfer prints, it was time today to take a deep breath and go for it.

I started the day as yesterday, using those first couple of hours to run a couple of errands and tick things off my list.  Time is tight when the days are taken up with class and one place I needed to go was M&J on 6th Ave, not that far away from the hotel or the IPC.  My list included “linen twill tape”, a simple enough thing to buy – but when I got there, look at the selection.  I mean, how can a girl choose?!  Whilst I really only wanted cream, I got white too, plus pink….and why not get some green as well?  Oh, and that pale blue is so pretty…they’ll all go through the printer in due course

I arrived to find Mary prepping some aluminium plates for printing – we’d chosen some images for this shiny metallic surface and sometime soon will be doing both a transfer onto them and, I understand, putting them directly through the printers too.  Hmmm…!

We spent the morning creating all kinds of textures and then using Inkaid in a variety of colours to create a receptive surface for the ink.  We prepared black paper, brown kraft paper, card, collages, old bits of artwork and things we’d brought with us.  We added a couple of coats of Inkaid to the substrates we’d created yesterday and made a new one with aluminium duct tape.  Before long, the whole floor was covered in sheets laid out to dry.

We left all of this drying over lunchtime and Jordi and I ran back to the hotel because today we had a special lunch.  I’d booked a package which as well as four nights for the price of three, also included a picnic lunch, which we’d booked for today.  Oh my, what a grand affair, all packed up in a real hamper, complete with bottle of wine!  Teddy Bear James was ready to tuck in too!

Back to work though – we couldn’t wait to get going with the printing!  However, before we could do that, we needed to put the papers in the dry press for a minute or two to straighten and flatten them.  At home, they’d be ironed using the usual iron and baking parchment but here there are enormous heat presses and the prepared surfaces are sandwiched between two non stick sheets and held in the press at 150F and then cooled under a metal weight.  It made quite a difference to most of them though the brown kraft paper was going to prove a challenge, in spite of the careful pressing, it turned out.

The computer set up isn’t easy for printing, involving the need to get up on a step stool to load the paper into the printer which is high on a shelf.  The huge printers are Epson 3880s and we were turning out prints at an incredible rate – thankfully, all included in the class fee!  Having gone through all the print options and changed all kinds of settings I had no idea existed (how helpful it is to have a professional print technician in the class!), it was time to hit the “print” button and step back and wait.

What would the end result be like?  Anxious faces peered into the printer tray to see what was coming out – here a large railway engine is appearing, I hope!

The central table began to fill with all kinds of interesting and exciting images – the large sheets of small colourful pictures are intended for the metal sheets and were printed out on the huge printer by Mary.

As we produced sheets and sheets of prints, we began to realise that matching the correct image for the particular substrate was key to success, and perhaps tomorrow, we’ll create the substrate with the image in mind, rather than vice versa.  I was pleased with my print of Colombo harbour on the duct tape surface but will perhaps have another go with the railway engine tomorrow, to see if we can improve on today’s effort.

After class, we headed downtown to Madison Square, where I just had to take another photograph of my favourite Flatiron building. Love it!

Our destination was the Shake Shack, where the queue was rather long and we were very thirsty.  Time for one of us to take the “B line” and skip to the front to buy two beers to drink whilst we stood in the “A line” to order food!

Cheers!

Though there’s a Shake Shack nearer to home now and another on the West Side, we agreed that there’s nowhere quite like the original and best, the Shake Shack in the Square.

Even if there are birds.

And squirrels.

And I get VERY jumpy!

Today, there was also art in the Square .  Echo was rather striking and as the people of NYC chilled in the park, listening to the live band on stage, we made our way back to 6th and the bus back uptown, via Eataly.  It had been our original intention to get gelati there but by this time, believe it or not, we were Too Full For Dessert.  I know…  But Eataly was buzzing, the place a licence to print money, so full was it (and is always, according to Jordi!)  We promised ourselves dinner at Otto tomorrow instead.

In answer to Dorothy’s question of yesterday, I’ve tried to include hyperlinks to product websites which include UK sources.  I am also reliably informed by the lady herself, that she has many useful links to the sources, too.

A great place to learn

Where else would the combination of jet lag, a 24hr diner serving great breakfasts a few doors down and round-the-clock shopping on the doorstep enable me to get such a flying start on the day?

Before 9am this morning, I’d had breakfast, done a quick trot around the block to drop into the drugstore for latex gloves and into Staples for some scissors and a couple of 4gb memory sticks currently on offer for $5 each.  Fifth Ave was just getting started, the air was fresh from yesterday’s rain and the day was starting well.

By 9.45 I was sitting outside the Institute of Photography on 6th Ave, when Jordi arrived.  I’d been watching the arrivals in the reception, wondering who might be taking the same class.  What would our fellow students be like?

The answer was, people much like ourselves.  Eleven women and one chap, two teaching assistants and Mary, our tutor.  After brief introductions and a speedy outline of the class programme, we were started on our first, simple image transfer using hand santiser gel – who knew?

The institute is a fascinating place with every room crammed full of equipment and exciting art work.  We’re working in a fairly empty studio for the messy bits and one of two rooms chock a block with computers, each connected to a large format printer and two enormous, stand-alone printers.  There’s a library and this afternoon, we discovered another hive of activity when we went to dry our prints in the lab – a large room where a group of youngsters were mixing chemicals for some photographic process or other.  Everywhere is clean, exceptionally well equipped and managed – I am very impressed indeed.

We enjoyed lunch in the sunshine on a corner of Bryant Park, mulling over what we’ve learned so far.  Was it what we’d expected?  Well, yes and no.  Were we having fun?  You bet.

After a short walk through the park – in search of ice cream! – we returned to the Studio to prepare our images for the afternoon’s first project.  Into the computer room then, where the sheep were separated from the goats – all the computers were Macs and I’m a PC girl.  Uh-oh.  Fortunately, help was on hand and with a little encouragement and a bit of a workaround, my image was moved to the right place and was printed out along with the others.

The next transfer was more complex, involving DASS “Super Sauce” and stone paper. 

The jury’s out on this one so far, because of the glossy, plasticky surface.  But tomorrow, we have plans for taking it back a little and who knows whether it will be a triumph or a train-wreck afterwards?  Watch this space!!  (The image is a door lock in the museum, Cochin, btw)

The last part of the afternoon was spent preparing some substrates for tomorrow – a gel base which will eventually end up covering a 3D object and a more textured surface which will be more of a fresco in character.

After such a day, a super gourmet dinner was in store – or?  Actually, a quick run up to Michaels to take advantage of an unusually generous money off voucher, followed by a pizza and pudding in WholeFoods next door. As we sat making plans for tomorrow, the heavens opened and we realised we were trapped, far from home with neither raincoat nor umbrellas.  Jordi ran for her subway station as I ran for the bus shelter.

Now, all I have to do is to select some images to use tomorrow.  I’m going to need a good strongly coloured one to print on some aluminium sheeting, and a couple of others to keep on hand for whatever else Mary might pull out of the bag.  This is really such fun and, what’s more, so far we’ve done nothing that couldn’t be done at home.  The possibilities are endless…

Presumptious, moi?

The trip’s not over till the fat lady sings…or whatever.  I had totally disregarded the potential for the drive to the airport to be quite so exciting – we stopped by Mount St Helens on the way to Sea-Tac and it was such a glorious, peach of a day that the experience was altogether overwhelming.

We got the first hint that it was a good day to make the detour as we turned off the freeway.  The mountain was there in a cloudless blue sky and we knew it’d been a good decision.

 

We bypassed all the distractions of visitors’ centres and the like on the way up because we were time-limited.  Both of our flights were leaving late afternoon and though we had plenty of time really, we didn’t want to risk a last minute rush.  We parked up at Johnstone Ridge Observatory and walked up the pathway to the viewing point.

Once again, Mary’s Golden Pass gave us free entry and presented with fluorescent pink wristbands, the facilities were open to us to explore.

Wow.  There in front of us was a geologist/vulcanologist’s dream.  The crater where the top blew off the mountain was clearly visible, as was the lava dome in the centre, where subsequent action has taken place.  What we had thought was a dried up river turned out to be the lava flow from the eruption in 1980 and the lack of vegetation and the small hummocks here and there were all further remains of that devastating event.

We watched a short film about the 1980 eruption but found it rather over-sensationalised the events and though it answered one or two of our questions, it didn’t really make for comfortable viewing for me being very loud and visually distracting.

 

That didn’t matter, though, because the other displays and explanations were well done and from a standing start, I learned a great deal about what we were seeing there in front of us.

We made a couple of stops on the way back to the freeway, taking the same photo over and over, such an impression did it make on all three of us.  At one stop, we met a local volunteer who told us that only yesterday, the mountain had been covered with cloud most of the day – today was very unusual indeed.

He also clarified to us that none of this very impressive infrastructure had been there before 1980 – these elegant bridges, fine highways and great visitors’ centres were all recent developments and a commitment by the US government to creating this National Monument.

With the car set up for the last freeway journey of the trip – three drinks, an assortment of weird chocolate (Lime Tortilla with Salt, French Toast and Smores flavours!) and a bag of Hot Tamales, we set off for the airport.

Not wanting to be outshone by another mountain, Mount Rainier put in an appearance along the way.

And that was that.  Bidding our dear friend Mary goodbye at the airport, we’re now sitting in the lounge awaiting our flight.  We’ve had such fun along the way, have wondered if we are surrounded by a vortex which attracts the strange and off-the-wall types who have characterised our trip, because once again, our wealth of travel tales and the characters who populate them have been added to.

Here’s to the next one!!

A very fitting finale

It’s been another day of altogether different experiences from yesterday. For our last full day we decided we’d start at the Farmers Market – bustling with trade on this lovely sunny morning.  We browsed around enjoying the sight of the freshest of vegetables and seeing plenty of evidence that strawberry season has arrived in full force.

It wouldn’t be Portland without some curiosity though – there were several amusing signs and again, enough raw material for several novels if only we stood still long enough to record it all.

Like in Seattle, the mixed bunches of flowers were looking lovely in the sunshine and many of the market customers were carrying huge bunches home with them.

Best of all were the berries – we were to enjoy some of these later!

Our next stop was the Saturday market, at the other end of the city centre, not far from Voodoo Doughnuts.

There was a long queue outside there this morning!

We understood this market to be “arts and crafts” and knowing Portland to be a creative kind of place, our expectations were high.  Too high as it happened, because this market turned out to be like many others, full of pretty mundane things, very few original or well made and as a result, we didn’t linger.

Instead, we took the streetcar to the north western end of the city centre, where Mary recalled a neighbourhood full of interesting streets to potter about in.  She was right!

We spent a happy couple of hours in the sunshine, in and out of shops, people watching and finally, gelato-eating.

Very good it was too – my zabaglione and pistachio were excellent.

Across the road, one of my favourite shops was to be found, too.  I didn’t even go looking for this one!

Late afternoon by now, and time to return to the hotel to enjoy a bit of sunshine and sadly, to begin the packing up.  On this summer Saturday afternoon, Portland was out to play and the riverside park was rather busier than we’ve seen it.

This evening, we had our “Portland Summer Dinner Party” to look forward to.  Arriving around 6.30pm, we were welcomed with a glass of bubbly and took our places for a great demonstration as Adam, the chef, cooked dinner for us.  The whole seven courses were first class from the first bite to the last. 

The Menu?

A tuna amuse-bouche

Oregon White Peach Salad with Shiso, Pickled Onions and summer Radishes

Chilled Cucumber Gazpacho with Marcona Almonds, Cilantro and Creme Fraiche

Baked Shrimp and Crab Cakes with Roasted Pepper Aioli and Watercress

Five Spice Crusted Tuna Loin with Grilled Asparagus and Sesame Noodles

Dry Aged Ribeye steak with Herb butter, warm potato salad and Arugula (I was losing the plot by now and forgot to take a picture of the dish – here’s Adam plating it up for us)

and finally, Fresh Oregon Berries and Angel Food cake with Vanilla Whipped cream, which didn’t stay on the plate long enough to be photographed

We all agreed that it had been a great way to spend our last evening together before setting off home tomorrow.  It’s been a great trip!