ArtHouse Sketchbook Project Process, Part 2

After much thought and trepidation, I finally began...


I started by unbinding the book, the two small staples tossed into the trash with a freeing gesture of joy at finally getting started, the loose eight pages suddenly feel less intimidating, and I am excited for their journey toward their final completed identities.


I planned to used a liquid photo-emulsion to print photographs directly onto the page, and much thought was spent addressing the layout of the book. I needed to establish where the photographs would be, where the emulsion would need to be placed, which pages were reserved for drawings, etc. The liquid emulsion I used was called "Ag-Plus High Speed Emulsion", and heating was required to liquify it before painting. I set up the painting station in my dark room, with a hot water bath for the emulsion, and progressed to apply the emulsion onto several pages from the sketchbook. The painted pages were left to dry in the dark, and once several layers of the emulsion were applied, the prepped pages were stored in a light tight bag, or loaded into a pinhole camera to await exposure.


The pinhole process was less than satisfactory. I always say, if one feels like a pro', "hot-shot" photographer, just shoot some pinholes to restore one's humility; the process is unpredictable, and results are often unexpected. My issue with the process was that the combination of the pinhole camera making a soft focused image with the soft print quality of the liquid emulsion, created images that were just too blurry to be distinguishable.

I also had issues with the chemistry of the emulsion, getting strange results due to the way the emulsion was pulled between the two leafs. I needed to repeat my processes many times, using a heavier weight paper, and painting the emulsion and exposing the two pages together, yet drying and processing the two pages separately.

Shooting photographs with the theme in mind, (Long Road Trips and Short Phone Calls) I also made prints using the traditional enlarger. Having discovered some vintage negatives, I included images of my paternal grandmother. This image was one of the first successes with the medium.


I continued prepping pages, and shooting photographs, and experimenting with the photo-emulsion and all the ways I could make marks. I used a camera-less procedure, creating photograms with the film and other objects. I was painting and drawing with more traditional mediums when not using the photographic modes, and always thinking of alternative ideas for the project. I would draw over processed photographic images, cutting, and collaging the pages and images together, weaving a visual tapestry.



Eventually, I amassed a pile of completed pages, some successes, some failures, but together they were layered and interwoven with the various techniques I'd used. The messy group felt very disheveled and unorganized, and I was unsure of my feelings about what I'd created, but I was committed to finishing the project. (After meeting Shane, from Art House, in Denver at the Million Little Pictures; Photo-Mobile exhibition, I was shocked to learn that the majority of entries are never returned!!??)



I had four sections, or gatherings, of the individual pages, each containing four leafs. I included one extra section made up of only one photograph, a pinhole image printed on resin coated photo paper. The strange quality of this middle page, seemed to bring the chaos of the other pages together, and being an actual photograph, it is a signature of sorts, a nod to the camera, the machine, I use in my art making. In the end, I included many of the 'failures', as a testament to my process, and really, a sketchbook is a place to experiment, and I wanted to show all the images I had created.

The following post will explain the binding process.

Sketchbook Project with Art House Co-op

When I first received my official book for the Sketchbook Project 2012, an Art House Co-op inspiring project, I was surprised at how small it was, it is just a small 5x7" Scout book, with only 8 leafs or 32 pages. I was also amazed at how large the project was, an inspiring international project with tens of thousands of other artists participating. How could my measly drawings ever stand up to those pressures? The immensity of the project was intimidating, and I spent a long time meditating on how to create my book, what parts of my art making practice to include, and what ideas I wanted to portray. I wanted to make it unique, find a way to stand out in the Brooklyn Library, the permanent home of the collection, (when it was not out on its national tour). I was lacking confidence in my drawing abilities and wondering if signing up had been a mistake. But, a sketchbook is a place an artist explores ideas, a sanctuary, where one can 'mess up' without any real consequences, (beyond lacking beauty). Most artist's sketchbooks are private visions into the inner workings of the artist, something held close to the chest, and rarely, if ever shown to anyone. This project threw those notions all away, it was a glorious adventure, and a great way to expose these private bits to the public, an offering of sorts, a gift to the audience; the mind, materials and praxis of the artist, all laid bare for their enjoyment. This project engages the audience in new and profound ways, offering insight into art making, and a better overall understanding of the art world.

My process was long, and involved many experimental techniques, with new media. As a photographer, it was important to me to bring the camera into the project. To integrate the photograph with the act of sketching. I used liquid photo emulsions, and the capturing of light as a form of mark making, as well as more traditional drawing or painting. I have put this, and the following posts, together to document my process, to share my adventures (or mis-adventures) encountered along the making of my sketchbook.

Last Chance to see "Blurry Pictures"

Image credit:
Laura Brent, Doors.
Silver gelatin double pinhole photograph, Santa Fe NM, 2011.
Positive contact print.

Due to the snowy weather on February 3rd, the closing reception of the pinhole photography exhibition Blurry Pictures was cancelled. Due to this event, I have extended the show for a few more weeks. Call or email me to schedule a time to view the exhibit. laura@valhallarts.com

Blurry Pictures and other Works

Pinhole Photography by Laura Brent

Opening Dec 02, 2011 | 6:00PM - 9:00PM
Valhall Arts, 201 S. College Avenue, Plaza Level 2, 
Fort Collins, CO 80524

Valhall Arts is pleased to present Blurry Pictures and other Works, an exhibition showcasing the recent works by Laura Brent. Over the last year, Ms. Brent has been making pinhole images with a variety of methods, including using film, handmade cameras and multiple pinholes. This will be the first time these images have been shown together.

Why Pinhole?

I have always been interested in photography’s historical processes and classical foundations. There must be an understanding of where an art form began, how it has evolved over time, to carry it forward into the future. By playfully exploring the processes, using all the possibilities, one gains an understanding of the medium. The practice is “limitless, inexhaustible, without stepping outside the natural boundaries of the medium”(Paul Strand, “The Art Motive in Photography”, 1923, pg. 287) and only through experimentally creating imagery, can photography reach its fullest potential.

Pinhole photography is a rudimentary process, slow and meticulous, something that takes perseverance, patience, and practice to perfect. The materials involved are basic, the methods very ‘hands-on’, with the sense of getting ones fingers wet with the photons of light. The experimental successes are an epiphany, moments filled with great joy, full of surprise at what the photograph looks like, intriguing imagery that is pulled from the elements of a particular time and space to leave its mark and energies on the final unique object created.

~Laura Brent

Visit the website to learn more, valhallarts.com

Change and State of the Arts in Northern Colorado

"It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad." ~C. S. Lewis
Image by surrealist painter Rene Magritte

Change is good, although some may resist it, others resent it, but none can avoid it. Growth can be a painful experience but only through change can one achieve progress.

At this juncture, Valhall Arts is undergoing a shift in the way it operates. Going forward, the gallery will no longer be showcasing other artists, but instead will serve as the working exhibition space for Laura Brent, the artist. I am hanging up my 'gallery director' and 'curator' hats for the time being. This change was brought on by the ever increasing demands on time and a prioritization of my artwork above the running of a gallery, and promoting contemporary art to Fort Collins.

The general climate in this area has been lukewarm in its support of the arts in general, and icy-cold when it comes to interest in contemporary art. Due to this lack luster reception of contemporary art in Fort Collins, I will be putting my energies into art creation, and distribution/exposure to other areas of the country. The gallery will still be open during the First Friday Gallery Walks, held the first Friday of every month, 6-9 pm, and my contemporary artworks will still be shown, however the shows will be a looser arrangement of current projects in process, instead of juried, group, curated exhibitions.

Why is there this lack of interest in the arts in Fort Collins? There are those in the community who would have this be an arts destination in the spirit of Santa Fe, but we have a long way to go to reach this high ideal, and need a better foundation, and extensive improvements in the types and qualities of artworks created, exhibited and received in our town, to make this goal a reality. There is a superficial embracing of the arts, and misguided support by a local (unnamed) arts promotional group. There are too many resources and dollars spent supporting art activities that do nothing to create lasting effects for the art community. The program supporting street entertainments over the past few summers, is, in my mind, a flip-flop of how this sort of thing should work. These opportunities, if made available to working performers through legislation, could actually generate income for the city (through license fees, for example). Instead, funds were spent to promote buskers to bring their entertainments to the migrant visitors to our city. Instead, these resources could have been better spent supporting local, existing, organizations to build a permanent infrastructure and take us further down the road toward our goal of being an "Art Town".

The wealthy donors in the region, those who give generously to these promotional organizations do not seem interested in supporting the arts, or there is a lack of understanding of art historical models and metropolitan art cultures. We do have our newly built (and almost completed) history and science museum, and the university has a wonderful arts center with world class performing and visual arts. But the private sector in general, the visual arts field in particular, is filled with amateur/hobbyist infused art co-operatives, and a few remaining commercial galleries, each offering the expected 'western' souvenirs, (landscape paintings and photographs of aspen trees in their fall colors), these mundane and tired artworks, offering little in the advancement of the arts. Art can expand one's mind, bring the world to one's community and teach us something of ourselves and our culture. Instead, it seems, our community is only interested in being entertained.

Why this lack of diversity and interest in the arts? Is this due to an un-enlightened or un-educated art audience? With the higher educational institutions in our town, I would expect a better informed audience, with a more diverse understanding of art history and the cultural importance of showing important works to enhance of our local community. How else are we to achieve our goals, without high quality institutions and private organizations to bring this to the public? How can these organizations survive with out the support and commitment from the public?

I've been smelling something funny in my local art scene, a rotten egg is among us, and only through change can we become the bird we hope to be and fly into the future to become an art destination. At this point its all just scrambled, and I am ready for the next change.

The Fine Art of Letterpress Printing

Valhall Arts is pleased to announce an upcoming exhibition featuring the Fine Art of Letterpress printing by Shelby Montross of Meadowlark Creative. The exhibition will open Friday, September 2nd, with a reception from 6:00-9:00 p.m., and continue through October 7, 2011.

"Sometime in-between the invention of moveable type and the proliferation of 24-hour copy centers, the craft of letterpress printing evolved from an essential trade to a forgotten one," states Montross. "Abandoned by all but a few craftsmen, the art of letterpress printing became that of a bygone era. Printing, it seemed, had lost its soul, its beauty, and its individuality. Meadowlark Creative is bringing it back."

Printing on a 1951 10x15 Chandler & Price (one of the last ever made) and a Vandercook 317 letterpress, Meadowlark Creative meticulously designs and prints custom prints, business cards, stationary, invitations, and announcements that are as unique and memorable as the message you wish to communicate.

Shelby Montross of Meadowlark Creative will relate her experiences as professional designer interested in the creative and commercial potential of letterpress, and will introduce general concepts, terms, and processes involved in creating personal and professional letterpress work.

During the gallery walk receptions on the 'First Fridays', (Sept. 2 and Oct. 7) participants will have the opportunity to create their own print, using hand-set type and print coasters on a Kelsey 3x5 letterpress with both metal and wood type.

The Artist is not present.

The Artist has....
A. escaped down the rabbit hole.
B. left the building.
C. gone buffalo hunting.
D. __________________

Installation featured at Valhall Arts for the summer.
Stop by the Plaza level of the Fort Collins Museum of Art to see it.
(201. S. College Avenue, Fort Collins, CO)