Rhein Series

For a long while I have been interested in the idea of taking coated etching plates with me on journeys to create some kind of memory of the travel. I have not pursued this because I was not interested in creating traditional landscape or portrait sketches as I wanted more of a tactile and direct method of creating a physical remembrance of the journey itself. Shortly before a recent trip to Germany I decided that the best way to achieve this goal was to strap the coated etching plates to the bottom of my hiking shoes and walk as long as possible before the plate fell off of my foot. I wrapped a hooked velcro strap around my hiking shoe and stuck a piece of loop velcro to the back of the plate. Although the plate was somewhat flimsily attached to my foot, I was able to get some interesting marks from a variety of different surfaces throughout the Rhein River Valley. These plates have not yet been etched but I am looking forward to inking them in a variety of different ways and printing them on different papers as well as creating a small edition of books detailing the entire experience. I will write a more in depth post about the plates, the steps, surfaces and process when I have completed the printing.