THE DIRECT METHOD OF PRINTING A DEER
As mentioned before, when you least suspect something, something appears. On a drive back to Wallaceburg I found a roadkill buck on "THE QUEEN'S 401 HIGHWAY". It was a young buck and in good enough condition to bring back to studio for printing.
This was a perfect specimen to add to my portfolio, for I was in the process of creating an edition of prints with a theme, based on Flora and Fauna from the lower Great Lakes in which I dwell. So I said a thank-you prayer to the spirit of the deer for being upon my path this day. I packed him up in the jeep with some garbage bags and off to the studio we went.
I washed the deer down with a garden hose, bleach and water. One more water washing to make the hide very soaked which allowed the water based inks to soak into his thick fur. Applying water based printers ink with a roller proved to be a very meditative experience. It felt like an ancient ritual, the way old world people prepared the lifeless shell for the journey into the other realms within the mysterious cosmos.
There is story my father told me about how the earliest dwellers within the Great Lakes basin would smear Red Ochre over the entire individual before burial. Along with this ritual, grave goods would be placed in and around the individual that was being sent home to mother earth. I reflected on this aspect and began to truly understand the energies involved. I would do this with the deer, which has allowed me to remember his beauty, through art making.
Once I reached the head area of the deer , I gazed for a long while into his beautiful blueish eyes. The eye lashes had the most gorgeous texture. The teeth had a wonderful white and brown stain and there was still vegetation in his mouth from where he was foraging, before being run over by a vehicle. I contemplated through looking into his eyes, all that he has seen. Wondering if he was able to leave his seed within a female, as so to carry on his DNA before leaving this planet.
I had a great respect for the deer as the colour was smeared and massaged around his face.
Now comes the time to lay the rag paper onto the found object from nature. The paper has soaked in water for about an hour as so to allow the paper to be malleable. I started to think of the great fish prints from japan, where printmakers would take fish rubbings with rice paper, remembering the spirits of the fisherman's catch. Did anyone in japan make rubbings of other animals? In this photo document ,the artist is using a printers rubbing tool. In all, I had to utilize 3 full sheets of rag paper to acquire a good nature print. The print will be a trip-tic.
The finished print created in the woods of a woodland creature. This was an edition of 3 with a few artists proofs of just the deer's head. On a respectful note, I buried the deer by the pond in a grove. In his burial there was corn, apples and carrots placed by his head. I laid fresh cut marsh flowers over his body along with a small bundle of tobacco, sage, and sweet grass.
After his soul was thanked, I sealed him back within the soil of mother earth. A chestnut tree was planted on-top of his resting place. Thank-you deer spirit.
This is the deer rubbing in its complete state with all 3 sheets of rag paper linked together.
This is an edition of only 3.
As mentioned before, when you least suspect something, something appears. On a drive back to Wallaceburg I found a roadkill buck on "THE QUEEN'S 401 HIGHWAY". It was a young buck and in good enough condition to bring back to studio for printing.
This was a perfect specimen to add to my portfolio, for I was in the process of creating an edition of prints with a theme, based on Flora and Fauna from the lower Great Lakes in which I dwell. So I said a thank-you prayer to the spirit of the deer for being upon my path this day. I packed him up in the jeep with some garbage bags and off to the studio we went.
I washed the deer down with a garden hose, bleach and water. One more water washing to make the hide very soaked which allowed the water based inks to soak into his thick fur. Applying water based printers ink with a roller proved to be a very meditative experience. It felt like an ancient ritual, the way old world people prepared the lifeless shell for the journey into the other realms within the mysterious cosmos.
There is story my father told me about how the earliest dwellers within the Great Lakes basin would smear Red Ochre over the entire individual before burial. Along with this ritual, grave goods would be placed in and around the individual that was being sent home to mother earth. I reflected on this aspect and began to truly understand the energies involved. I would do this with the deer, which has allowed me to remember his beauty, through art making.
Once I reached the head area of the deer , I gazed for a long while into his beautiful blueish eyes. The eye lashes had the most gorgeous texture. The teeth had a wonderful white and brown stain and there was still vegetation in his mouth from where he was foraging, before being run over by a vehicle. I contemplated through looking into his eyes, all that he has seen. Wondering if he was able to leave his seed within a female, as so to carry on his DNA before leaving this planet.
I had a great respect for the deer as the colour was smeared and massaged around his face.
Now comes the time to lay the rag paper onto the found object from nature. The paper has soaked in water for about an hour as so to allow the paper to be malleable. I started to think of the great fish prints from japan, where printmakers would take fish rubbings with rice paper, remembering the spirits of the fisherman's catch. Did anyone in japan make rubbings of other animals? In this photo document ,the artist is using a printers rubbing tool. In all, I had to utilize 3 full sheets of rag paper to acquire a good nature print. The print will be a trip-tic.
The finished print created in the woods of a woodland creature. This was an edition of 3 with a few artists proofs of just the deer's head. On a respectful note, I buried the deer by the pond in a grove. In his burial there was corn, apples and carrots placed by his head. I laid fresh cut marsh flowers over his body along with a small bundle of tobacco, sage, and sweet grass.
After his soul was thanked, I sealed him back within the soil of mother earth. A chestnut tree was planted on-top of his resting place. Thank-you deer spirit.
This is the deer rubbing in its complete state with all 3 sheets of rag paper linked together.
This is an edition of only 3.
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