Solarplate Experiment

Recently a friend shared with me her knowledge of etching with solarplates. A solarplate is a light sensitized steel backed polymer material. In my case, I drew my design on a frosted clear glass plate and placed it on the solarplate. Then I placed them in the sun for a short time and after that exposure, I washed the plate with a little water and saw that my image was etched on the solarplate. Very cool!
I wasn't sure how dark to make some parts of my drawing because it was my first solarplate but I am fairly pleased with the results. I like the oil-based ink print better because of the higher contrast but maybe a little more practice with the water-based ink will yield some better results. 
It seems like a great way to make a print with lots of values! I loved drawing it on the frosted glass plate!

Here's the solarplate after the exposure:

Drawing on glass plate

Print from plate with oil -based ink

Print from plate with water-based ink

Hadden Hall - Bakewell Derbyshire, England

One of my favorite visits from my recent UK trip was to Hadden Hall in England. People say that "it's the most perfect English house to survive from t he middle ages". It's in the heart of the Peak District (very beautiful!).  It's 900 years old and gives some great insight into Tudor and Elizabethan architecture. Some of my favorite movies have been filmed here. A cloudy day - so what! The gardens were still magnificent!