Polishing Metal Plates (& scratched i-Pod Windows)

Here are some tips on polishing your plates, be they copper or zinc.

#1. If the plate is uncoated on both sides, examine it in the harsh light of day & determine which side is less scratched. That will be the side you polish.

#2. Using a file, scraper, or plumbing pipe tool, bevel that edge to a 45 degree angle. You should also round off the corners.

#3. If there are any very deep scratches, use the 3-in-1 oil & your trusty, sharp scraper to eliminate them. You'll have to follow that up with some judicious burnishing, also using 3-in-1 oil. If the scratches are just deep enough for your fingernails to catch in, you'll want to only use the burnisher, & leave the scraper in your toolbox.

#4. Using elbow grease, #00000 steel wool & the 3-in-1 oil, massage your plate in a circular motion, to at least 1 song on your I-pod (might I suggest Gogol Bordello). If you are obsessive, you can rinse the plate after each step with a mix of vinegar & salt, followed by a water rinse. Done in between each step, it will really brighten up your plate. Make sure you dry the plate with a clean, soft rag before going on to the next step. The latter items can be found in a cabinet located above the sinks in the acid room.

#5. Rub the "Nevr-Dull Magic Wadding Polish" onto your plate. The Eurythmics?

#6. Next comes the "Putz Pomade." (While the German word "putsn" means "to clean" the Yiddish word "putz" means either an idiot or that which makes men differ from women. A really strange choice of names for a product in any event.

#7. Finally, you can now wipe a light layer of "Brasso" on the plate. Go get a caffeine fix. By the time you come back, it should have dried to a fine white powder. Polish this off & you should be able to see yourself in the surface. Good job. (FYI - If the wee viewing screen on your I-pod is scratched, you can actually clear it again to look almost new with repeated Brasso wiping. Just take care not to get it on the body of the device & make certain the rag is extremely soft, & take care not to rub hard.)

#8. Don't touch the surface. Wrap in a soft clean paper towel & put carefully away in your locked drawer.

Upcoming Roxanne Exhibition in March "Germination"

The Pallid Seas of Gahnia Aspera - wood-engraving, silkscreen, graphite drawing, envelope & seed

Inspired by seed germination, the title of this print comes from Umberto Eco, and the composition borrows from Botticelli’s Birth of Venus. This print, by ahem, R. Sexauer, is part of a portfolio organized by Rachel Melis and Kathleen King presented at the 34^th Annual Southern Graphics Conference, & will be in an exhibition this March at the "Red Delicious Press" in the Denver/Aurora area of Colorado. The drawing and inclusion of fragmentary text on the small envelope that holds the actual seed depicted helps to solidify my hand in the work. Metaphorically, the seeds and pods are transport systems for both growth and regeneration. In this particular Australian plant, they can lie dormant for up to twenty-five years. Impressive for late bloomers everywhere.

Hurry, hurry - Deadline is 1/29 for Submissions

Go to: www.cqjournal.com/callforentries.html

to find directions to enter. It's only a $10.00 fee - that's equal to 2 venti soy lattes at Starbucks, no?

MorYork and Veralee Bassler

This Saturday, January 30th, MorYork is having a "pop-up" show of the works of artist Veralee Bassler.



Located at 4959 York Blvd, the reception is from 12 till 5.

That same evening at 7, LACMA will be showing Andrei Rublev as part of their Tarkovsky retrospective, and if you like long, bleak Russian filmmaking as much I do, you won't miss it.

AMAZING SAND PAINTING PROFORMANCE

LA Art Show, 2010

The LA ART Show is happening right now (this very second!) at the downtown convention center. It's $20 for a day pass, but if you're a member or student member of LAPS you can get half off the ticket price, and it's well worth attending. Printmaking it well represented, with many pieces exhibited from famous and contemporary artists. Wandering around on a short break yesterday, I saw original Chagalls, Picassos, and works by artists with whom I was not previously familiar, such as the stunning work by Harold Paris from 1945. Dave Lefner, an LA based linocut artist, has a booth in the middle of the hall and is demonstrating his technique for achieving photorealistic linocuts of neon signs.



The Los Angeles Printmaking Society has a booth nestled amongst the nonprofits, just a couple down from the CSULB UAM booth. It has a small selection of member works, among them a piece by me (Camilla), as well as two piece from Jennifer Anderson who taught a class at CSULB last year. I loaned LAPS my baby press for the event, so in addition to the prints on the walls of the booth there will be printmaking demonstrations in various media. I'll be there all day on Sunday, so stop by if you attend and say hello.

If you're coming up from Long Beach, you can catch the Blue Line downtown at the transit station, and it will taking you directly to the convention center. Get off at the Pico Station and there you are. Don't forget to bring an umbrella!

Tom Huck and Washington University rumored to be splitting up

Tom Huck and Washington University rumored to be splitting up

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Ya'el and Hazel

Ya'el Pedroza stopped by the printmaking graduate studios to clean out the rest of her stuff, and she brought along wee Hazel.

Frida Lives! (& sells meat in the Ocotlan Market)

Just got back from (see photos) fabulous Oaxaca, accompanied by fiber artist Carol Shaw-Sutton & mixed-media artist Fran Siegel. It was a tremendous treat to have Carol's take & expertise on all things woven, dyed, embroidered & sewn. Fran's keen sense of spotting the marvelous in the quotidian added greatly to noting the sheer visual

sumptuousness of superabundant color & texture everywhere.

As you can well imagine, flying back after the latest Christmas day fiasco was quite taxing, especially after being subjected to pat downs at all airports. Is it just me, or do the words "Christmas" & "bomber" not seem to quite gel together? Federales were swarming about like busy bees in riot gear throughout the Mexico City terminal. On the plus side, I suppose that the invasive hands-on could count as one of the eight hugs a day we are all supposed to receive to keep our mental health on the straight & narrow.

I managed to get profoundly ill & spent a lot of time...well, ahem, let's just say I was indisposed (thanks to some damn tamales with molé I ate on the zocalo). It dampened my time there considerably - defeated by the body I hurl about once again! Had to miss going to Monte Alban to see the ancient Zapotec sites, which made me very sad indeedy, but at least I made it to the geometric wonder of Mitla. Oaxaca was interesting - the children are all beautiful & trusting, as they've not yet been indoctrinated to be afraid of strangers, the people are in large part friendly, open & warm. Objects that break are lovingly repaired instead of being thrown away & replaced with new (& often inferior) items.

"Saint Migraine" is in reality St. Peter of Verona (for obvious reasons aka St. Peter Martyr) a Dominican ("dog of god") who was expedited to the next world via an axe to the cabeza. Well, I can't say that he didn't entirely deserve it - apparently he was a bit overly zealous when it came to all things Inquisition. He resides in the beautiful blue & white Dominican church in Ocotlan, built in 1572, & restored with major funding from artist Rodolfo Morales in 1999. He seemed a fitting image to follow up New Year's Eve revels, although I doubt an Alka-Selzer could even remotely touch his hang-over.

(Photos courtesy Carol Shaw-Sutton)

Printmaking Related Exhibitions for the New Year

These 2 exhibitions are are the Craft & Folk Arts Museum in Los Angeles. While "The Fool's Journey" doesn't open until 1/24, the exhibition on "Graphics & the California Dream" is open now & closes on the 10th of this month.

5814 Wilshire Boulevard (at Curson) Los Angeles, CA 90036 323.937.4230 www.cafam.org
Hours: Monday: Closed Tuesday through Friday: 11 am - 5 pm Saturday & Sunday: 12 pm - 6 pm Admission: Members: FREE General: $5 Students and Seniors: $3 Children under 12: FREE First Wednesday of every month FREE

The Fool's Journey: The History and Symbolism of the Tarot Opening January 24, 2010 Curated by Robert M. Place

Curator's Lecture for The Fool's Journey: The History and Symbolism of the Tarot Sunday | January 24 3 pm FREE with the cost of museum admission Learn more about the fascinating history of the Tarot and its roots in the Italian Renaissance with curator and scholar Robert M. Place. Please RSVP to 323.937.4230 x50