November Art Show

I’m excited to have another exhibition at one of my favorite wineries! The Helix tasting room is part of the Reininger family of wines and is located in downtown Spokane across the street from the historic Davenport Hotel at 824 Sprague Avenue.

November 7th Artist Reception and Talk

Helix will be hosting an artist reception on November 7th from 4-6pm and then I will be giving an artist talk from 6-7pm. My talk will be a discussion about the ways in which creativity can be expressed through the medium of photography.

New work!

I will be exhibiting brand new work that represents my first attempts at platinum-palladium printing in the darkroom.

The printing process

The platinum and palladium printing processes date back to the 1870’s. It is the most archival printing process of all because these too noble metals are incredibly durable and not subject to discoloration due to atmospheric pollution or oxidation like most other print processes. They are also the most expensive prints to make due to the extreme high cost of the raw materials of platinum and palladium. In fact palladium prices recently rose to over $1800 an ounce!

Initially Platinum and Palladium were used in two separate processes with slightly different characteristics. By combining platinum and palladium together I am able to achieve the best of both worlds. Platinum prints are known for their delicate highlight values and Palladium prints are known for their smooth rich mid-tones and fine grain.

This is the most difficult printing process I have ever done. In fact the master printer and artist Tilman Crane describes the platinum print as a mono print process because no two prints are ever identical. The reasons for this are due to the fact that the materials are affected by temperature, humidity, the ratio of chemical solutions, and the hand coating technique of the maker.

For each image I have to carefully measure out by the drop each of the three chemicals of Palladium, Ferric Oxalate, and Sodium Platinate (Platinum) to a specific ratio that is matched to the negative I am contact printing from.

Platinum and Palladium are affected by UV light at a very slow rate so the Ferric Oxalate enhances sensitivity and reacts with the Platinum and Palladium to reduce them down to their elemental form which creates the image in final print. I can actually make these prints in the darkroom under normal incandescent lighting. After I have mixed the three chemicals together in a small shot glass I poor the mixture on to pure cotton rag paper that has been hot pressed and use a Hake brush to spread the emulsion out to the dimensions of my negatives. For this first series of prints I have made 8×10 prints.

After the emulsion has been brushed on to the paper I have to let it dry. The drying time is variable depending upon the temperature and humidity. The paper needs to be dry but still contain enough humidity to not dry out completely which will render the emulsion inactive. If the paper is too moist when I put the negative in contact with it a fogging will occur which blurs the image. This process is very much like the fairytale of Goldilocks and the three bears. Everything has to be just right!

To expose the print I made a UV light box using black light bulbs and ballasts. The exposure time for a single print is 20 minutes. When I add up the total time of mixing chemicals, coating and drying the paper, exposure and processing in the darkroom it comes out to be over an hour for each print!

For every good print there tends to be one that is imperfect therefore in the final accounting each print represents at least two hours of labor to produce.

After I have made the prints and let them dry (initially by hanging and then in a print rack) I then mat each print in conservation matting. I sign each print with information about the date of printing, print number, and my signature of approval for quality. This remains hidden under the over mat. I sign the over mat without any additional information because I want people to enjoy the image without having to read text.

Every print is then logged into my art registry database and then added to my website for online purchasing.

I have never worked so hard to make a photograph but the results are extremely satisfying. I hope you enjoy them!

Works on exhibition include:

Payment Plans are available for all original artwork purchases. Please contact us for more information.