In late January, we held a one day symposium at the Victoria and Albert Museum titled 'Beyond Blue'. The link below will take you to the CFPR website, where we have uploaded all of the information relating to the day, as well as some short documentaries and highlights.
Wednesday, 26 March 2014
Symposium
In late January, we held a one day symposium at the Victoria and Albert Museum titled 'Beyond Blue'. The link below will take you to the CFPR website, where we have uploaded all of the information relating to the day, as well as some short documentaries and highlights.
Friday, 21 March 2014
Case Studies
As part of our project, we have invited a small group of artists and designers to each collaborate with us in the production of an underglaze decorated ware. Having selected a ware from the Burleigh range, patterns and/or imagery have been produced and made into printing plates, to then be printed in colour and transferred onto the objects.
The 4 projects are at various stages of production but here's a brief update to each of them.
Steve Hoskins.
Steve has provided a digital file of his artwork which he would like to see separated into 3 colours and tranferred into the depressed rings of this banded jug. He's interested in how the image will be read once the missing areas of the plane are removed from the raised surface. This piece poses technical challenges for me (which I love!) as it involves producing 3 new inks and some pretty tricky registration problems. As the bands are so small and fiddly, I plan to print and transfer one strip at a time. I'll photograph the process and update the blog in the coming weeks.
HiggBunn.
Having worked together in 2009 on a Contemporary Craft Fellowship, Jessie Higginson and Katie Bunnel were keen to readdress some of the imagery created at that time and incorporate it with their mutual love of all things ceramic. We spent a day together in the CPFR workshop in December producing numerous test plates and realised that the variable line widths and the subsequent space between these lines allowed for a wide tonal range for each colour. After many tweaks and adjustments to the digital file, Jessie and Katie have decided to print their desing in two colours onto a large, rectangular platter. A third layer will then be added as an onglazed screenprint, allowing the addition of some hand drawn elements.
These photographs show some of the test pieces - in the foreground of the first, you see the test plate with the different line widths. The second illustrates some of the colour options that were considered.
The final platters have been glazed and fired at Burleigh and are due to be returned here in a couple of weeks time, ready to have the third layer added before one final firing in our kiln.
Paul Scott.
Paul is a massive blue and white fan so it came as no surprise when he jumped at the chance to produce an underglaze plate, in the trademark blue. For his piece, Paul has chosen to adapt an all over pattern, similar to the Burleigh Calico. (see strip below)
A few years ago, Paul was commissioned to create a public artwork in Hanoi. (read all about it on his blog - Cumbrian Blues ) The massive mural which he created was also based on traditional blue and white underglaze patterns and on completion, he was inspired by the local influence of the passing motorbikes. These fleeting vehicles, laden with passengers and piled high with all sorts of 'stuff' interfered with the pattern, and he chose to incorporate images from these photographs into a pattern for his new plate.
Paul has asked that his plate be printed in the traditional, 'Blue Calico' used at Burleigh so I am due to make some ink and print the pieces in this beautiful, strong colour soon. Once completed, I'll add some photos.
Chris Orr.
When Chris first arrived at the CFPR workshop, he brought along with him a selection of his printing plates - etchings and drypoints. Initially, I was unable to print from them as the ink needed to be heated (which eliminated the option of printing from the drypoint plastic plates) and the etched lines were too shallow to hold the stiff ink. However, after many trials and modifications to both the ink and the printing, we were able to successfully print and transfer onto test wares.
This photo shows one of Chris' plastic plates, alongside a print onto paper from it. The jug shows some success, yet the lines are far weaker than that in the paper print.
We then went on to print from the etching plates and discovered that, with a far looser ink, damp backing paper and a higher printing pressure, we were able to retain a lot of the subtle tones and fine marks that were in the surface of the copper.
From these tests, Chris decided to print from his etching plates for his editioned ware, which is in two colours (from 3 plates) onto a large, etruscan jug. Here's a photo showing two of the copper plates and one side of the jug.
The 4 projects are at various stages of production but here's a brief update to each of them.
Steve Hoskins.
Steve has provided a digital file of his artwork which he would like to see separated into 3 colours and tranferred into the depressed rings of this banded jug. He's interested in how the image will be read once the missing areas of the plane are removed from the raised surface. This piece poses technical challenges for me (which I love!) as it involves producing 3 new inks and some pretty tricky registration problems. As the bands are so small and fiddly, I plan to print and transfer one strip at a time. I'll photograph the process and update the blog in the coming weeks.
HiggBunn.
Having worked together in 2009 on a Contemporary Craft Fellowship, Jessie Higginson and Katie Bunnel were keen to readdress some of the imagery created at that time and incorporate it with their mutual love of all things ceramic. We spent a day together in the CPFR workshop in December producing numerous test plates and realised that the variable line widths and the subsequent space between these lines allowed for a wide tonal range for each colour. After many tweaks and adjustments to the digital file, Jessie and Katie have decided to print their desing in two colours onto a large, rectangular platter. A third layer will then be added as an onglazed screenprint, allowing the addition of some hand drawn elements.
These photographs show some of the test pieces - in the foreground of the first, you see the test plate with the different line widths. The second illustrates some of the colour options that were considered.
The final platters have been glazed and fired at Burleigh and are due to be returned here in a couple of weeks time, ready to have the third layer added before one final firing in our kiln.
Paul Scott.
Paul is a massive blue and white fan so it came as no surprise when he jumped at the chance to produce an underglaze plate, in the trademark blue. For his piece, Paul has chosen to adapt an all over pattern, similar to the Burleigh Calico. (see strip below)
A few years ago, Paul was commissioned to create a public artwork in Hanoi. (read all about it on his blog - Cumbrian Blues ) The massive mural which he created was also based on traditional blue and white underglaze patterns and on completion, he was inspired by the local influence of the passing motorbikes. These fleeting vehicles, laden with passengers and piled high with all sorts of 'stuff' interfered with the pattern, and he chose to incorporate images from these photographs into a pattern for his new plate.
Paul has asked that his plate be printed in the traditional, 'Blue Calico' used at Burleigh so I am due to make some ink and print the pieces in this beautiful, strong colour soon. Once completed, I'll add some photos.
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| Photo of Paul's mural in Hanoi, taken from his blog. (photo credit to Nguyen Thu Thuy and Bui Viet Doan) |
When Chris first arrived at the CFPR workshop, he brought along with him a selection of his printing plates - etchings and drypoints. Initially, I was unable to print from them as the ink needed to be heated (which eliminated the option of printing from the drypoint plastic plates) and the etched lines were too shallow to hold the stiff ink. However, after many trials and modifications to both the ink and the printing, we were able to successfully print and transfer onto test wares.
This photo shows one of Chris' plastic plates, alongside a print onto paper from it. The jug shows some success, yet the lines are far weaker than that in the paper print.
We then went on to print from the etching plates and discovered that, with a far looser ink, damp backing paper and a higher printing pressure, we were able to retain a lot of the subtle tones and fine marks that were in the surface of the copper.
From these tests, Chris decided to print from his etching plates for his editioned ware, which is in two colours (from 3 plates) onto a large, etruscan jug. Here's a photo showing two of the copper plates and one side of the jug.
Thursday, 20 March 2014
Plate types
Over the course of the project, a variety of plate types have been produced and tested. Below are some examples of these. The first is the original, which was printed cleaned up, digitised and the file used in the manufacture of all of the others.
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| Original copper engraved flat plate (with chrome facing) |
The second photo shows a number of flexo plates. These have been made in various ways - some processed in house, by hand and others outsourced to commercial plate makers. We experimented with different manufactures, polymer thicknesses, shore hardness and backings.
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| Flexo plates |
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| Laser engraved acrylic |
This last photo shows a comparison with our 3 plate types - the original copper engraving, a flat, laser engraved polymer and the laser engraved rubber roller
Rubber Roller Improvements
As mentioned in earlier posts, we have managed to replicate the original Burleigh designs onto rubber rollers by utilising laser engraving technologies. Although initial trials gave positive results in terms of line weight and depth, the fragility of the rubber became apparent once we ran the roller on the old printing presses at Burleigh. Part of the project stipulates that we make as little adaptations as possible to the original process and so we need to find a roller which can work on these presses, with the heated element and their current inks.
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| Laser engraved rubber roller (& close up) |
After discussions with the laser engraving firm, we managed to have a metal core fabricated, to both strengthen the rubber and help to more evenly distribute and retain the heat. Key ways were added the the ends to prevent the roller slipping as it rotates.
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| The split roller, after trials and the new, improved roller on the metal core. |
Doctor Blades
One of the major components in the printing set up at Burleigh is the 'doctor blade'. Currently, a very thin steel blade is attached to the heavy, metal housing. This the sits along the top edge of the press, with pressure being applied along the back edge of the copper roller. The thick ink is applied (cold) along the length of the heated roller which, as it rotates, pools the warmed ink into the cavity between roller and blade. As the doctor blade is locked into place, it then does a second job of wiping the surface of the inked roller clean, leaving the ink deposited only in the positive marks.
Although this set up (using a steel blade) is working, we fear that it is contributing to the increasing damage that is frequently appearing on the chromed surface of these engraved rollers. Also, the steel would cause havoc with our newly laser engraves rubber sleeves, so over the course of the project, we have been testing alternatives.
We began by trying a variety of shore hardnesses of urethane 'squeegee' blades, as used in screenprinting applications. The harder the shore, the cleaner the rubber would wipe. However, the thickness of these was problematic as it altered the angle that the blade met the roller, causing it to jump around during printing.
After sourcing thinner lengths or hard shore urethane (this time with various profiles), we returned to Burleigh to conduct more trials. The results were promising, however the press which we used is the less favoured one within the factory. We realised that the scraper bar housing on this press leaves less room for adjustments to the angle and pressure of the blade. Once again, this blade is too high up the roller
On our most recent trip, we were able to use the 'favourite' press, with our improved roller (with metal core) and triple shore urethane blades. By setting the angle and pressure as we had learned from previous trips, we were able to pull successful prints.
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| A steel blade set up to print a copper roller (chrome faced) Here, we are checking the angle of the blade so that we can mimic it on the second press. |
Although this set up (using a steel blade) is working, we fear that it is contributing to the increasing damage that is frequently appearing on the chromed surface of these engraved rollers. Also, the steel would cause havoc with our newly laser engraves rubber sleeves, so over the course of the project, we have been testing alternatives.
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| A selection of the blades which we have tried. On the top, is the steel which is currently used. Below are a selection of commercial alternatives (other metals with various angled edges and coatings), plastics, rubbers and urethanes. |
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| Squeegee blade on rubber roller. The blade is sitting too high. |
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| Resulting prints from initial trial with squeegee blade |
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| Triple shore urethane on rubber roller. (2nd press) |
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| Resulting print from urethane blade on favoured press. |
Wednesday, 12 March 2014
Printing Demo
1. Ink.
2. Thoroughly blending all of the dry ingredients into the linseed.
3. Spreading the ink onto the plate, into all of the etched and incised marks.
4. Using scrim to remove the ink from the plate's surface.
5. Laying the tissue onto the inked and wiped plate.
6. Running the plate and tissue through the press, under the felt blankets.
7. Lifting the printed tissue from the plate.
8. The print, alongside the plate.
9. Trimming the tissue to size.10. Rubbing the back of the print to position the ink onto the biscuit ware.
11. Applying pressure to the back of the print by brush, ensure a good contact.
12.Washing the tissue from the newly transferred ware. The ware is now ready to be fire, hardening the coloured stain to the biscuit.
Thursday, 31 October 2013
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Thursday, 10 October 2013
Colour test photos
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| 1, 2, 3 & 4 colours, pre-hardening on |
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| Hardening on in the kiln |
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| Glazed and fired tests |
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| Single colours L= post hardening R=glazed & fired |
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| 2, 3 & 4 colours. (yellow is lost) 3 different drying methods. |
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Multi colour tests
This past fortnight I’ve been working with some new inks which I’ve made from stiff linseed and coloured stains. Ultimately, we’d really like to be able to transfer multiple colours onto a ware and I’m experimenting to find the most reliable process for this. Of course, there will be many complications to consider - colour change through firing, different firing temperatures for each colour, image registration, tissue shrinkage, ink set off, drying time between colours etc. Not to mention the usual variables of ink mixing, plate making, printing and transferring! Yet I do like a challenge.
I began with 4 new inks - green, yellow, blue and black. Each were made by carefully weighing out and mixing the same ratio of each ingredient.
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Using the 2 original copper plates (to limit any variables) I printed and transferred each individual colour onto a tile. I then continued to build up additional colour runs onto the tiles and used 3 different drying methods between transfers.
Once each tile had been hardened on in the kiln, I applied a glaze and put them back into the kiln for their final firing. I’m patiently waiting for the kiln to cool down enough so that I can open the door.....
I began with 4 new inks - green, yellow, blue and black. Each were made by carefully weighing out and mixing the same ratio of each ingredient.
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Using the 2 original copper plates (to limit any variables) I printed and transferred each individual colour onto a tile. I then continued to build up additional colour runs onto the tiles and used 3 different drying methods between transfers.
Once each tile had been hardened on in the kiln, I applied a glaze and put them back into the kiln for their final firing. I’m patiently waiting for the kiln to cool down enough so that I can open the door.....
Bristol Museum Visit
Earlier this week, my colleague Paul and I visited Bristol Museum where we were given access to the collection of Bristol underglaze transfer wares.
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| 3 plates with the same pattern. There is huge variance in ink weight, colour and glaze. |
Although it was interesting to look at the pieces themselves, I found the box of tissue samples to be far more intriguing. There were folders full of printed tissues depicting a huge range of subject matter, many engraved with a different style. I was pleasantly surprised to see that some of the samples had a lot of scummy, inky marks on them.
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| Hotel back stamps on tissue |
Press Refurbishment
Steve, Dave and I recently spent a day in Stoke, looking at and testing out one of Burleigh’s old printing presses. As part of the project, Burleigh are having their presses restored by a local engineering firm V J Goodall. The aim is to have all three presses back into the transfer room and in good working order, making them both easier to operate and more reliable.
After a meeting at Burleigh we spent the afternoon at Goodalls, running some tests on a restored press and printing from a new laser engraved roller which we’ve had made. The tests went surprisingly well, with ink printing and transferring without too much difficulty.
Burleigh currently use a steel doctor blade but we tried replacing this with a softer urethane, which should increase the life of the chrome faced copper plates or the lasered rubber.
This switch was beneficial yet we’ve seen room for further improvement, particularly with the doctor blade. I now have the original housing from the press and I’m sourcing a supplier for thinner urethane blades which will fit within it. The correct shore hardness and angle of the blade edge are fundamental in giving the right ink distribution and surface wipe so I anticipate a good number of tests and trials until we find the correct combination. The next scheduled visit is for the 17th of October by which point I’ll have new doctor blades and also another laser engraved rubber roller.
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| Press after refurbishment @ V J Goodalls |
After a meeting at Burleigh we spent the afternoon at Goodalls, running some tests on a restored press and printing from a new laser engraved roller which we’ve had made. The tests went surprisingly well, with ink printing and transferring without too much difficulty.
Burleigh currently use a steel doctor blade but we tried replacing this with a softer urethane, which should increase the life of the chrome faced copper plates or the lasered rubber.
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| Replacement doctor blade - urethane triple shore |
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| Test tiles printed from refurbished press, rubber sleeve & urethane blade. (fired and glazed) |
Impact 8
In late August, my colleagues and I traveled to Dundee to attend the Impact 8 International Printmaking Conference. Billed as ‘A celebration of interdisciplinarity and exploration through the medium of print', the progamme of events offered an insight into fellow printmakers current practice through panel discussions, presentations and demonstrations. The evenings were taken up with exhibition openings - an ideal opportunity to network, hanging out with old friends and making some new ones along the way.I thoroughly enjoyed the final day, which started off with the Open Folio sessions. I had a table top with lots of examples of prints, plates and wares and was thrilled by the interest and enthusiasm shown by fellow delegates. I had hoped to slip away to some of the demonstrations which were running at the same time but there was a constant stream of visitors to the table, keen to learn about the project so a few hours quickly slipped by. It was reassuring that the research was so well received by my peers, particularly for me as a printmaker - lots technical ink and paper related questions so I felt quite in my element.
Saturday was rounded off with a traditional Scottish Ceilidh- a perfect opportunity to get back to my Scottish roots after 6 months in south west England. The music was fantastic and lots of folk joined in with the dancing and seemed to really enjoy themselves, although the dance floor could’ve done with being about 4 x larger - it was a bit of a rammy. Good fun though.
Saturday was rounded off with a traditional Scottish Ceilidh- a perfect opportunity to get back to my Scottish roots after 6 months in south west England. The music was fantastic and lots of folk joined in with the dancing and seemed to really enjoy themselves, although the dance floor could’ve done with being about 4 x larger - it was a bit of a rammy. Good fun though.
Laser Engraved Sleeves
Having achieved a certain level of success with the flat, laser engraved polymer plates I decided to pursue an ‘in the round’ alternative for use on Burleigh’s presses (as they don’t have the ability to print flat plates). Unfortunately, the polymer isn’t available on rollers or sleeves so it’s taken a long time to get close to the same results again. Here are a some of test sleeves in two different rubber materials.
Frustratingly, as I can only print flat plates here I have to wait until our next Burleigh visit to try them out.
Frustratingly, as I can only print flat plates here I have to wait until our next Burleigh visit to try them out.
Thursday, 11 July 2013
Plate and Ink tests
Over the past few weeks I've been spending some time in the workshop playing with printing plates and inks. There are so many variations and options for each that I'm trying to disregard the less successful results and fine tune the positives.
In terms of printing plates, I've now got the following:
Hand engraved copper
Photopolymer flexo
Letterpress
3D printed polymer
Laser engraved (both polymers and rubbers)
With each of these, there are multiple brands and manufacturers as well as production methods (exposure time, depth etc) and so this makes for many variables in terms of plate alone.
Below is a photo showing the results of the 3D printed plate that featured in the video I posted last month. Having 3D printed a matrix, I then inked it up and printed onto tissue. I was then able to transfer the ink from the tissue onto a scrap of ceramic. The three tests show slight variances in inks. I'd like to print onto a 3D printed ceramic and prove that we can print the object, the matrix and the decoration. Tricky...
Ink wise, I've been experimenting with different base materials - the traditional Linseed base (in various poise / thicknesses) Pine Tar (as is currently used at Burleigh) and also Resins which are more readily available. We have decided to invest in a mixer which is currently being modified for our needs. Once it arrives, I can concentrate on perfecting a black ink which must have both the correct tack and viscosity as well as being happy in the kiln and under a glaze. Ideally, it'd be great if there was time towards the end of the project to look at producing a range of colours.
In terms of printing plates, I've now got the following:
Hand engraved copper
Photopolymer flexo
Letterpress
3D printed polymer
Laser engraved (both polymers and rubbers)
With each of these, there are multiple brands and manufacturers as well as production methods (exposure time, depth etc) and so this makes for many variables in terms of plate alone.
Below is a photo showing the results of the 3D printed plate that featured in the video I posted last month. Having 3D printed a matrix, I then inked it up and printed onto tissue. I was then able to transfer the ink from the tissue onto a scrap of ceramic. The three tests show slight variances in inks. I'd like to print onto a 3D printed ceramic and prove that we can print the object, the matrix and the decoration. Tricky...
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| 3D Printed matrix, print and transfer |
Ink wise, I've been experimenting with different base materials - the traditional Linseed base (in various poise / thicknesses) Pine Tar (as is currently used at Burleigh) and also Resins which are more readily available. We have decided to invest in a mixer which is currently being modified for our needs. Once it arrives, I can concentrate on perfecting a black ink which must have both the correct tack and viscosity as well as being happy in the kiln and under a glaze. Ideally, it'd be great if there was time towards the end of the project to look at producing a range of colours.
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| Ink tests |
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| Close up - the ink on the right has relaxed in the kiln, causing 'filling' in the tightly cross hatched areas. |
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| 3 different ink types, printed from hand engraved copper. (glazed and fired) |
Wednesday, 5 June 2013
1st attempt at 3d printing plates
oooOooo..... exciting stuff. My colleague Pete Walters has very kindly set up the Objet printer to build a little test plate for me. I can't wait to take a look tomorrow morning.
Monday, 3 June 2013
4 months in...
I'm now 4 months into the project so I thought it was about time to do a little blog update. Research is going well so far. I've been juggling many aspects of the underglaze printing process and hope to tie off some loose ends soon.
Plate wise - I've been testing various brands and manufacturers of polymer and rubber flexo plates. If you ever need to know shore hardness comparisons, I'm pretty well versed now! I've also received samples of laser engraved rubbers and I'll continue to look at the feasibility of utilising laser technologies, ideally with polymer materials. I'm still troubleshooting initial problems with uv exposed polymer plates holding too little ink by modifying these recipes. It may be that I need to have 2 different plates - flat, uv exposed for internal use at CFPR and laser engraved cylindrical ones for use at Burleigh.
Ink - having scoured every piece of documentation that I can find on the process (which unfortunately is not much at all) I've been producing small batches of ink with more traditional materials. Laterally, the potteries were using pine based inks yet I'm favouring good old linseed, a material that I'm far more familiar and comfortable with as a stone lithographer. By combining this with flux and stains I've had some encouraging results to date. I'm looking forward to testing out more ink recipes on small ceramic wares in the our new gradient kiln.
Blades - at Burleigh, the inked plates are currently wiped by a steel 'doctor' blade. Unlike in traditional printmaking where we wipe by hand, this step is mechanised, with the blade scraping the ink from the engraved roller prior to it coming into contact with the tissue. At the moment, I'm thinking that the steel blades should be replaced with plastic or urethane as this should slow down the wear on the plates.
Files - as many of the existing engravings are worn down and damaged, I've devised a way of digitising the imagery and cleaning the files up prior to transferring onto printing plates. Although it's fairly time consuming, it allows for the patterns to be digitally archived and will make the production of subsequent plates quick and easy.
So - progress is good, even if it can feel slow at times. I'm learning so much about many areas of both print and ceramics and although much of the information which I gather will be irrelevant to this project, I'm sure that it'll come in handy for future projects. (eg: chewing gum has a shore rating of 00 20 - fact)
Plate wise - I've been testing various brands and manufacturers of polymer and rubber flexo plates. If you ever need to know shore hardness comparisons, I'm pretty well versed now! I've also received samples of laser engraved rubbers and I'll continue to look at the feasibility of utilising laser technologies, ideally with polymer materials. I'm still troubleshooting initial problems with uv exposed polymer plates holding too little ink by modifying these recipes. It may be that I need to have 2 different plates - flat, uv exposed for internal use at CFPR and laser engraved cylindrical ones for use at Burleigh.
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| Relief print, separation and exposed flexoplate. |
Ink - having scoured every piece of documentation that I can find on the process (which unfortunately is not much at all) I've been producing small batches of ink with more traditional materials. Laterally, the potteries were using pine based inks yet I'm favouring good old linseed, a material that I'm far more familiar and comfortable with as a stone lithographer. By combining this with flux and stains I've had some encouraging results to date. I'm looking forward to testing out more ink recipes on small ceramic wares in the our new gradient kiln.
Blades - at Burleigh, the inked plates are currently wiped by a steel 'doctor' blade. Unlike in traditional printmaking where we wipe by hand, this step is mechanised, with the blade scraping the ink from the engraved roller prior to it coming into contact with the tissue. At the moment, I'm thinking that the steel blades should be replaced with plastic or urethane as this should slow down the wear on the plates.
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| Steel doctor plate sitting against a clean, engraved roller |
Files - as many of the existing engravings are worn down and damaged, I've devised a way of digitising the imagery and cleaning the files up prior to transferring onto printing plates. Although it's fairly time consuming, it allows for the patterns to be digitally archived and will make the production of subsequent plates quick and easy.
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| Sample of a digital file alongside the original, scanned plate |
Tuesday, 30 April 2013
Ink tests
Back to black.
I'll be travelling up to spend another day at Burleigh later on in the week so I thought I'd have a play with some inks. The black ink that they currently use is really stiff which causes problems when it comes to transferring. I have a sample of their ink here so I'm going to loosen some off. I'm also going to take along some ink that I've made and see how it compares. I'll print some tests using each of them this afternoon to give me a rough idea.
Thursday, 21 March 2013
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