Dune Grasses

I make ceramic prints on clay. Even though I use screens to make my work, there is such variation in the process going to a finished piece that each work is a monoprint.  Typically I make one finished piece from my screens and then recycle them to move on to print my next image.  At the request of a client, I just remade “Dune Grasses” in a smaller size.  I retain my digital files of each photo image and am able to redo in the same or altered size and color.

This image is a 360 degree panorama of the dunes along Horseneck Beach between Baker’s and Westport Town Beach. Below are some of the 25 steps I do to make finished piece.

Dune Grasses

paper positives

8% shrinkage

Raw clay state

kiln firing

adhesive

back frame uncut

back frame

Dunes Horseneck Beach

Between the ocean and the parking lot there is a small fragile world to get lost in here at the State Beach in Westport, Massachusetts.

Dunes Horseneck Beach

Single shot Horseneck dunes

Dawn Redwood

Making a tree trunk portrait such as “Dawn Redwood” can be a bit of a challenge. In the process I take a series of photos walking around the tree. Step, shoot, step, shoot, step, shoot…. keeping the same camera elevation and distance from the tree. Each single shot must be cropped to a narrow rectangle to avoid too much distortion and then merged by hand to create a strip that is then wrapped into a circle making the ends meet.

The initial tree series was made for a biotech company that wanted trees from around the world. I saved on air travel by shooting the tree collection at the Harvard Arnold Arboretum in Jamaica Plain, Boston.

Dawn Redwood

Single shot

Photo edit and merge