I’m taking a break from my 365 monotype challenge to wrap up work on etchings for an art opening next week.  As soon as I file the edges of this plate, it’ll be ready to edition…it may even be dry before I mat and frame it!

The marks on the flowers were made using a technique that’s new to me:  sugar lift.  This is an aquatint method that results in painterly, expressive areas of tone.

The areas that were painted with sugar lift etched into the plate in an irregular way, and were not at all what I’d expected.  I decided to keep the marks as they were, taking it as one of those happy accidents often encountered in printmaking.  It’s tempting to continue to fuss with this plate and push it towards the more faithful representation of flowers I’d imagined when beginning.  In the end, the image seems stronger as an evocation of the subject–less literal and more mysterious.

This etching is based on a drawing I made of my very first orchid, purchased from a grocery store and killed very quickly. I’m going to guess that it was an intergeneric hybrid and name the print “Cambria.” If you have a suggestion for the plant ID, please feel free to add it to the comment section!