In March of this year, Assistant Professor of Art at Florida Gulf Coast University, Andy Owen, ran a 4 day program titled The Steamroller Project. The program utilizes printing plates that are made by students and artists that are printed by inking the plates, placing acid-free paper over the plates, and then pressing the inked plates into the paper by having a driveway paver rolling over the top of them. I thought this sounded like an interesting challenge, so I decided to join in the fun. I was given a 2′ x 3′ masonite board to use as my base plate. I then took the heads of the three Seminole ladies that appeared in my “Hava Tampa” piece, and re-created them, using cardboard, plastic and modeling paste. My grandmother had left behind in her antique hutch, which I had inherited, a bag of old buttons of every size and color. Most of the buttons were cut from old shells, and some had fabric coatings.
Plate of the Three Fates before ink is applied
I used these buttons to recreate the coin medallions on the ladies clothing, enhanced by rows of glued sequins. I dipped linen gauze into white gesso, and draped it in place to add a fabric touch to the sleeves of the clothing. I used modeling paste to style the facial features, hands and hair. I added some dried bamboo fronds to break up the composition. The finished plate is now ready for inking.
