the beauty of an ugly and functional garage workspace

showing proof of chemistry

Hello hello! It’s Jocelyn Mathewes from my home studio in Appalachia. 

And recently, I’ve discovered that my darkroom sink is leaking.

You heard that right! The magical Facebook Marketplace find from last spring has sprung a leak right at the faucet and drainage fixtures, requiring a replacement. The parts alone are going to cost me about $150.*

But that’s not stopping me at the moment—in the between time I’ve kludged a solution using plenty of old rags and buckets under the sink. (Side note: Gratuitous Kludge should be a band name.)

But the show must go on! With kludge in place, I’m still printing. I’ve returned to documenting what each cyanotype looks like pre-rinsing and even during rinsing (as I did with a previous series, Chemical Flight).

Cyanotypes in mid-development phases.

I find the chemistry so captivating.

*If you’d like to sponsor my equipment in exchange for a piece of art, hit me up!

behind the scenes

As I mentioned before, it’s printing season in the yard again! This time, I’m diving in to toning my cyanotype prints with a variety of new-to-me botanical dyes. It’s required quite a bit of troubleshooting, since toning depends on water mineral content, acidity, and temperature. I’m on my second pH tester (which comes in a fancy case!), and am taking a ton of notes!

Here’s a quick video chat about what I’ve set up in the darkroom, what I’ve toned with so far and what I’m planning next—