CERA Reflection and Documentation

CERA Project

           I began this project with an idea of making my own inks out of ashes from the burn at CERA and making monotype prints with it. I had gathered two photos on my phone of my cousin, Lydia, burning a prairie in Des Moines, Iowa. Lydia works for Des Moines Parks and Recreation and frequently burns prairies for her job; I wanted to do a portrait of her with the materials she works with. Additionally, I had been looking at Diane Victor’s work, specifically Smoke Heads, and was inspired by the fragility of the drawings and the conceptual element the material added.

            I could not really do much until CERA started to burn the prairie, as I needed the ashes. On April 12^th Elizabeth Hill, the Manager at CERA, started to burn the prairie. I arrived just as they started the first fire in the morning and watched as the team burned their way towards the Environmental Education Center. Once the fire was far enough away from me I gathered some ashes and sticks to make ink with. I used a blender and added ashes, wheat paste, and water; I would blend the material and test it out with a paintbrush on paper until I achieved the desired consistency. I put the first batch in a container and added more ingredients in the blended and started again. For the second batch of ink, I added significantly more ashes than the first batch.

            I tried to monotype print the ink I made onto Rives BFK and it did not work. The ink looked nice on the Plexiglas; however, when I ran it through the press with the paper it looked like a giant gray blob. I am guessing there was not enough pigment in the ink and the water just spread across the paper, creating an abstract shape. This accident inspired me to dilute the ink with water and paint with it instead. I did a base painting with the ink, building up the dark tones through several sessions. After the painting dried I went back in with charred sticks, cornhusks, prairie grass, and ashes to build up the drawing. I worked the ashes around with a drawing chamois and tortillions, and used an eraser to remove some of the highlights.

            I was interested in drawing my cousin burning the prairie surrounded by trees because I was interested in forestation encroachment on the prairie, which Elizabeth reminded me during critique is one of the reasons for burning the prairie. I was frustrated by the size of the drawing and the crudeness of the materials; using ashes and charred sticks and grass was completely different than drawing with refined charcoal or pencil and proved to be very difficult. However, picking through the burned prairie for drawing sticks, sifting through ashes, and using my hand on the paper really allowed me to connect with the material—a sense of connection I might have lost with monoprinting.