Sometimes artists welcome the chance to step outside of our normal practice and try a new approach or medium. For the exhibit, The Sounds of the Siren, recognizing the 200th anniversary of the local volunteer fire department, fellow artist Wayne Boucher and myself collaborated on two large trace monoprints. Using a length of old fire hose as the plate, we inked, printed, then over printed six 9 ft long vinyl curtain blinds over the course of 3 days. For a press, we used the weight of our bodies and fancy footwork.
Firefighters and their family filled the opening of the exhibit held at a local gallery in November 2011. Ironically, halfway through the opening speeches, the fire hall siren wailed clearing the room of the very people we were honouring.
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