This week I’m preparing for my Lazertran class at Art & Soul in Portland next month. I’m making class kits, contacting students and printing off photos—I’m excited/nervous that a lot more people have signed up for the workshop, and it’s pretty full.
More students means more class kits…so Anna and I made another trip to the photo copy place yesterday to get our handouts copied. Well, I made copies and she sat in her stroller and babbled to the man at the machine next to us. (He talked back to her, bless him.)
Lazertran is a waterslide decal paper and a fantastic medium, but you’ve got to get it right when you’re printing things into it. The instructions tell you to print on the “smooth, eggshell-colored side” of the paper. Well, it can be a little hard to tell which side of the smooth white paper is smoother or more eggshell-colored.
And you know, the more you question it, the more confusing it gets. I’ve often been like, “Okay, this is the eggshell-colored side, definitely. Wait, no…maybe this side is more eggshell-y. Wait, no…” Second-guessing is terrible.
If you print on the wrong side (which I have done) it just doesn’t work, and I’ve been a little paranoid about printing a bunch of pictures, toting them 3,000 miles away and having a room full of students say, “Mine doesn’t work!” Nightmare, absolutely my worst nightmare.
So last night I tested one of the prints and—whew—it’s fine.
And the cool thing? This week I’ve really been experimenting more with Lazertran—stamping it, soaking it, painting it, and trying to adhere it to lots of different surfaces. I’m really having fun with this material and can’t wait to show people what they can do.
Now, back to kit collating! Well, maybe after I just do this one more experiment…
