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Artists Demo Work For Denver Arts Week

By Libby Smith

DENVER (CBS4) - Many of the city's arts districts are planning special events for First Friday during Denver Arts Week. Some artists will be doing demonstrations of their work. Among those doing demonstrations will be Michael Rieger of Lapis Gallery in the Tennyson Cultural District.

LINK: Lapis Gallery

"It adds to the story of how this work was created, how it is interpreted," Rieger explained.

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Michael Rieger making photo etching prints (credit: CBS)

Rieger will be making photo etchings of a picture of Union Station.

"I have always loved the building. I just thought it was a good icon for Denver Arts Week," Rieger told CBS4.

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Acetate print (credit: CBS)

Rieger printed off the image onto an acetate, or a piece of clear film. He then layers that with a polymer or solar plate.

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Polymer Plate (credit: CBS)

"Put it out in the sun for about 45 seconds, that does the exposure," Rieger explained.

Once the image is on the polymer plate, Rieger covered the entire plate with printers' ink. The real art happens when he starts removing the excess ink from the plate. He's able to manipulate the image by how much ink he wipes away.

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Inking the plate (credit: CBS)

"It gives me a chance, in the process of wiping the plate, to kind of add some of the thoughts and feelings I had when I was taking the photograph," Rieger said.

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Wiping away some of the ink (credit: CBS)

After several passes of wiping the plate, Rieger was pleased with how the image looked. He layered into a printing press with some thick print paper.

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Printing press (credit: CBS)

When he ran the plate and paper through the press, he got a print with a little more character then you might get from a straight photograph.

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Final print (credit: CBS)

Rieger will be doing photo etching demonstrations during First Friday from 6- 10pm on Friday, Nov. 4 at Lapis Gallery, 3971 Tennyson Street in Denver.

LINK: Denver Arts Week

Libby Smith is a Special Projects Producer at CBS4. If you have a story you'd like to tell CBS4 about, call 303-863-TIPS (8477) or visit the News Tips section.

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