Foods in Canary Island

I have been eating really yummy cheese, fruites, and olives. I will show you what I have been eating while I am staying in Canary Island.

This is my table and lunch.

Plums from a tree. It was small and really sweet.

I went a farmer's market and local supermarket. I love having cold gabacho and Spanish cheese!

Papaya, plums, and cactus fruits. I don't know the name. Prickly pears? Or opuntias?

I did not know they have stings. I grabbed it by accident. Guess what happened after that...

This is my breakfast.

We had Korean food feast on Saturday evening. 

It was a lot of foods! Amazing night. It is kind of funny that I had to come all the way from Reno to Canary Island to eat Korean food, haha!

Typical Canary food. Boiled potatoes with spicy sauce, baked potatoes and pork, cheese, and corn deep with onion. 

Yum~ some sweets, of course.

And calamari. It was exceptional!

Las plantas

One of amazing things about Canary Island is exotic plants. I have never seen anything like it before. So, I was not sure what to think of it at first. I started with the garden at my place.

I don't know all the names of the plants, but they are amazing!

This is goji berries. It was fresh and very yummy.

This is a tree originally from Canary Island called drago.

Its sap is red. So people here call it " San gre de drago", meaning drago' blood.

So, I made a drawing out of it.

I am going to Jardin Botanico de Las Palmas Grand Canaria soon. I will post more plants!

Beautiful trees!

Electro non toxic intaglio

You might have wondered why I am in Canary Island. I came here to learn electro etching 

and make some art out of it. My teacher Alfonso taught me this amazing new technique.

This is an electro tank. It is a mixture of water and copper sulfate.

The principle of this process is that two copper metals are faced to each other.

Then, put some electricity into the solution. It sounds very complicated but very simple once you see it.

I am getting ready for some plates. You simply file the edges of the plates, sand them down, and degrees them with vinegar and whiting.

I use Lascaux resist for the process. First etch. Iron neutralizes copper sulfate.

Stop out some area.

After second etch, clean the resist.

Then, stop out for electro-tint, which is very similar effect to aquatint.

Right before putting the plate to the sulfate solution, make sure to put the plate into vinegar/salt solution to degrease the plate.

My first electro etching ever!

This is graphite ink technique. You use graphite ink from Graphic Chemicals with lithotine and cobalt dryer and apply it into the plate with a brayer.

I did an etching first.

Then, apply the graphite ink.

This is semi dry technique. Place your plate on newspaper and plastic wrap.

Place the plate and some fabric, strings, or paper. Put some sulfate on the plate.

Then, put two pieces of sulfate soaked felts and weight them.

These are some of my work that I did!

Electro non-toxic Intaglio workshop/residency

So, why am I in Canary Island? It is because I am at an artist residency and workshop. The residency is located in a rural part of Canary Island. If you are into touristic spots, this might disappoint you. But if you are looking for a new and different experience, you will have so much fun and get inspired here.

It is right outside of my room.

It is a beautiful room with a view. Every night I go to bed listening to the ocean.

There is a beautiful printmaking studio next to it.

I started to learn a new intaglio technique. Instead of using ferric chloride, I use water melted with copper sulfate and then use electricity to bite copper plates. I will have a different section only on this technique.

You can find more info at http://www.resartis.org/en/news/upcoming_deadlines/?id_content=1117

for more information about the residency and workshop.

Alfonso Crujera is in charge of the residency and workshop.

Here is the picture of him helping me.

You are not a printmaker? No worries. Some artists such as musicians or writers come here to compose or write. It is a very inspiring place as an artist.

I am sitting on a hammock at the residency and looking at the ocean.

Another thing you will enjoy is all these exotic plants around you. I am painting some of them and I will also have a section only on plants on Canary Island.

Right outside of my window.