What you’re looking at is a photopolymer plate, ready to be printed.  It is made from some pointed pen calligraphy that has been scanned, turned into a film negative, and then sandwiched along with this plate material in a vacuum-sealed exposure unit.  You wash it out in warm water afterwards, all the unexposed areas wash away, you post-expose with ultraviolet light, and then voila!  You have a plate ready to go.  The plates are a means to an end, but isn’t this so pretty on its own?

I get to go work at the studio today.  I’m happily (albeit somewhat guiltily) taking the time for a couple of personal projects, as opposed to chipping away at looming coursework I need to get serious about in a hurry.  Wishing you a weekend filled with rest, playtime, and piles of prettiness!