Artist Dan Welden showing Garden City High School students a print created with the solar plate method. Artist and master printmaker Dan Welden captivated Garden City High School photography and art students last month at a special presentation that included a demonstration of a unique, non-toxic etching technique. Known as the solar plate method, the technique was developed by Mr. Weldon and is the subject of his book, "Printmaking in the Sun."

Unlike traditional printmaking methods, the solar plate method involves no sharp tools or dangerous chemicals. Mr. Weldon demonstrated the technique in the High School art room by painting a pattern on the surface of a "solar" plate with a polymer and then placing the plate in a lit ultraviolet (UV) box. After the light hardened the polymer, he removed the plate from the box, coated it with baby powder and oil, and scrubbed it with water to reveal positive and negative areas. In other words, some areas were raised and some were not, thus creating an etched plate.

Multiple prints can be made from such plates, each one a brand new piece of art; different colors can be added and other changes made. Mr. Welden described the method as highly "improvisational" and noted that sunlight can be substituted for the UV box.

The presentation included a display of selected works by Mr. Welden, as well as prints created with the solar plate method by other artists. The prints ranged from realistic to abstract and from detailed to impressionistic and included dreamy landscapes by Mr. Weldon, as well as works by Aboriginal artists who Mr. Welden collaborated with in Australia.

"Develop your own identity," Mr. Welden told the students, "that's what it's all about. Mr. Weldon trained at Adelphi University and in Munich and has traveled extensively throughout Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. More than 50 solo shows of his work have been exhibited, and his prints are sold internationally.

Mr. Welden's visit was an Arts-in-Education presentation, a program coordinated by the Arts-in-Education Committee of the Garden City School District Parent Teacher Association funded by the Garden City Union Free School District.