Not because I forgot. Because I know what it looks like and I don't want to see it yet.

A bite that runs too long goes under the wax and comes out with that soft grey rot around the lines, and you can't undo it, you can only pretend it was intentional or start again. So the plate sits in the tray, and I keep working on the screenprint edition instead, which is going fine, which is the problem. I keep choosing the thing that is going fine.

I do this every time the work turns. I get to the part where the idea has to become a specific decision and I suddenly have a very urgent need to re-stretch a screen or clean the ink off the glass. My studio is spotless right now. That is never a good sign.

The annoying part is I know the answer. It's a 40 second job, gloves, tongs, rinse, look. And I know the plate is probably fine, probably better than fine, because the last three I was scared of turned out to be the ones that held. Fear and judgement are not the same instrument and I keep using one for the other.

Anyway. Tray is still there. Writing this instead of looking, which is a third thing I am doing instead of looking.