Time is running out, and I need to pack for the trip to Colorado. I will meet up with family and enjoy the mountain air, but for now: I must print! I have the first draft of a new linocut, plus I want to see modifications to two other linocuts. So here are some proofs:
Sweet, sweet news!
I signed up to do a solo exhibit at my favorite local coffee shop, needing to challenge myself. I have not entered recent juried shows, after a rejection or two. I have had some enthusiastic feedback from accepted work in the past, but I have never sold anything exhibed in a juried show: I have only sold a few pieces from a previous solo show, and to friends who see my work at home.
Preparing for and hanging a show, even a small one, is a lot of work. And hosting and catering an artist’s reception is work too, so I started to wonder why I had signed up… so imagine my surprise now: I have sold four pieces in this show! So nice!
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- Rock Cave Triptych II
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- Winter Owl
And after the show, one more! So very gratifying!
Dinner anyone?
From the Corvidae Print Shop
I certainly appreciate the Corvidae Press shop when trying to do a bit of “production” printmaking! I have been in twice this week to work, and it was great. I love the space! BUT I must remember watch out for hot sun on the inking station: that sets the ink up in hurry…
I need that space to mark & tear large sheets of paper, and to properly soak & blot paper as I print. And it takes two inking stations to ink this multipart plate. And the large press is SO NICE! Still, getting an edition of 15 with this plate is slow going as I experiment with ink colors. Since the theme is experimentation, I am not striving to produce identical prints… so that makes it more fun.
The above gallery of images includes an early proof, and a print using “two” plates (well actually part of the same plate, re-inked in black, and hand rubbed). I have some 20 8″x10″ prints now, so this will likely be my contribution the Corvidae 2013 print exchange, unless I spend all next week on another plate and change my mind …
Drawing on artboard
No Solid Ground
Mixed media drawing in my “transformations/mummies/burials” series. This is on grey Canson Mi-teintes art board which is a bit hard to scan. My scanner s/w auto setting makes it way too brigt & light, and much warmer in tone than it appears to the eye. The board is textured, with some variation in tone, and is perhaps a bit reflective, although it seems to be a matte surface. It is designed with tooth for pastels, etc. Not at all sure that I like it…
Time to Print: making a collograph plate from …
Improvisation, Intimacy, and …
I am a slow learner about people, and about myself. So I have only just realized some aspects of my art that can frustrate me: my art is very varied, and unlike that of many artists, it may not be easily recognizable (as mine).
There are several contributing factors (one being that I work in a variety of different media!), but a key factor is surely that my art is so internal, and so personal.
My artwork is improvisational. I rarely plan, and may work without an object or scene in mind. When I do start with, or incorporate drawings of external objects, these things generally morph into something very different and become part of a separate, internal, reality that I try to show you.
My work reflects my psyche as much as it does the outside world. My art integrates me with my surroundings and with the news of the world.
It reflects all the aspects of my personality and also influenced by my current mood when I work.
So it is perhaps hardly surprising that my work has both a light side and a dark side, and also places in between! The tone of my work will vary dramatically based on what is uppermost in my mind as I start a new piece. And it may change along the way…
Sometimes I am lost in the patterns and beauties of the natural world, the joy of chocolate, or the delight of a sunny walk on the beach. At this point work my may have a bright, clear, cheerful tone. At other times, I am under the influence of darker spells; fear of death and the impact of “Nature, red in tooth and claw” may dominate my work. At such times, the subject matter, colors and tone will certainly be heavier, darker, and altogether different!
