I am rounding the corner, I am putting the final touches on the big Artwalk Project.
I completed 4 woodcuts for this event...
I still need to figure out the window display...hopefully that will come to me
in a dream or the bath...a clear vision of what I am suppose to do.
Until then I will package, label, list and market what I've made.
The studio smells of ink and baby oil
it smells like work!
OK, So I am soooo very behind on posting I thought I would start by posting the posting I have been wanting to post for a long time...so we are going to time travel a little.
Back before my world got a little crazy, before now...way back in October I went to the LA Printers Fair. This is a fair for all things printmaking, I am in a personal geek heaven and amongst my people.
Thankfully, I am not the only one taking photos of machines, presses and printmaking type.
In fact I am only one in a crowd doing the exact same thing. I would go as far as to say it is expected to take pictures!
Linotype printer at work, the sounds of the machine makes me cry from sheer beauty.
Linotype makes lead slugs of lines of print, the operator types it out and the machine casts the type as he types!
Many of these machines were melted down post WWII
See one at work HERE
The Printmaking Museum opens its doors annually for this fair and shows off its amazing collection of old and still working presses. Believe it or not, I first heard of this museum in Carson via Huell Howser on one of his whats great about California shows...(pat on the back Huell, rest in peace)
I have made the trek to lovely downtown Carson twice now and it is a whole day event.
I go with a graphic design friend and she and I pack snacks and slather sunscreen and head out around 7:30am to get there by 10am when they open the gates. Not only can you see how ALL the presses work, but a far number of them are hands on demonstrations! So last year I got to print off a field press from the civil war. SOOOOOO COOLIO
This year it was even more packed and I am proud to say the crowd was 75% women printers!
The museum itself is only one part of the fair, there is also the vendor sections that run through the museum and into the back of the building and then into a large warehouse that stores, sad and forgotten presses (many are for sale at the fair) and then you file into the book arts building.
my girlfriend
Which houses "my girlfriend" the letterpress that I would tackle someone for.
This is one of the hands on demonstration stops and I got to print my own poster to take home...and figure out where to put.
This years fair had an amazing collection of printers making stationary and my pockets were lighter by the end of the day, but really, this was hardly bad, as I met some amazing fellow printmakers, introduced myself to people I was exhibiting with but had never met and got a bag full of lovely little gifts for myself, and maybe a friend or two.
One of the many highlights was seeing and meeting Krank Press. I had spied their cards in the William Sonoma in Santa Barbara and was able to find out what I job like that really looks like. Owner/printmaker Elinor was very generous with describing the reality of this monumental job, the contract and a few tips on where to source a letterpress when I was ready to make the leap and had the space.
Chandler and Price floor letter presses
wooden type for sale
Another great inspiration was talking with Monique from Metal Doily Press she had attended the fair the year before and was so inspired she promised herself she would try and be a vendor the following year...she met her goal and in order to not overtax herself in the effort, she shared a table with a friend. Very inspiring and put that little bee in my ear and brain for this years fair.
Backwards and upside down,
I knew this skill from elementary school would come in handy someday!
(Learn, Print, Play)
1850's Proof Press
I have my eye on you my pretty!
All in all I was overjoyed once again after leaving, inspired and felt like I had found my tribe.
I might not be making a living yet as a printmaker, but it is for sure in my blood,
as I can not imagine a life without it.
There were too many AWESOME printmakers to mention in this post, so I invite you to check out the list of vendors and check them out one by one. I was thrilled to meet The Library press, and Pup and Pony press, as well as ....you get the point.
Fire breathing dragon, art purchased from the 8 year old Ruby who lives across the street. A sweet deal at .25cents Ruby says: "I draw animals really well" I agree
So I have been juggling many plates these days...work and work and life.
Aren't we all though...
I attended a memorial service this last week, and although no one likes to think about death.
It had me thinking a lot about death, mine, family lost and still here and my hubby.
Frankly, It shook me up pretty good.
I was thankful for a date that night with my sweetie to try
and
reset all my fears back up on a shelf and enjoy the present.
Murphy's law had a good laugh that night, as the concert we went to had a lot of songs about loss, heartbreak and untimely deaths.
I guess I needed to address my fears...or at least acknowledge them.
In light of this "eye-opening" experience, I have started to take vitamins again, had my doctor look at some funny bumps on my leg and am slowly walking away from bread and dairy....
slowly, I mean there is no reason to act suddenly don't need to shock the system or anything.
Gosh I love mint chip ice cream....
We have also begun to actively looked at when we can take a little vacation.
We had a little break this last July joining some friends at a lake, but hubs and I have not taken a good vaca since our "honeymoon" two years after we got married...so that would be 2004!
In the meantime, I have been making new work and submitting it where I can. As I told a friend, my goal is to make my husband a kept man...he has done so much for me it is the least I could do.
He thinks this is a fine idea as well.
I was lucky enough to see my friend Tiger Huang's exhibit at The Ojai Center for Art.
It was an amazing exhibition of traditional Chinese paintings of animals and landscapes mixed with his current loose figure work. Tiger studied traditional calligraphy in China and the central installation piece at the show was an amazing display of this tradition.
the piece started with a large rectangle of paper on the floor that had line after line of character brushwork, on top of this lay practice books splayed open and face down on these papers, surrounding a wooden box that was filled with meticulous lines of characters that were pulled from the box and pulled over the ceiling supports. The size and detail in this piece left me silent, to me it displayed such discipline and focus and love for his art. I was inspired to find a greater focus and purpose.
Still silenced from this work I wandered home slowly and found a lovely meditation spot but a mere couple miles from home.
A reminder to grow and plant ideas and water them.
I am a sucker for a good garden what can I say...
plus there were baby goats!
I have made a few new pieces one was just accepted into a juried show that offers Art Advances, this means I am in a drawing for possibly winning some cold hard cash as well as selling some work!
I submitted three pieces but am thrilled with the one they chose:
"A Sense of Something" 2011
this piece has all my hallmarks:
Phone poles, clouds, my scratch thru with the ink and it is PURPLE!!
Hopefully someone will love it and take it home
Until the next epiphany, I am going to be in the garden grounding my thoughts
and pulling weeds, it is good for the soil and my soul.
El Rey- bras on the lights and velvet Elvis paintings
I am headed in the right direction...I am in a new show and have made new work over the weekend.
Hubby and I had a night out on Saturday and take in the weekend and my newest show.
I wanted ice cream and he was willing to foot the bill so we headed downtown for some.
We took the back way and headed thru a local shop to the main drag.
I love walking thru the headshop on the way to Main St....it has a million things to look at and a funny mix of porn and trinkets. This particular place has been around forever and I even went here right out of high school for punk music and posters. Now, I buy hoops for my stretched lobes and maybe a funny little toy or two out of the "rave inspired" clothes for my niece or nephews.
just some of the hundreds of shoe options
The shop has an amazing array of shoes to choose from and they range from hippie shoes to "shoes that get worn but not walked in" If you know what I mean
I spied a strange sight in the Incense department...when I think incense I think rasta, hippie, stoner...but this pack of Lynard Skynard has a different theme in mind.
Note the bustin from the seams bikini gal amid Marley and Krishna
If I fail at making a good career at art making I can always pick up these and have a second choice.
I have been dealing with a lot of rejections recently. For a few months now, I have been submitting something almost weekly, some show or magazine or competition. The rejection letters have ranged from form letters to personal misspellings of my name. All these words have begun to wear on my, making me believe that almost anything I submit is doomed from the moment it leaves my hands. Despite my best efforts I have been feeling less then optimistic about my dreams of becoming an exhibiting artist. Emotionally, I put everything into what I submit; when it leaves my hands, I imagine it accepted, or published or hung in a show. I put it out into the universe, " this is what I want"!
Well, today I submitted work** to the very prestigious Santa Barbara Printmakers Group this group is filled with not only my past printmaking teachers, figure drawing teachers, and art instructors but also my Art Mentor!! This is a group of highly talented, amazing printmakers and artists! To join this group, you need to be accepted into the annual juried show and then you will receive an invitation to join. I was encouraged to submit and I took the leap again, if nothing else I refuse to let go of my hopes just yet! Printmakers from far and wide came to submit work. There was over 100+ pieces pre-registered for the show. The Juror was Gordon Fuglie: Curator of Exhibitions and Collections at the San Luis Obispo Art Center, Laband Art gallery among other places. When I was waiting to leave work I heard someone say " I hear he is a really tough juror". To be honest, my heart sank...seriously the last thing I needed was a new hole in my already unsteady heart. I stood in line, and looked at the work being left for judging, my eyes the size of saucers...such amazing beautiful work. I left my work in a pool of wondrous colors and styles, I felt like such a small fish in such a vast ocean of big fish....I left and started the wait. I have a timer that starts in my head when ingathering stops (when the acceptance of images is closed to any more submissions) then I start to count..."ok half an hour down...only this much longer". When it was time to pick up the art I was filled with dread. My heart was pounding, I was sick and for a moment I stood on the stairs outside the building wondering if I should even go inside, I was shaking after all. I wanted this soooooooo badly and I so didn't want to add another stitch to my barely contained broken heart. I did what I needed to do and went inside to see the list of accepted work.
It was a very small list.....
I scanned the paper, quickly and didn't see my name...." I knew it!!" then I scanned for the other person (I had brought work for another artist too) while looking for her name I saw mine! I saw my name....I checked the top of the paper again to make sure this was the accepted work, I couldn't believe it...I wasn't in belief. I had gotten a piece in!!! and the person I brought work for also got a piece in! I was in shock...I still am.
The show opens tomorrow night and runs thru October 30th in the Faulkner Gallery (Santa Barbara Main Library) this could last me for a while, and when that next letter arrives in the mail I will be that much stronger.
Over the last few months I have been creating images for this show, with one theme in mind. This focus has allowed me to refine my ideas and vision for this exhibition.
Ever since I was a child, I have had a combination of awakened dreams and thinly veiled sleep. For this show I have created a theme based on this idea. I found that these images when viewed together create a starting point for dream time remembrances. My hope is that when viewing these works you are drawn back to that sensation; that moment of subconscious awareness and journey. I will have 6 images in the gallery and two in the studio space. All relate to one another. I hope you are able to make the show and I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these images.
Here are details about the show location and times : CLICK HERE
My recent activities have allowed me to step away from my work for a little bit and let it settle down in my head. I needed this sifting to occur, as I am now able to sort which works will be shown and what will be seen another time.
I have spent time with my niece before she started kindergarten, had a couple of days with my goddaughter, spent a few days out with some longtime friends, and I have attended a Master gardener workshop:
I can say I am in the home stretch of preparations...frames are in the house and the mat board is here, now the labor. Cutting mats and framing the work, I actually love this part....all the work is done and the final look is about to be assembled.
My new cyanotypes are large and are my newest love...they are the second part of the theme. These lovelies will be displayed in the studio area of Gallery 255, meaning you will have to seek them out!
I have yet to mention what this theme is, but that will be revealed in the next day or so...
