A photo montage

There are too many new changes,

and not enough energy to write about them all,

so I will explain as best as I can in pictures:

this is still one of my favorite things to do

my page for a collaborative book, hidden in the background is a mantra:
"the loving are the daring"

Xander will always pose for the camera now...here he is showing what a hot day it was

Theo is camera shy, this is a favorite place for him to nap we call it the bucket

 

You have to use WHOLE eggs in matzo ball soup or it will look like this
*sigh*

I went to printers fair and drooled over letterpresses



I won an award

 

I got to burp my niece, see how scared I look.
She was kind enough to spit up on me just so I could get over my fear of being spit up on.
Reminder to not sweat the small stuff

I am still doing yoga, I can almost do floor bow like this...
except this isn't me and my boobies are bigger

Oh the things I have seen!

Recently I have had the ABSOLUTE privilege to be able to see
some inspiring works of art.

Candy for my eyes and and heart...

yummy.

 

On the 4th I attended first Thursday in Santa Barbara and I chose two venues to visit.

1. the Architecture foundation to see the work of Leslie Lewis Sigler

(sadly I didn't write this fast enough and now her show is packed away)

I find her work is so refreshing and clean and warm and it invites you in....there is a familiar sense that makes it wonderfully comfortable to spend time with.
 

2. I went to see the newest adventure at Sullivan Goss: 

JUST BETWEEN US: Wesley Anderegg, Rafael Perea de la Cabada, Maria Rendon

On Exhibit from April 4, 2013 through June 2, 2013

Curator Jeremy Tessmer selected an amazing collection of contemporary artists and the result is magical and alive and mysterious!

I was only able to get a couple pics as I found myself lost in the work, when I did remember to take a picture the place was crowded with new energy and excited visitors!

"tight rope" and "Matador"
by Wesley Anderegg

a small selection of ceramic platters also by Mr. Anderegg

Encyclopedia Series 1 A to Animal Life
by Rafael Perea de la Cabada
(He painted directly on stretched book covers)

detail to show the texture of the surface....luscious

 

Sadly I wasn't able to get any images of Ms Rendon's work...it is breathtaking and ethereal...so check out the link above to view proper pictures.

 

Then this week I was able to see another true treat for the eyes!

I attended a private small viewing of SWARM at LotusLand...

I had read a lot about the show HERE and HERE so I was quite excited to have the chance to see it in person. I attended with a woman's art group I am part of and it was such an amazing treat!

I felt like quite the VIP being able to view the work so intimately

*click on any of the images for a larger version*

The group was asked to enter via the private back entrance,
so I got to stroll the grounds a little bit before getting to the meeting point!

the room where we met, the main house and first exposure to the work of Penelope Stewart
with her giant handdrawn Beeskep
Ink on Japanese rice paper

here are two smaller versions and a black glass moulded one
the lines were so beautiful !

One of I several Cynthia James paintings...lovely! 



Stephanie Wilde's work " Golden Bees" was intricate and highly detailed, so much so, we were offered magnifying loops to view her incredible brush work.
She uses a single hair to paint...it was much like a sand mandala for me.
The ability to see single grains to sand
So beautiful and meditative

detail through the looking glass

more detail for another work

Ethan Turpin and Jonathan Smith's bee cell room
 and Rose-Lynn Fisher's electron microscope photographs
illuminated under spot lights

inside the cell looking up with some fellow art and bee lovers

the full installed Penelope Stewart beeswax room
1000lbs of wax was used to make this room
the different colors reflect what the bees were feeding on, as wax was shipped from all over the united states
You can read her process HERE

detail of the reproduced tiles and pineapples

 

So inspiring and so alive, I think this year will offer many surprises in the art scene.

I am very much looking forward to seeing new works from friends and creating some myself.

You still have time to see  "Just Between Us" and "SWARM" (the garden is not too shabby either)

 if you are able, I whole heartily endorse it!

 

Inspiration

We all feel shaky at times, some more then others...but this image was so inspiring to me

I had to share it and the link about the image

 

Ahhhh, I can do anything, anything I have a passion for

and so can you

 

Anais Nin at her press, self publishing her work


http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2012/08/30/anais-nin-letterpress/

 

print by HoneycombPrintshop

 



Geek at heart

Serious Geek alert, you have been warned.....

I have been waiting and searching for a workshop to take, one that I could afford and be inspired by...
clearly those two concepts do not always go hand in hand.

I was told about a letterpress studio that was a short drive away and so I contacted them and I got signed up for a day of Letterpress 101

I was super excited as I have been dreaming and researching letterpress for a while....I have become a serious letterpress fan.

Much like the love for the sound of a shutter on a medium format camera...oh that is such a lovely wonderfully intoxicating sound, soo too is the sound of a letterpress to me.

I wasn't allowed to take Industrial Arts in junior high, my father was afraid I would cut off my fingers or hurt myself in some way....so I never got to take shop or anything. Instead I got a half a semester in home economics class with a teacher who thought I was going to blow up the kitchen or break the sewing machines.

so all this is BRAND NEW to me and super exciting.



I took the day off work and traveled to the local letterpress studio for an introduction day.

The studio was the artists converted garage, it was filled with three presses, flat files, an antique paper cutter (that looked like railroad equipment) and blocks of font and packing supplies.

I was given a quick overview of what each machine was called and how they use almost exclusively photopolymer for the letterpress now. (the same stuff I make my etchings with) except you needed to mail away for it...and so I was given a selection to pick from for the demo.
I picked a little bunch of poppies that she had drawn.

She showed me how to cut the paper and then how to ink the platen and turn on the Chandler and Price 10x15 press...

and then the sounds...ooooooooooooh the lovely sounds of the machine working.
I felt like a combination of a train engineer and Dick Van Dyke in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
I was running this amazing machine that made things!
(super geek I know, I warned you)

I was shown how to load the art into the machine and we made notecards.

then it was all done.

I asked about Vandercook SP15 which is what I imagine when I think of letterpress, and was shown hers, it is used mostly for bookmaking which her business does as well. I had mentioned a desire to make a handmade book and she let me know that she could help me with that if I wanted.

All in all it was an informative day, I was given a general overview and printed some cards.

I can add it to my list of information and resources

and

now know that I need a bigger studio if I was to include letterpress into my life!

I came home with visions of a bigger studio in my head and dreams of printing all day and night long

here is my fantasty studio

Heart grows fonder

So nothing like a swift kick in the heart! A poke in the eye....?

Art is so subjective and personal that it seems unrealistic to judge it....but the life of an exhibiting artist is just that, judgement.

The artist makes something, loves it, cries at it completion and then shows it to someone else. That person in turn either says "I love it " or " I don't get it " or simply " I don't like it".
Where does that leave the artist? Is what they just made nothing, or something no one can relate to, or simply bad. Should they believe the outside perspective or ?

Then you have the factors that are at play....Did the person really look at it? Do they not like that color today? Does it bring to mind some horrible childhood memory....or do they simply not know your name or what is involved with the process.

My rejection letter left me raw....I wanted to be juried into this group badly. I wanted to start my spread into the Los Angeles basin. Instead I was faced with the feeling that my process was not a familiar one, or a traditional one. Solar plate has only been around since the 70's and so the desire to use it as a tool for a more traditional method of printmaking was clearly a sign that the method of making solar plates was not a familiar one to the jury.
Solarplate is pretty cut throat, the exposure time is a one shot deal. I do not make test strips to check for timing, instead I take the whole enchilada out into the sun and let magic happen. I guess on exposure and timing and when I return indoors with my plate it is not until I start the water bath do I know if I made a good plate or a dud. There are no do-overs or lets just put it outside again deals. It is done and if it is bad, there went 10bucks.

In response to the letter, I went crazy (a little for real) and made three large plates on a very tricky day. It was a "peek-a-boo" sunshine day...so there was no consistent sun and I went out with a $15 "one-shot-is-all-you-get" plate.

I made three very pretty images, I think this will complete my show images for September.
I also took photos of the whole printing process for those of you who have been asking about how I make these images....nothing like a little hand of the artist...so there LAPS!