The Print Beast

The Naked Beast

2012-02-09T17:31:00.000-08:00

It's so funny to me. As skanky as some of female fashion is right now, nudes are still taboo. The artists learning model since the time of the Greeks. Granted it has gone through repressive times in art history. Goya was forced to go before the Inquisition because of one he painted for a client. I guess in spite of fashion and dating trends this is still a repressed society, but that is also evinced by the popularity of the Republican party. I have been lining up work through my employers inside classifieds, but then I never hear from them again. Part of me is thinking that it is the naked beast's fault.

Johanness Oporinus

2012-01-31T13:16:00.000-08:00

Just about everybody has heard of Vesalius, but who has heard of Oporinus? Oporinus is the printmaker who published Vesalius's anatomy book, which as we all know was the first attempt at an accurate representation of human mechanics. Previously anatomy lessons for physicians consisted of once a year watching someone from a great distance pulling the organs out of deceased convict. As to the medical texts prior to Vesalius's and Oporinus's De humani corporis fabrica (1543), they largely consisted of globular red and brown shapes mostly indistinguishable from each other. (Prints and People: A Social History) As wiki will tell you Oporinus also published the first Latin Koran, which garnered massive protests at the time and was only permitted because of Martin Luther's backing. Shown above was his printer's device.

Maybe someone out there will have an answer

2012-01-09T22:54:00.000-08:00

Maybe someone out there will have an answer for me. On the job hunt, I am frequently stopped short by the fact that employers are really only interested in MFA. The interest in MA seems to be shrinking. A few years ago the NGA did extend their graduate internships to MA, but they don't any longer. I have a MA, and I am not particularly interested in going back at this point in my life. What sort of jobs are available with this degree?

Jeb Prazak

2012-01-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

This is the first printmaker outside of my family who I had the pleasure of working with; my parents signed me for a class with her when I was in high school. She had her own studio and gallery in Dodgeville, WI. She lived above the gallery in a loft space reached by a ladder. It was a beautiful facility and home. I thought it was time I gave her her due on this, and in all honesty it should have happened sooner. About the same time I was getting back into it in college Jeb had developed cancer, and due to the bills was forced to sell everything.

P.S. I just a saw a flier for Wisconsin artists, and evidently Jeb is still working.

Book in Review

2012-01-03T20:25:00.000-08:00

This past summer I picked up and read Magical Secrets about Line Etching and Engraving: The Step by Step Art of Incised Lines by Catherine Brooks of Crown Point Press. To any with a serious interest in printmaking this book is a must read. I tend to be a bit of a technical junkie myself, and while the subject is not a new one to me this book did offer some new techie twists and tricks that kept me interested throughout. Every printmaker I have worked with to date (Jeb Prazak, Joel Elgin, Peter Hoffer, Allison Wilse, Rob Hay, and of course my mother) all have had mildly different ways of handling things. This book was no exception and did not disappoint.

New old stuff to the Naked Beast

2012-01-01T21:01:00.001-08:00

I don't think very many people follow the Naked Beast, but to those who do. Just posted some new old stuff.

Theme day-Pirate Arrrrght Day

2011-12-24T08:49:00.000-08:00

Okay,
I feel like being stupid (granted I always am), but I feel that next weekend I will be celebrating Pirate Arrrght Day. I will probably be the only one as I am a chronic looser these days. I will be flying my artistically rendered Jolly Roger high. Part of that Carpe Diem thing, or rather Carpe Annum.

Non print related just personal

2011-12-23T20:13:00.000-08:00

I have problems with looking at my education and looking at where other people are in their lives, and where I am at right now. That being said the last time I was able to be home for Christmas was 2007. I will be able to go home this year. 2008 was unable to afford it. January 2009 broke ankle devastated me financially. December 2009 had to work it. December 2010 unable to afford it. It may not always feel like it or look like it to others, but I have made progress. Thank you to all of the people who have helped me.

Year of the Dragon

2011-12-21T13:51:00.000-08:00

Just a quick little wood engraving. Thinking about Janus and this two headed dragon toy I had as a kid.

Kitchen Lithography

2011-12-01T23:31:00.001-08:00

I've been playing with this one at home a little bit, I haven't gotten it to work exactly like it is supposed to. My results have actually gone the other way, the soap remains white and the ucoated areas print black, but then again I have lost the magic touch.

How Ink is made

2011-12-01T20:27:00.001-08:00

Got my Blog Back!

2011-11-30T23:14:00.000-08:00

I lost my password to this for awhile and I no longer use the email used to create it (approximately two months ago.) I am a pushy woman though, and I managed to force google into giving it back to me. In the interim I have learned some new tricks, like how to link up to paypal to sell work.

The Wapsipinicon Almanac

2011-11-30T23:02:00.000-08:00

For any who follow my work, I will be appearing with Todd Kimm in the Wapsipinicon Almanac. It is published out of Iowa and covers many subject. It has been described as a cross between the New Yorker and the Farmers Almanac, and is a Midwest staple. Founded in the 1970's the owner publishes on old letterpress presses.
Unfortunately the link option does not seem to be working properly; their website is www.wapsialmanac.com

Proof of my Family Oni

2011-09-14T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yes, my family has an oni. We tend to be haunted by dyslexia with a touch of aphasia.

AN print

2011-09-03T10:56:00.000-07:00

Blue Fork Lady

2011-09-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

Immaculatta

2011-09-03T10:52:00.000-07:00

Tod Kimm Writing

2011-06-17T22:49:00.000-07:00

One Friday after lunch in November, Paul, Morris and Leonard sat on the floor in the hallway by the boiler room, soaking in the warmth and comparing scars.

“I have these two new this winter,” said Leonard proudly. He displayed a pink line on the inside of his wrist and another hovering an inch above his elbow.

“Wow, how did you get them?” said Morris, hiding his disappointedly unblemished forearms in his lap.

“This one here,” said Leonard, tapping the one on his wrist, “barbed wire, sledding backwards down Glory Hill. “This one my big brother pushed me down on the ice. My dad murdered him.”

“Are they all stitch jobs?” Morris asked.

“All,” said Leonard. “I took them out with my own teeth.” He jawed his elbow to demonstrate.

“Do they itch?” asked Paul.

“Nah,” said Leonard, scratching one at the idea.

“What about you, Paul?” said Morris. “Got any new ones?”

“No, I still just have the one from two summers ago.” Paul tapped the white dash above his left eyebrow where the oak branch had cut. “And this chicken pox scar.” He brushed his cheek.

“Chicken pox don’t count,” said Leonard incredulously.

Paul nodded. He understood the rules, but to him it was still a scar.

“What’s that?” Morris said, pointing at Paul.

“What’s what?” said Paul. He followed Morris’ finger to where it appeared to be pointing: his left hush puppy. “My shoe?” Paul cuffed a scuff of dust with the back of his hand. He hoped there wasn’t a glob of sheep manure stuck somewhere he couldn’t see. He’d tracked some into school two winters ago and nearly died of embarrassment when it started to stink during math problems.

“No,” Morris said, “on your leg.”

Paul strained forward to hitch up the leg of his chocolate-brown corduroys. He was now concerned some of the hairs his dad had had a talk with him about were already beginning to sprout. Paul followed the pale gooseflesh of his leg up into the darkness of his pant leg.

“I really don’t see anything,” he said.

“There, look,” said Morris. “Leonard, you see it, don’t you? So faint you almost can’t see it. But a perfect scar by any measure. The winner of the contest, if you ask me.”

Leonard dove in for a look, getting on his stomach and squinting severely. Paul felt Leonard’s eyelashes tickle his ankle he was so close.

“Yeah, I see it,” he said after what seemed like 10 minutes. “You’ve got a good one there. I’ll give you the prize.”

Paul didn’t know which was harder to believe: that Leonard was conceding defeat or that he possessed this marvelous scar and didn’t know it.

Paul strained backward, craning painfully and upside down through the space of his armpit, to see what his friends were talking about. For the life of him, though, he couldn’t make anything out, aside from a mole or two. Paul’s legs had not seen much sun in their lives, and this, for better or worse, preserved their baby pale appearance. Wearing shorts for him was a mortifying experience.

“How’d you get it?” Leonard intoned, now clearly amazed. “It’s silver.”

“I don’t know,” said Paul, growing irritated. “I don’t see anything at all.”

“You have to look beside it a little in order to see it,” offered Morris. “Kind of like trying to spot the Milky Way at night.”

“What could have caused it, though?” asked Leonard. “That’s the question.”

“Something real sharp, had to be,” said Morris. “So sharp he probably didn’t even feel it.”

“But there would have been blood,” said Leonard, sitting up again. “Buckets of it. I mean, even Myron Floren is human.”

“Nothing happened to my leg,” said Paul sharply. He slapped down his pant leg and stood. His head swam. He staggered two steps in the direction of the boiler room door.

“Something happened,” said Morris. “We saw it with our own two eyes.”

“Your own two eyes can’t see.” Paul was nearly shrieking, quivering the little asbestos balls that hung precariously from the ceiling above their heads.

Kelly McCloskey then stepped into the cone of light that fell from two round lights in the ceiling. Paul sensed from the look on her face that she had been standing there in the shadows for some time.

“I know what happened,” she said. “I know what it’s from.” Her voice was steady and serious, not shaky like when she spoke on the first day of school.

Kelly’s seriousness and fire-engine hair brought a burst of laughter from Morris and Leonard that ricocheted up and down the hallway. The glare Kelly shot back was meaner than the meanest teacher in school could not have conjured. It silenced Paul’s friends and withered them backward down the hallway like a burst of fire. Kelly’s certainty and might caused Paul to believe what Kelly McCloskey had said. He believed she knew the reason behind this thing his friends had found on his leg.

Paul turned to see that they were alone. The hallway was empty. Morris and Leonard had fled.

Writing by Todd Kimm

2011-04-17T13:22:00.000-07:00

Sawed from a bolt of green chiffon, a mantle to cover cream chiffon, stenciled with flowers. Bold, red flowers blowing west, tilted toward the sun. This was the dream dress, a plan for a magic dress. She had finally found something she wanted. The knowledge brought her heart to her mouth and she could call her mother without audacity: "Mother, Howard's going to make me a dress."

"The farm magic dream dress," whispered Carol into her arm through her black hair. Lying in bed, she wept as love streamed up through the floor from the land below. Gravity had somehow reversed itself, and her feet floated above her head, and her hair floated above her feet until she saw stars as if planted in a black field. Only yesterday, there was no magic, there was no dream. And now there was. Carol thumbed the spot on the back of her leg where Mother had applied the iodine. There was a ringworm living in there. Jeffy, the neighbor boy, said it would climb to her brain and drive her insane. Daddy said if she lay on her stomach in the sun that it would die. But Carol liked the ringworm. Once she invited a butterfly to live in her ear and had cried when it refused. She thought that maybe the ringworm would give her practice at hosting better things. Now the iodine was stinging her leg. She hated to think what the ringworm felt.

Am I your Cannibal Dancer?

2011-03-23T22:12:00.000-07:00

Oh world, am I finally to finish this cannibal dance? For those not in the know. The Cannibal Dance was a practice amongst the Native American Tribes of the Northwest (i.e. Kwaikutl (sp?)) Almost like royalty the cannibal dancer came from particular families. When the selected member hit a certain age they were abandonned in the wild. They spent a year in complete isolation away from their tribe. Over the coarse of that year they usually forgot how to fully speak and became feral dangerous things that would attack other humans. They were allowed back into the community once a year under guard to perform their strange shaking erratic dances, pronounce their strange sentences on the world, and then were driven back into the wilds for another year.

Rabbit Exchange Print

2011-03-22T11:22:00.000-07:00

I originally made this for a different Rabbit Exchange Print thing, but I missed it, another one hopped up though. This is the death of Rabbit Ears playing on a flat screen. Lots of incongrous thoughts bounding around this one. The main thought revolves around the evolution of media. There are some things I probably should have done differently in this.

Calling Out for Prints for Peace

2011-03-20T13:28:00.000-07:00

The deadline for this one is quickly approaching, April 15.

http://www.printsforpeacemexico.blogspot.com/

I'm Behind-Philagrafika 2010

2011-03-20T09:14:00.001-07:00

These images are from the Philagrafika 2010 exhibition. The tires above were made by Betsabeé Romero. They remind of an idea I have been kicking around since graduate school revolving around Akkadian cylinder seals. The installation below Mundus Admirabalis was created by Regina Silveira. It was a fairly extensive exhibition showing all walks of printmaking in the 21st century. One artist, Oscar Munoz, had a very interesting set up. He projected silkscreened photographs from obituaries in a pool of water. The water slowly spilled out distorting the images. For more extensive coverage, you can check out...http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/05/arts/design/05philagrafika.html

Vitamin Grand Reopening

2011-03-01T22:33:00.000-08:00

Bartolomeo Pinelli

2011-02-24T23:02:00.000-08:00

Normally when people think of Dante's works: the Inferno, Purgatorio, and the Paradisio, the illustrater that pops into their head is beyond a doubt Gustave Dore. As a bibliophile I occassionally like to indulge in looking at early editions on ebay, this fellow popped up for an Inferno search. If I might add there is also a facebook thing for him.

Walton Ford

2011-02-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

Really like this guy, he does watercolors that are the dark side of Audubon.
http://www.pbs.org/art21/artists/ford/clip1.html
He worked with a master printmaker named, Peter Petengill at Wingate Studio. They handle their multiplate a little bit different-as a two person job, but it looks like a really effective registration trick. The print shown above is I believe a six color job.

Rather than leaving the paper and felts down while it printed, the other person held the paper and felts back and gradually lowered it to the plate (making sure it was lined up right) as it was run through the press.

Dios de Los Muertos

2011-02-23T12:11:00.000-08:00

I started this one awhile ago for a Dios de Los Muertos Print show. Decided to finish it up. Might do a little bit more. It really didn't scan that well.

Istanbul Defense Ministy takes over the Historic Printmakers' High School

2011-02-15T22:46:00.000-08:00

For some reason this article just caught my eye. I hope some day they go back to offering tours of the Printmakers' High School.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=8220why-doesn8217t-the-ministry-of-defense-evacuate-those-storages8221-asked-gunay.-2010-10-05

Maybe this is part of the Printmakers' School...wishful thinking. A golden cage to keep frustrated and wayward students from running away.

Battle Weary Athena - A Valentine's Day Offering

2011-02-13T20:54:00.000-08:00

I started this one towards the end of my Marywood stint. Athena was the goddess of wisdom, originally she was also the goddess of love, but a change in politics occurred with the birth of the beautiful Aphrodite. I suppose having intelligent educated women in charge of love was not that appealing to males. She was relegated to the goddess of war after said birth, although are the full attributes of Athena really that bad of a combination? The goddess of love, wisdom, and warfare. After all is love really without its scraps? Is it better to fight them with wisdom or the blind rage of Ares?

Curious and Frustated

2011-02-10T07:36:00.000-08:00

Alright was looking for an Egyptian printmaker and I came across Maher Raef (1926-1999). I cannot find a single image of his work, and I am also rather curious about a term they used in the article blurb I did find on him. The man evidently made technical inovations in the processes of "cameo and intaglio." (http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2010/989/cu11.htm ) I mean I know that cameos are that profile Victorian jewelry thing, I did find a thing that talked about cameo proofing in terms of minting coins http://www.ehow.com/facts_5030440_cameo-proof.html?ref=fuel If anybody has a clue about this I would greatly appreciate it.

On the Importance of Bacon

2011-02-09T16:20:00.001-08:00

There is something very special about bacon...In Judaism part of the reason the pig is viewed as being unkosher is because it is too close to human. With that in mind if Catholicism really wanted to attract followers they should forgo with the cracker communion and go with bacon.

English people of coarse know the importance of bacon. Back in the day, the custom of the Dunmow Flitch was to give a newly married couple bacon if they had a peaceful year and could honestly say that they had been faithfull to one and other over that time period. Anyways found some sweet bacon prints by Mike Geno http://www.artstarphilly.com/

Step into the Light - Orit Hofshi

2011-02-01T16:56:00.001-08:00

I came across this printmaker, hailing from Israel, and really liked her stuff. She specializes in monumental wood cuts that are intricate enough to be wood engravings. Included below is a link to her artist statement and bio. She is showing in all the big places for printmakers these days. If I ever go back to Israel I may have to try to meet her. Her name incidently comes from the Hebrew word "or" meaning light, if I am not mistaken the word light in Hebrew is almost like snow in Inuit.

http://www.ipcny.org/exhib/exhib_np/np_bio/hofshi_orit.htm

http://www.laprintmakers.com/site/files/u3/interleaf/InterleafSpring2010.pdf

Old Marywood Plates

2011-01-31T13:47:00.000-08:00

I found these two old plates that I had started back at Marywood and decided to finish them. They're just small quick little things both are engravings with mezzotint and dry point, although the fingerprint one on the left also has line etch in it.

Egypt Show

2010-11-20T13:02:00.000-08:00

The title links up to the first phase of the Mini Print exhibition held by the New Library of Alexandria, Egypt. The size requirement on the prints was 10cm x10cm maximum. I really liked a few of the artists, some of whom I might add I was not able to find any images for on the internet. Some of my favorites:
Hany Alashkar, Farouk Shehata, Sumi Perera, Alexandru Jakabhazi, Mary Hood, Margarida Holler. Honestly, I actually liked most of them.

Scottish Printmaking Controversy

2010-11-13T13:07:00.000-08:00

I found this rather old article. The title leads to it, and if you are ever in Scotland be sure to check out: Glasgow Print Studio, Dundee, Edinburgh Printmakers, or Aberdeen's Peacock Printmakers.

www.peacockvisualarts.com

www.ediburgh-printmakers.co-uk/

www.dca.org.uk/

www.gpsart.co.uk/

Scottish roots

2010-11-10T13:14:00.000-08:00

Due to an unforeseen take over by a dead distant relative by the name of Longshanks, I have decided that I need to get back to my Wallace side.

Robert Colquhoun (1914-1962)

Really liked this guy, it is a lithograph called Absalom's Head. Unfortunately could not find much for his images.

Sir Muirhead Bone

This is a Scottish artist by the name of Muirhead Bone. The top is a lithograph of a shipyard seen from a big crane. To the right is a drypoint of excavations in Manhattan conducted in 1923.

Brains, Brains, and more brains

2010-10-30T15:18:00.000-07:00

Snuck up on this printmaker, Sarah Sears, and really liked her work.

Old Fox Lady prints

2010-10-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

I pulled these two a long time ago, and they are the only two from this plate. It was done, I think, during my first semester of graduate school. It was an experiment in plexi and embossement. The plate ended up snapping.

Lilac

2010-10-27T18:38:00.000-07:00

Drypoint/Mezzotint/Embossement-too bad so sad, had wanted this one for Leicester, but was destroyed by assholes.

Not Really being Completely me

2010-10-14T09:54:00.001-07:00

Thought about it, and I am not being completely me. Might as well just throw everything out there.

Damn it

2010-10-13T16:50:00.001-07:00

I have been screaming out ideas to the voices in the wall of my apartment, and this was more or less one of them! Fear, fire, foes!

http://www.underwatersculpture.com/pages/gallery/underwater-gallery/index.htm

Flourescent Light with page 26 from Painting: An Aid to the Fuller Appreciation of Fine Paintings and a Description of the Various Techniques for the

2010-10-13T16:22:00.000-07:00

(I got cut off in the title) Layman, Student and Artist, by Paul Konody, Arthur Dewing, Warren Cox, Kojiro Tomita, George P. Ennis, Jean G. Goulinat, Sir Tomas Walker Arnold, Paul Jamot, H.B Whele, James B. Manson, F.T. Weber, Charles Masson, M.H. Spielmann, G.C. Williamson, A.E. Propham, M.C. Salaman, Daniel Yarnan Abbott, Emil Carlsen, Frank Brangwyn, George W. Dawson, Alan Burroughs, Henry Tonks, and Arthur P. Lanvic; Garden City Publishing Co, Inc: New York, 1935.

Alright, not overly Crazy about this one. I did it on the fly for the Library of Alexandria mini print thing. I don't know, kind of wish I had left some of my lines thicker on it. At anyrate, anyone who knows me will realize the humor and irony of sending style and suitability. Brilliant person that I am I did not figure out until after printing last night that I should chine cole after printing.

Sean StarWars

2010-10-13T14:49:00.000-07:00

I don't know why I haven't written about him before. I discovered him through the Cannon Ball Press website in graduate school via printfever. I was delighted by the idea of someone sneaking off in the night to steal billboard paper, and the wall paper installation stuff made me go "Fuck yeah!" I hate matting. For those with an historical bend: matting came about during the Rococo in order to protect their flying baby prints and disguised mistresses. Prior to that prints were tacked up and or applied to the wall with wax, and then ripped off when they got too nasty. Not to mention this guy is obsessed with Mountain Dew, and if I might add I am horribly jealous of him. Follow the title to his website.

3 Calls for Entry

2010-10-10T11:34:00.001-07:00

Atlanta Printmakers Studio
http://www.atlantaprintmakersstudio.com/

Ink and Clay
www.dcimprint.wordpress.com/category/call-for-entries/

Printmaking Council of New Jersey
www.nj.com/independentpress/index.ssf/2010/01/printmaking_council_of_new_jer.html

Epilepsy

2010-10-09T17:14:00.000-07:00

La Criss Crosse

2010-10-07T13:57:00.000-07:00

Alright, I decided to do some reorganization. I really wish that I could have transferred some of the comments, but I think that this is for the best.

The Naked Beast

2010-10-07T13:16:00.000-07:00

I have come to the conclusion that it might not be such a bad thing to post some of my figurative work hence the creation of the Naked Beast. The title will link up to the new spider's nest.

3 Printmaking Calls for entry

2010-10-06T13:07:00.000-07:00

Broadsides
For a combination of text and images
www.atelier6000.com

Biblioteca Alexandrina: International Biennial for Miniature Graphics
A contest out Egypt, all forms of print are accepted. The only restriction is size.
www.bibalex.org

small print:big impression
Calls for a touring exhibition
www.leicesterprintworkshop.com/smallprint/

Crazy Insane Book

2010-10-06T12:56:00.001-07:00

This is of course an Audubon, and is a print from the rarest and most expensive book in the world. Check the title for the complete story.

Kuru/Mad Cow

2010-10-02T17:58:00.000-07:00

Kuru, Mad Cow, Zombie brains; call it what you will, it is an incurable disease. One obtains this disease by cannibalizing somebody else's brain. This disease was rampant for awhile among the Fore tribe in New Guinea, where ritual cannibalism of the dead was practiced. Women and children were especially affected as the men got the choice cuts, and they were left with the brain. What happens is that something called a prion (a radical protein cell) causes the brain nerves to clump together creating quite literally holes, this can result in a shambling gate and dementia. Yes this is pretty much what Mad Cow is, from what I understand the Brits were feeding them some rather interesting things. As my uncle David will attest (insert plug for uncle David's business http://www.walks.com/ ,I think it's uncle David's business.)

Herpes

2010-10-02T17:49:00.000-07:00

This one is of course not life threatening, but it is incurable. The herpes cell lives along the nerve when dormant, and occasionally have to be shed. In adults it is not fatal, but in babies it can kill or cause retardation, as it goes straight to the brain in infants. In children it goes for the eyes, and goes by a different name, keratitis. Anymore I am just playing around with my prints, handling my inks loosely. The herpes cells however were a pain to ink and wipe for this thing, it took forever to print even one.

HIV

2010-10-02T17:37:00.001-07:00

This isn't the best of the litter. I ended up giving the best to the AIDS resource center. Probably due to the fact that my day job/secret identity is a hospital cleaning lady, I have developed an interest in diseases, in particular the incurable kind. Part of the thought behind the series is the idea of understanding, because once something is understoood then it becomes a beautiful thing, and once it is understood it can be cured. Also I view this series as a challenge, it is easy for an artist to make the viewer like something that they want (i.e. flowers, naked women, food). It is completely another matter to make them fall in love with something horrible. Click the title for some hope.

Something

2010-10-02T17:31:00.000-07:00

I did this one a long time ago, and was the last print I pulled in the Golden Satellite Printshop Stadium of Love, Blood, Sweat and Tears. It is an engraving/drypoint/embossement printed on handmade paper that I had made in graduate school.

Donated Hair

2009-05-28T10:47:00.000-07:00

I used to have hair down to my butt, but I cut it Sunday night, and I gave it to Locks of Love. I now have boy hair. I plan on growing it back again though.

Prints for Peace

2008-07-21T10:52:00.001-07:00

This is the newly completed print for the Prints for Peace exhibition in Mexico. It is a resingrave engraving, and it is kind of hard to tell but stitched over top of it is a mylar dove.

My other obsession

2008-07-08T14:37:00.000-07:00

Oregon Ink Spot Print Exchange

2008-06-13T18:05:00.000-07:00

Print Exchange 5

2008-05-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

These are the prints I recieved back from the Print Exchange 5. An exchange I thought I had gotten screwed on, as the prints were submitted last summer some time, and the awaited prints did not arrive until last week (the person in charge of it had met with catastrophic trouble and ran into problems getting things sent out). Oh well good things come to those who wait. My apologies if I got anyone's name wrong.

Oregon Ink Spot Print

2008-04-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

This is my print for the Oregon Ink Spot Exchange. Hopefully they will get there in time. This is an engraving on resingrave printed with Van Son rubber based ink, and printed on Unryu paper with chine cole. Yes it is a very wrinkled print. I think it has to do with getting a charge or thrill out of fighting in impossible circumstances.

Got a Gig

2008-03-01T03:54:00.000-08:00

My supervisor threw some work my way- top secret work involving the Free Mason's Yearbook. Neither I nor he know all the details yet, but little bit by little bit I am getting more complicated things to draw. Mums the word. I'm also working on a drawing for a blind parapalegic (sp?).

Potato Prints

2008-02-06T09:57:00.000-08:00

Way back in the day, when people had to live according to their means, children did not experience printmaking via lino cuts, oh no they just gave them a potato to carve and print. Given my own lack of monetary funds I have decided to give potato printing a shot.

This is my first try at it. It is a process that really doesn't require much at all.

The move back from PA, Goodbye Marywood

2008-01-05T10:12:00.000-08:00

This was quite awhile ago the weekend of Dec. 15th, but I thought I would post it anyway. We thought we were making good time, and might beat the storm that was supposed to hit PA on Sunday. We were only about one third of the way through the Poconos when the snow started. It was a pleasant snow at first, but we soon felt its full force. Road flares glowed along the side of the highway, and the wreckage of split and twisted semi truck was only one of its victims. We thought that there had to be an end to this storm, so we kept on. It was still snowing in Ohio, but the road crews were very good there, and the roads were in very good shape. We didn't realize that the worst stretch of the road was still before us. Indiana. The lake effect snow was by far the worst we encountered on the road. The snowy conditions however was only exasperated by the ineffectual Indiana plows. We saw the plows on the road, but most of them did not even have their blades down. We kept on through to Chicago, where the difference was drastic, not only was the snow lighter, but the Chicago plows were actually doing their job, and doing their job very well. That's not to say that it still was not dangerous. A car a few lanes over from us lost control, and started spinning, fortunately there was nobody really close by so they didn't hit anybody. I found the picture online, and it pretty much conveys what it was like.

How did I get marked for the poor terrorist list

2007-09-21T12:13:00.000-07:00

This article was recently brought to my attention, I got a laugh out of it anyway.

Goya's Ghosts

2007-09-15T00:33:00.000-07:00

For Goya fans out there this movie is a must see. It really serves to put his work into the context of the times in which he was living. Although if I am not mistaken in real life he had quite a large family, in this there is no mention of it.

Exchanges and Calls for Entry

2007-09-09T09:22:00.000-07:00

Any and all who are looking for print exchanges or shows to participate in should check out these two websites.

http://www.printmakingstudio.com/printexchanges.html

http://www.printmakers.info/listings.php

2007-09-08T19:27:00.001-07:00

As I am sure many of the print makers out there are aware Print Zero studios runs a very large print exchange. I participated in it this year, the only requirement was that the paper size be 5x7. I just received the prints from this exchange, unfortunately the hand writing is not always easy to read on them, so I opted to not butcher their names horribly. According to the card they sent with the prints 291 print makers from 17 different countries participated this year, and the prints are also part of touring show. The dates and locations are as follows:

August 2007 - Sev Shoon/ Ballard Works
Seattle, WA

October 2007 - Print Walls Gallery
Madison, WI

October 2007 - Rainbow Building Gallery
University of Miami, Florida

March 2008 - Pratt Fine Gallery at Tashiro Kaplan
Seattle, WA

TBA - Pacific Northwest College of Arts
Portland, Oregon

Sesame Street Live

2007-08-21T10:42:00.000-07:00

Unless you work for the theater group Sesame Street Live or have worked at a concert hall where they have performed you will never see this side of it, backstage. The Big Bird costume is the most complicated one that they have, so when it is not in use they hang him. Hanging it also makes it easier for dancer to get it on and off as it just has to be lowered or raised. Between Big Bird scenes in the show you will often see the top part of the costume hanging like this, but with the addition of a sweaty hyperventilating dancer sitting underneath it wearing Big Bird pants.

Dumbass

2007-08-21T10:38:00.001-07:00

Decided to do some quick lithos of my LCC days, just because I saw and did things there that is unlikely to experience anywhere else. This one is setting up the portable basketball floor, which was one of the most onerous tasks we had. The panels weigh around 200 pounds each.

Cheese

2007-08-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Alright just bought some sharp cheddar from "Wisconsin", and its as crappy as the rest of the cheddar here. So either they are lying, or they're buying from a lousy dairy. Just wanted to say that for the sake of those non Wisconsin people out there, the WI cheese in these out of state stores cannot even be said to be a paltry imitation of the sublime wonder that is a WI sharp cheddar.

2007-08-02T06:35:00.001-07:00

Alright this is my first oil painting, a little bit got shaved off the sides as it was a tad bit wider than the scanner.

Paper making

2007-07-24T03:39:00.000-07:00

Any and all who are interested in paper and paper making should visit this site:

http://aic.stanford.edu/sg/bpg/annual/v15/bp15-21.html

It has all kinds of good information about the history of papermaking and how our technical advancements have impacted the end product (pretty much for the worse)

Oh yeah for any paper makers who might read this, if you want to make a paper you can actually write on with pencil try adding chalk into the pulp mix.

Michelangelo

2007-07-16T10:32:00.000-07:00

We've also been discussing Michelangelo in Aesthetics, and he's been giving us some interesting information. One trivia fact that Michelangelo was present and watching the unearthing of the Farnese Bull, which is a Roman copy of a massive, carved from a single block, Hellenistic sculpture. This sculpture is evidently a compositional marvel because it looks good from any angle. Also we have been discussing how he combined the restfullness of classicism with the turbulence of Hellenistic art. Wolflin when doing a formal analysis of the Sistine Chapel was the first to notice that all of figures have restful contours on one side, and then are turbulent on the other.

Mavericks and Miscreants of Art History

2007-07-16T10:02:00.001-07:00

Caravaggio one of the greatest artists in history was also a bit of a miscreant. Reportedly when he mysteriously appeared in Rome he was "naked and extremely needy." Thanks to his skill as painter he was quickly able to gain work as a successful artist. Unfortunately the man liked to fight, and ended up accidently killing someone. Not even his painting could save him then, and he had to flee Rome. He went to Naples for awhile and then bounced over to Malta where he was inducted in as a knight of Malta. Yet again he got in trouble for fighting, this time he injured another knight, and was kicked out of the oder for being "a foul and rotten member." He ended up returning to Naples convinced that people were pursuing him, and he wasn't wrong about that. An attempt was made on his life, and for awhile people believed him to be dead until he opted to reveal himself; his face had been horribly disfigured. Friends he had in Rome were able to procure a pardon for him from the pope, but he died of a fever in 1610 en route to Rome.

Color litho

2007-07-11T17:56:00.000-07:00

This one was destined for having color from the start, instead of using a litho pencil I drew this using a green prismacolor pencil. It was actually a pretty stable etch. The whole thing was done using only one stone.

2 Lithos one drawing

2007-07-07T13:12:00.001-07:00

For whatever reason lithography has been feeling really good to me right now. On this one after finishing with printing it I started to grinding, but stopped after a couple passes of the levigator because the image was being modified in a rather beautiful way, so I stopped and etched it. It pretty much worked.

Can't forget about the elephants

2007-06-30T17:48:00.000-07:00

These paintings were done by elephants in Thailand, evidently if you go there you can buy one for $15.

Humans are so egotistical

2007-06-30T17:23:00.000-07:00

We so often forget that we are not the only ones who paint. Chimpanzees enjoy painting. In fact due to the construction of their arms and their massive strength they are capable of producing brush strokes that a human just physically cannot duplicate. These two paintings are by Congo, who produced over 400 drawings and paintings in his lifetime.

Emil Nolde

2007-06-28T21:23:00.000-07:00

Prior to New York and abstract expressionism, the hot bed of the art world was in Germany in its own expressionism. There were a few different groups going on at this point in time, die Brucke, die blaue Reiter, and Bauhaus ( actually more based on Dadaism). The members of die Brucke through experimentation made several breakthroughs in printmaking technique. Emil Nolde was one of those members. He made lithographs, woodcuts, and is perhaps better known for his paintings, but by far his intaglio prints are what stand out. Out of the entire die Brucke group he was the only one with prior experience in intaglio, and he kept his secrets to himself. It is known though that starting in around 1907 he switched from using copper plates to iron. Reputedly because he liked the shine of the iron plates.

2007-06-25T06:43:00.001-07:00

This is based off of a story I had heard the last time I went home. Evidently in times of war our military has the policy of paying people who bring in the fingers' of the enemy. Usually it is not our soldiers who get it though, after they do the work mercenary types who are sitting by watching everything come through and collect the fingers.

Bookbinding

2007-06-22T08:04:00.001-07:00

Alright, well decided to try bookbinding. This is my first book I made it under the guidance of Aldren A. Watson's Bookbinding: A Manual of Instruction. He's a stickler, but his writing style and instructions are very concise. The paper used is all paper that I made last semester. The gray paper is made out of lint processed in a blender, the other is cotton rag with some silk thrown in. I kind of like the lint paper its got all kinds crap in it from hair to bits of yarn.

Revolutionary Buttons

2007-06-11T20:29:00.000-07:00

Well here is a rather obscure fact about color intaglio. Shortly after LeBlon's invention of multiplate, after Newton's discoveries about optics, miniature multiplate images became quite popular in France in the form of men's buttons. The prints was bezel set under glass, and frequently they depicted scenes from the French revolution or more lascivious activities. The top button is an example of one of these print buttons.

Print Zero Print

2007-06-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

Just playing around with color layering on this one, this is done with one plate (errr... two, top and bottom). I would like to do some more runs on it and am still considering trying it, but my paper was getting ripped apart. I ended up cutting the printed areas out and chine coleing them onto a different support. I learned some stuff on this one. Hopefully the Print Zero people won't mind if it's a little rough around the edges.

2007-05-15T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well I finally actually had a serious conversation about my art here with one of the painting profs. He had some interesting things to say, most notably that most students he sees view art as being illustrative, but when he looks at my stuff he sees the opposite he sees illustration being viewed as art. He says those other people need to look at classical art history and looking more externally, but he thought in my case I need to be looking at modern art and much more internally. These were some of the artists he recomended that I look at. The top two are by Klee, the other two are by Guston.

Patron Saint of Printing Presses

2007-04-23T21:25:00.000-07:00

St. Brigid of Ireland is the patron saint of printing presses, I am not quite sure why, it really didn't seem to fit into her story at all.

Snowing Again

2007-04-16T16:37:00.000-07:00

We had another snow day today, it was snowing when I got up this morning at 8:00 am, and it is still going strong, very low visibility.

City Lights

2007-04-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Well last week was the day of the semester trip to New York, and my first time in NYC. I went off with my friend Amy (MFA ceramics) we ran through the Met, through the Natural History Museum. From there we took the subway to Greenwhich Village to meet up with her Aunt Ginie, we had a very good dinner at a small little restaurant. Then we took a taxi through rush hour traffic to only just barely make the bus back.

While at the Met we saw the Horse Fair by Rosa Bonheur, which was kind of exciting as we had just discussed that painting in history. Evidently Bonheur dressed like a man, and in fact had to have a special liscence to be a transvestite issued to her. Currently there is a theory out that her paintings were more than just horses, and that the unbearded youth in her paintings were in fact her (ie the figure that is almost dead center and is looking out at you)

Let it Snow, let it snow, let it snow

2007-04-08T10:20:00.000-07:00

Piranesi

2007-04-05T17:28:00.000-07:00

I have this sinking suspision that no one will show up

2007-04-01T22:22:00.000-07:00

10 of Hearts

2007-03-30T19:46:00.000-07:00

Ten of Hearts this one reminds me of circuses, but at any rate I tried taping some lace into my paper stencil to see if it would work to give a textural soft ground effect. I got some pretty good results with it.

Thoughts

2007-03-29T21:37:00.000-07:00

Today Dr. Partridge had me going through the questionaires/surveys from a guest lecture that she had sponsored. At first I was rather amused to find a survey from one of the Marywood proffs that read "It actually felt like a university for a day." I shared this with another MFA and we got a laugh out of it, but as the day progressed I started to become more and more bothered by this. After all the faculty are kind of like the DNA of the university, they are the ones who determine the character of the university and the students success is a direct mirror of the proff's abilities. This proffs statement raised the question that since this individual is such an integral part of the university then why aren't they doing something about it? Then I started to think about some of my own passive aggressive behavior, negativity, and about my work. Some of these thoughts centered back to the fact that the MFA's outside of their semester reviews do not really have group critiques. One of the adjunct profs had assigned us the task of trying to organize our own critique where we set the parameters last semester. The idea was met with tremendous negativity by a few people, it ended up lasting for six hours and was really a bit of a dud as far as critiques go, but rather than looking at what went wrong and learning and trying it again, the idea was dropped and ridiculed. Well I started thinking about something the Hoff had told me after looking at my work, that I'm a risk taker. I started thinking about that and I'm thinking about trying to set up another open critique thing.

2007-03-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well some anonymous commentator suggested that I look at the work of Demetri Bolaski. This is not him, in the course of the search I came accross this guy, Sergey Tyukanov, and I quite liked his stuff.

Resolution and Compromise

2007-03-27T14:13:00.000-07:00

My weekly review with the Hoff went quite well today, he was happy with the king of clubs. And I was also able to present him with a compromise on a difference of opinion between us. Next semester I had wanted to start work on a very large multiplate dealing with some of the metaphors involved with Genesis. He had some serious issues about the size and the amount of time such a project would take. At anyrate I stumbled across the work of Louis-Marin Bonnet in Colorful Impressions: The Printmaking Revolution in 18th Century France. Marin was so proud of the color that he had achieved that he also made prints of each stage in printing, and gave a little bit of a written account for what he did for each print. As can be seen he did this print using only a la poupe techniques, and only one plate. The Hoff finds this method more acceptable, and he seemed pretty interested when I showed him the book.

Cards

2007-03-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

These are two of my silk screened cards. Peter wasn't overly crazy about the three of hearts, for technical printing reasons. My registration is a bit off in the king of clubs I don't know how acceptable that is to the rest of the world. The hearts is a four color registration print, and the king is a six color registration. Both were done using a combination of paper and photo stencils

2007-03-24T13:02:00.000-07:00

Joel! You didn't show us the right way to handle a dust box!

"With the shelf out and the flap closed, the resin is shaken into suspension by swinging the whole box over one's head from side to side and then bringing the box down to the floor with a slight thump to prevent any granules from clinging to the sides. This action looks to the bystander like a herculean task...Besides, it is good exercise-which even artists need."
B.F. Morrow
The Art of Aquatint

I dare say my temper is improving here

2007-03-22T14:29:00.000-07:00

So I'm working on my silk screen stencils for my cards, and decided that some of my light weight chine cole paper could possible give an interesting effect in a paper stencil. So I go to my clearly labeled with my name drawer in the printshop expecting to be greeted by a bursting abundance of specialty paper, only to find my paper gone and nowhere to be seen in the room, in the grad studio, or even in the garbage cans, and somebody else's project in there, so I promptly threw it across the room. I might add the piece consisted of a masonite board with many half dollars glued on it, so there was a rather pretty shower of silver coins as it flew across the room. I imagine that I shall probably be hearing from the Hoff about this.

Guild Print

2007-03-19T16:07:00.000-07:00

This is my guild print, every year the Hoff puts together a print guild, basically a big printswap that also includes a small show. This is mandatory for the MFA printmakers and also costs us $10. We pretty much have to give up the full edition, the university auctions off the extras and pockets the money. I might also add that the $10 is going to Marywood envelopes, which he can get for free, and $5 frames that he purchased years ago, and keeps reusing from show to show.

Ferric Chloride

2007-03-05T21:28:00.000-08:00

Alright, I've been doing some research to try to find a way to refine the course bite of the ferric chloride. I may have found it. Ferric Chloride is also known as Edinburgh Etch, and research done in 1997 to try to eliminate the sediment created in the etching process also reputedly found a way to refine the quality of the etch to razorsharp exactness. And ba..ba..bum the magical mystery ingrediant is citric acid. I have yet to try it yet, but I plan on doing so shortly. The title should link up to the webpage where I found this info and much more, but if it doesn't this info can be found at: www.polymetaal.nl/beguin/mape/edinburgh_etch.htm

I think I was sleeping in History Class

2007-02-19T05:24:00.000-08:00

Evidently I wasn't paying very much in history, this morning I caught the Planet of the Apes on the History Chanel.

Card Project

2007-01-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

Alright, among my project is designing playing cards based off the historical views of the rulers represented by the suits. Traditionally the king of hearts was seen as being Charlemagne, the king of spades Julius Caesar, king of Clubs Alexander the Great, the king of diamonds was David, and the queen of hearts was Anne Boleyn. As you can see who the rest of the queens were has been lost to history as well as the identities of the Jacks.
I am thinking of doing Elizabeth I as queen of clubs, Boadicea as queen of spades, and Salome Alexandra as queen of diamonds. The jacks I am having a little bit more trouble with, so if anyone has any sugestions they will be welcome.