Thursday, October 13, 2011
So graduate school is in full swing over here in Tennessee. I got a chance to try wood engraving for the first time! It is a very different experience. Instead of carving areas, you create your image with line and you work on end grain wood. Which mean the wood grain runs perpendicular to the carving surface so there is none of the chipping or splintering you usually have to deal with when you work a wood block. And as an extra special bonus, end grain engraving blocks just happen to be type high so you can print them on the letterpress. 
Anyhow this is my first engraving, so it’s not perfect or anything but I love the medium so I will definitely carve some more.
I am going to be starting graduate school at the University of Tennessee this fall (in about a month). I’ll be going for an MFA in printmaking. Tennessee was definitely my top choice in school and it has a very close knit printmaking group. The school has a total of 9 print grad students and they accept 3 new incoming grads each year. Despite being a very small program UTK printmaking is ranked 4th in the country. And they have this amazing etching press with a press-bed that is literally 5 feet by 10 feet. This is all very exciting and nerve wracking.
I managed to get a work study job in the University letterpress studio. This was a stroke of good fortune for me because I have letterpress experience so my new professors recommended me for it. Which has great pay, only requires 10 hrs a week and it literally in the same building as all of my classes/studio, oh and it’s an experience that I can put on my resume! Here is a picture of the letterpress shop. The have managed to fit quite a lot into a rather small room.
I have found a room in a sweet little shared house. Just South of Knoxville and across the Tennessee river. I’ll post some pictures of it as soon as I can.
Because my last bookmark was so well received I have made another one. This time it is a carrot! I figure it would be nice in a cookbook but I’d probably use mine in novels… It’s a simple image but I am very happy with how it came out. It is just nice to carve something reasonable and not monstrously difficult for a change. I also like the long narrow format. Grab one on Etsy
In other news my printmaking studio had their 2nd Annual Print Big Steamroller print event. And it was awesome. We had a bunch of the local Atlanta colleges, some art groups and high schools each submitted a 4 foot x 8 foot block which we printed in an outdoor festival atmosphere with a steamroller. This is a photo of the SCAD block which was particularly good.
Here is the Moku Hanga print. I think the printing is imperfect but it’s not bad for a first try. I have been asking printmakers advise on forums.
This is the image I am using for the moku hanga. It’s a photo of Lucy’s Field in the snow.
So I finished carving my first layer and despite my concerns it seems to be holding up pretty well. My ink application skills and ink/paste ratios leave a lot to be desired. I seem to be going back and forth between the sesame seed printing and so much ink that it is blurring off the lines.
I decided to do the traditional color separation where you glue the printed keyblock face down on the color blocks. You can see through the translucent thin paper and carve through it. I am only doing two colors but I wanted to try this. But I did not use a strong enough glue. So as soon as I started carving the paper started coming off! I was able to cut the lines with the knife so I was able to get the outlines cut and the registration should be ok. But it was a bit frustrating. I am back to pencil on bare block. I can manage that.
There is my proof. The black ended up being a grey because I was grinding my own sumi ink from a solid brick and I don’t think I did it enough. Fun times.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
So I am attempting my first moku hanga woodblock print. I have spent a lot of time thinking about moku hanga and the problem is that all the specific supplies that it calls for are imported from Japan are very expensive and I have no teacher. Regardless I have decided to stop puttering around and just make do with the supplies that I can get. I’ll see how it goes and learn something…. probably the hard way. I downloaded an ebook from David Bull called “your first print” and it was pretty encouraging.
And it is proving to be a real challenge. I am pretty good at carving linoleum BUT I have significantly less experience working on wood. And I decided on a design that was way too intricate. So I am having bits and pieces flaking off. I am going to finish it anyway. Because it is a small block and I want to try printing but I am concerned that it won’t hold up for any real editioning. I think if I want to do this kind of detail in the future I need to get harder woods than the shina basswood.
The Japan bookmark has been a huge hit. I have managed to raise $335 for tsunami relief!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
I am sure everyone is watching the ongoing news updates from the earthquake/tsunami disaster in Japan. Watching all the devastation is very hard and especially the the footage of survivors desperately looking for loved ones. With the nuclear problems unfolding we can’t even know how bad it will get in Japan before it can get better. In response to the Japan tusnami I have made a small bookmark linoprint. I am selling them on etsy and donating $5 to the red cross for every bookmark I can sell.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/70123072/tsunami-bookmark-japan-disaster-relief
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Last night a very serious snow storm hit Atlanta and we got about 6 inches of snow. Took some pictures this morning. As much as it was beautiful and fresh I really hate being cold. So I scurried back inside.
My carving is going well and I am almost finished with this layer. Although I am still unclear on how I can manage my frustrating printing issues other than sweet talking my way onto using a larger press. Not outside of the realm of possibility but I’ll have to call in a favor at the local university’s printmaking department. Crossing my fingers on that one.
I’ve been spending a lot of my free time buried in my new Christmas ebook reader which is pretty wonderful. I like the idea that it could save all the space you would need for a library. Nothing against romantic bookish reading areas but I am feeling a little techno crazed ATM. When I decide to live out my childhood fantasy of living in a small treehouse. That will be one less thing for me to worry about. LOL like that will happen. Can you imagine me dragging a etching press up into a tree…? Treasure the thought.
On the textile area my mom and I have discovered that the most affordable way to get fine exotic yarn is to shred sweaters from the thrift store. I understand that this isn’t exactly a secret and a number of people are doing this already but it’s unexpectedly exciting. At least for me. I think it taps into the inner cat. The part of you that wants to play with yarn and destroy something at the same time… Anyhow together we have shredded 19 sweaters and gotten some very lovely Marino wool, cashmere and silk out of the deal. So hopefully we can crank the weaving thing into a higher gear. Without the unreasonable cost of supplies.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
This month I am working on grad school applications. Something that really stresses me out. And university website designers are very much on my bad list right now. I have about exactly a month till everything has to be sorted out and sent in. At least I figured out which schools I am applying to and contacted all my professors for letters of recommendation.
In other news I am still carving that beast of a huge lino print I started a while back. I am about 70% carved on the first layer.
Every year on Etsy I see a bunch of handmade calendars. It always makes me feel jealous and left out. The problem is that nobody is going to spend more than $40 on a calendar (more like $35) and there just isn’t a way to do all that printmaking without a huge loss. And then unlike other editions this calendar would expire and your stuck with however many didn’t sell. And there is no guarantee they would sell well. I have seen people jump these hurdles buy making very small calendars on the letterpress with polymer plate images. More effectively I have seen Ye Haw Press do a single image with tear away calendar months. The problem is that I am not wild about tear away calendars even when they are clearly the most reasonable solution. Something about how they poke out from the surface. But TODAY I found this seller
Not that I would approach the calendar problem as an embroidery project. But the movable and re-attachable numbers means that you could use this for as many years as you like. A perpetual calendar… I could print an awesome single relief print which includes the grid square, back the print with a magnetic sheet and make the numbers into little magnets. I am still working out the kinks but because it isn’t year specific it wont matter if everything sells the first year.
Opening night at my first one man show was a huge success. The show should be up until the end of November so anyone who missed the opening night can still visit the art. You can get directions and hours from the Lampe-Farley website. I also have to mention my good friend Emily who made this show possible. THANKS YOU ARE AWESOME! Also the good people hosting me here have decided not to take any cut of sales so I have not had to jack up any prices like you usually see at galleries.
So here we have the 6×6 project as a window collection. Some of the prints are facing inward and some are facing the street.
This is the pressed flower collection that I was working on in my last post. Here they are all finished and framed. They are currently scheduled to show at Get This Gallery in Atlanta some time in January.
My residency triptych is hung in the front room.
And the rest trickle down the hallway.
