Margot bless her, was in the studio yesterday. After I spent about 3 hrs stressing out and failing to print dark black she offered to ink up my block. Apparently I had no idea of the amount of ink this block needed and I am a chronic under-inker. All my problems are solved! I am so happy that I am a printmaker and everything is going to turn out beautifully! YES!
So I am trying to finish up this residency and I am printing that huge lovely block that is photographed in my last post. I am having a lot of technical issues with it not printing dark enough. No matter how much I over ink it. I thought it was the paper because I think that the Kitakata paper can repel ink sometimes. So I picked up some Kinwashi and Reves neither had any better result. I think that the black ink is finicky by nature. But I have seen so many juicy dark black prints printed on bare paper. In fact it is the most classic straightforward printmaker look. SO WHY IS IT SO HARD?! I can ink a block well I know this but this just seems to be throwing me through a loop. Maybe because I have been working all afternoon the ink is starting to scum and because not enough ink is transferring onto the Japanese paper that scumming is starting to happen on the surface of the block as well. I think I am going to add a dollop of Rubber based letterpress ink to the fray and if that works hallelujah I will print all night. Otherwise I think I will clean up and call it a day…
So I have been thinking that for me the best sort of blog for me would be an art blog attached to my website. Something with an RSS feed that can support comments. I have heard that WordPress is pretty good for this sort of thing and my experiences with WordPress have been slightly less user friendly but very crisp and professional. I think it’s something I could get the hang of. I think what I would like to do is try harder to document my process. Get a camera and post regular pictures of how it’s going and what is involved in making the art. I figure visual people could use some photos. And I think it could encourage me as well. The attaching a blog to my website thing seems really complicated so I still have to work though the technical mumbo-jumbo before I get too excited.
Anybody planning on being in Atlanta on July 8th? I am having my residency show reception on that date and you guys are welcome to come. If you are interested shoot me a comment and I will hook your up with the details. Think “crazy trees” but twice as big and twice as crazy… In fact here is a picture of us (the print and I) with some of my printmaking friends.
LOL I am so tan in this picture!
I found Homer’s Odyssey read by Gandalf I know I shouldn’t call him that but I am only going to imagine the wizard reading me the story anyway.
I am so pleased.
Anyhow. I am finishing up my residency this month. I should actually finish carving my block tomorrow. Good grief that thing took me forever. The two other residents and I are going to be having a little 3 person show at the Atlanta Printmakers Studion Portal Gallery. The reception is July 8th if anyone is planning on being in Atlanta or would like to be in Atlanta that Thursday night.
At this point is am anticipating a mad art frenzy and a lot of lost sleep.
Oh just to get you guys excited gold leaf + printmaking.
SO I decided I needed a better more professional sounding email address. I am now hannah(at)skoonberg.com I am so pleased with myself you have no idea.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Ok so I have been trying to polish up my game on my etsy shop. I have had a pretty good amount of sales for someone who has done essentially zero marketing or advertising. So I have been reading up on ways to increase web traffic and try and improve sales. What I have heard, specifically in relation to Etsy is that a lot of people look at recently listed items. If your item has been up there a few weeks collecting cobwebs, the chances that someone is going to stumble upon it are significantly smaller.
So what I am going to do is list one new item every day for the next month. On the days that I have something expiring I will relist that one instead which although not technically a "new" item, will still sift me to the top of the pile for that day. I actually have a surprising amount of small prints and objects that I have never photographed or anything so I may be able to last out more than a month of a new item every day. I can’t promise life art but maybe someone can give them a good home. In anticipation of this experiment I have set up Google Analytics to monitor my etsy traffic, see where people are coming from and which items they linger on.
I also linked every picture on my deviantart that corresponding item in my store,and I am also trying out this facebook/etsy app which will make it easier to find my shop from my facebook page. Hopefully without harassing all of my friends and being a nuisance.
So if anyone knows me pretty well you already know that I am a huge fan of audiobooks while printmaking and Librivox.org a volunteer free audiobook public domain website. They do great work and it’s all perfectly legal.
But I have had a revelation. I can pirate any audiobook, even ones read professionally. And it isn’t exactly like the music industry is going to hunt me down for it either. So anyhow this has really expanded what I am able to listen to. Right now I am listening to Julie E Czerneda’s "Species Imperative" an exciting science fiction trilogy written by a biologist.
Getting to the point I was searching around and I found…
WAR OF THE WORLDS READ BY THE CAST FROM STAR TREK
I can’t even deal with this. I am so glad this exists, no words.
So back in high school I discovered the joy of burning music on CDs. I would also print CD stickers for them with whatever pictures I liked at the time. So years later, I have a CD book filled with loads of mysterious mix CDs with interesting art and no descriptions, that I burned ages ago and I don’t remember what’s on any of them. But I have been popping them into my player and having a serious nostalgia attack.
My old Windows 98 died when I was a freshmen in college and I lost a lot of music. I think I may have found it all… Don’t ask me why it took me so long to realize that I had burned CDs of pretty much everything.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
So I hear a lot of single friends bemoaning Valentine’s day as being hard on singles, anti-feminist, and one sided. In response to that I really like what the Japanese have decided to do. On Valentine’s day the girls give the boys chocolate and candy and then one month later they celebrate White Day were it is the reverse and all the boys give things to the girls (like western Valentine’s Day). And for people who were left out there is Black Day on April 14th where singles get together and celebrate singleness and eat noodles. No one is left out and they get 3 holidays instead of one!
I actually learned about white day from watching Pucca Love.
So I just finished printing my first run on our etching press at home. We have had the press for some time now but the room itself is such a problem I didn’t feel like I could do anything until today. Mom and I have slowly been chipping away at making the Studio a functional studio instead of a throw stuff in and close the door sort of storage room. Recently we installed some shelving…. A LOT of shelving. but somehow the shelves are already packed and there is still loads of work.
And it’s all art stuff. I know most people can contain their art supplies in a box maybe two but this is just out of control. We have loads of threads for weaving random fabrics miscelaneous plexiglass sheets of various sizes. Ancient jewelry supplies, brushes, knitting needles, every single freaking color of embroidery floss, dyes, silk, linen, tools, inks, watercolors, foamcore, hundreds of art magazines, shelves of art books, flat files full of art/papers, and of course a huge computerized dobby loom, the computer that runs it, the press, a sewing machine (broken) boxes of sewing supplies, silk screens, boxes, slides, projector, a sextant?, and a lot of things I have no idea what they are. This room is seems to have no insulation and very poor lighting. But slowly it is becoming a usable space and this is a triumph.
Tomorrow I am waking up at some awful early time and driving into the studio. Print the last layer for this rather complex 9×12 reduction print I have been working on. I can’t print this at my house because it is mounted linoleum and I need to use the Vandercook letterpress. But I have a key to the studio so I can come early. After that Mom and I are driving up to Suwanee Tennessee and visiting friends then we’ll drive up to Knoxville and look at the University as a potential first choice for grad school. Then we will drive back through the Smoky Mountains and take photos for my next project. I am exhausted just looking at the schedule.
So I have 4 BUSTED game cube controllers. These things have put up with years of abuse and well they are getting to the point were they are unusable. So I was talking to Ian about this and apparently there is one game that calibrates for broken controllers. You move your joystick in a circle and it registers that as your maximum output and adjusts. Amazing right!? What I don’t understand it why more games don’t have this calibration. The game that calibrates is F-Zero. Good job.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
So I am reading The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Heinlein. And I wish I remembered who reccomended it for me because I have been enjoying it to distraction. I think it was somebody at Snelling… probably that boy who always had a book in his back pocket.
Anyhow I am experiencing a strong craving for chocolate and drinking probably the best cup of Chai Tea I have ever had. I am going to have to ask mom about this. I make tea all the time but this batch is way better than mine. Mmmmm.
I am working on a piece of mounted linoleum right now. Or rather trying to, but updating LJ and looking at my novel with longing instead. It’s mounted so I can print it on the vandercook press and print a larger edition than I would be able to otherwise. I have a lot of little leaves that I am coping with. but it’s the last layer and it will be satisfying to start something new. I think I need to bring the massive linoleum out and make something amazing.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
I have been feeling sick today. Ugh. My throat is really sore right now and I have been drinking liquids all day long. Hopefully this will be improved tomorrow. But usually you feel better by the evening if it’s a 24 hour bug. But what can you do?
This Saturday December 5th I am participating in the Atlanta Printmakers Studio Open house. The event is from 3-7pm and I will be doing a letterpress relief print demonstration and GIVING AWAY FREE PRINTS. I know exciting right! The print I am giving away it a sweet little 9″x12″ Fall Hydrangea. Anyhow the APS Open House is some sort of studio/ art sale/ party. If you are in or near Atlanta this weekend everyone is welcome to come by. Also this event was featured in the Daily Candy and they used my snowy trees as the cover image!
My goal right now is make art for fun as well as serious printmaking. So I have been making cartoon pirate avatars for my Puzzle Pirate friends and carving my lino block. I think I am getting much more comfortable with the tablet even if cartoon pirates isn’t exactly lofty goals. Sometimes it’s nice to sit down draw something and finish it all in one go.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Ok so I just got the Atlanta Printmakers Artist Residency! I get a key to the studio for 6 months, a free class, and $600 for supplies. This is going to look amazing on my resume, like way better than an internship. This is just really awesome. I am going to try and crank up my production and stop being such a slow poke. Also I am herebye going to stop feeling bad about not having a job.
Tomorrow mom and I are going to drive up to New Jersey and pick up our etching press. We would have gone up sooner but we had to get the cars checked out (they have issues) before we went on a road trip. We will also drive up to Maryland and visit mom’s brother and sister. Then we play musical cars and borrow a bigger car to move the press around in. We have made a huge amount of progress cleaning the studio even if the shameful lack of insulation above the garage means the room is freezing cold. Yar
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Ok so my mom and I are getting an etching press! We found one for $1500 on Craig’s List that has never been used. It is a Dick Blick Master Etch with a bed size of 22″ × 35″. There is a bit of rust on the undercarriage but that should be easy to clean up and won’t interfere with printing. It weighs 200 lbs which is a featherweight for a press this size. The press is in New Jersey so we would have to deal with getting it but I just got off the phone with the seller and she seems really nice. She did get other offers on the press but we won her over with our story about being a mother and a daughter setting up a print studio in our home. She’s going to tell the other peeps that it is SOLD and we will work out the details.
Her press is an older model of this press with a baby blue paint job.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/blick-master-etch-model-ii-press/
What this means for me is that I will have a press here at home until grad school. At that point I won’t need it because I will have the school equipment and it will stay at home with mom. Even more important is that now that we have to set up a print studio we HAVE to deal with all the stuff that has piled in the studio over the years and make that room into a usable workspace. This is something we have needed to deal with for years. It’s still going to be a huge job but with a press coming there is motivation and it will get done.
On another note we found a little box turtle in front of our house. I think he is blind, his eyes look really damaged and I think he might be dying. He isn’t walking around at all but will pull into his shell when you pick him up.
So I just finished my little fern leaf notebook and my Veolciraptor notebook and they are up in my etsy shop
I am so happy with how my velociraptor came out! He’s just so cute! although I hear there is not much difference between a velociraptor kiss and a velociraptor bite.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
So for the next week my Aunt and Uncle will be staying with us. Jim is my dad’s brother and they are in from CA. But they picked a pretty hetic week to come.
Tomorrow I start my evening Letterpress class, taught by my favorite Margot Ecke.
Tuesday I am doing multi-block pin hole registration demo for the KSU printmakers.
Wednesday I need to make serious progress in my costume for AWA. I am going as Messenger Nia from Gurren Lagann
Thursday I work.
Friday, Saturday, Sunday is AWA.
I am also really frustrated with the internet. It just isn’t doing it for me. I am still addicted but no longer entertained.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
This is the best chocolate cake in the world. I am salivating just thinking about it.
Chocolate Pound Cake (16 servings)
From the Tallahassee Junior League Cookbook
1 1/2 cups butter, softened
3 cups sugar
5 eggs
3 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa (I like dark cocoa the best, but any type is good)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 8-ounce carton sour cream
1 cup boiling water
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Cream butter and gradually add sugar, beating well.
3. Add eggs, one at a time.
4. Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt.
5. Add to creamed mixture by hand, alternating sour cream, beginning and ending with flour mixture.
6. Mix well after each addition.
7. Add boiling water and mix well.
8. Stir in vanilla extract.
9. Pour into a well-greased and floured 10-inch tube pan.
10. Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes or until done.
11. Cool cake in pan for at least 15 minutes.
12. Remove from pan and cool completely
So if you are in the loop you know I was in Idaho recently for a family reunion. My aunt lives on Priest Lake which borders Canada and it is beautiful. Especially when viewed from the seat of a Jet Ski tearing around at high velocity. I took lots of pictures and ate lots of huckleberries. Now if you are southern bound you might not even know what that is. Huckleberries are a delicious relative of the blueberry, darker in color and more flavorful, but for some unimaginable reason they have not been able to successfully cultivate them. So you actually have to pick them when you are hiking in the mountains. This is one of my favorite things. My extended family just could not grasp the unbridled joy of picking berries. It just satisfies me deep down in my primitive foraging needs. I am sticking the pictures under the cut here
Pictures!!!
Star Wars Tantuan sleeping bag… complete with intestine printed lining.
Ok so I am going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks having a family reunion in Idaho. I am not sure how it will affect my internet connectedness but I’m not worried.
Oh and Julianne I was too mean to Anne Mccaffrey I really have enjoyed the last book.
So I have come to the decision that I enjoy shopping online way more than going to stores in person. I like reading reviews of items before getting them, I like having a huge selection and cheaper, I like getting things in the mail. Yesterday I ordered a stainless steel water bottle and I am retardedly excited about it. I am a lifeguard so I use one all the time. But still I don’t think I would be nearly as excited if it wasn’t arriving in the mail.
I think this has been a hard summer for me. I have been more moody and grumpy than usual and very unproductive today. I just feel like I’m flopping around. Grad school is like a feeding frenzy of printmakers applying for schools that only accept 3-4 applicants, and it looks like I get to take the GRE too. Even though it is not required for admission into art school a good score will maybe earn me some nice financial aid. I feel like I was useless today! I was going to photograph some of my waxy prints but instead I bummed around on the internet, staring at Beautiful Things on Etsy. I did however apply for a job today teaching chess to elementary school kids as an afterschool program for $15-$20 and hour. So even though it’s seriously part time I would be making about the same as I do lifeguarding. And I would be playing chess for money.
I have been reading a lot this summer and saying my pool is quiet is an understatement. Deserted would be a more appropriate word. So for 6hrs I get to chill out under an umbrella with a book and a super awesome water bottle, and for 2hrs kids show up and I actually do my job. Job is great, art… notsomuch. I have been avoiding printmaking or only poking at small projects.
What!? I have more! Today I have little pine cone notebooks on Etsy
They are pocket sized and $15
Ok so I have just listed my first set of notebooks with printed covers. They are cute, portable and only $15. I have only printed 5 so far but I can make more if these sell. Lovingly made with poor college friends in mind.
ETSY
Honestly I am pretty excited about printing notebooks like this. I mean I would want one! Any ideas for the next set?
Right now my dad is driving my mom to the hospittal. She is having some of the symptoms of a heart attack. I felt her pulse before they left and it was a distinctly irregular beat. I can’t even think. It may be nothing but she says that the irregular beats keep on going. I don’t know anything. I"ll post again when they call me.
Edit: so she’s fine. They want her to come in and do a few more tests but she’s back at home.
So I really like chess sets. I haven’t played chess in a while but I think that the game is beautiful and love finding beautiful sets. Now what kills me is how many people do not understand the importance of recognising the pieces. If you can’t tell at a glance which piece is which your set is unusable and unplesant no matter how "creative" you are. I have looked at thousands of sets (no exageration) and I think that I may only be able to get what I want out of a set by making it myself. (or support this guy) Maybe making my own set is a little ambitious but you get my point.
This is where I am.
Today I went snorkling at the shipwreck of a spanish galleon from the 1700s and there were loads of tropical fish hiding under the old cannons and anchor. There is so much sky here.
I will post more pictures later.
So I am looking into other items to offer in my shop other than my fine art prints. I am looking into journals. Now I can make journals from scratch in a variety of ways, and that’s awesome (and I probably will do that) but I can’t exactly sell them for cheap. What I saw some other people doing is they buy moleskine cahier notebooks (the thin kind) and then print the covers. I can make about $10 profit per notebooks and I don’t have to worry about limited editions. I don’t have to go to the post office I can just pop em in the mailbox. I think for me it is important to have something affordable and fun in addition to my more expencive pieces. What do you guys think? I have a lot of friends who want to support my art but can’t pop a bunch of money on a full print but they may be able to buy a $15 notebook. Ideas?
I just sold a print! $100 wheeeeeeee
Hurray! It’s the one I call Plum Blossoms
Now I get to get into my groove and figure out the best way to ship these suckers. The tube makes sense and keeps the art safe but because it is an irregular package it is actually cheaper to put the tube in a box. Bizarre as that may sound. I MADE A SALE! The smaller ones I’ll just ship flat. YAY!
