I'm making good progress on Papers Revenge! I finally have the first plate carved. This will print either black or a dk. brown. Here's some pictures of the progress.

I decided to make the pully very rustic with a wood grain.

The rock was a challenge. I think I can make it look more convincing once I get some color added. The rock was the hardest part.

Here's a close up of the wood grain of the box.

Now on to the color plate. I think I'm going to use a red for the inside of the box. That should make the piece feel more ominous!

I'm back to work on "Papers Revenge". I've had a really difficult time working since my last post. I have cronic "dry eye" syndrom. The eye drop medication "Restasis" helps with it a lot, but it still causes me quite a bit of trouble. Of course, computer work is a large contributing factor. I have to make sure that I take a lot of breaks away from the screen. For the past year I haven't been able to read books, so I've been enjoying books on CD (which I think I like better anyway). When I'm have trouble with my eyes artwork is also out of the question. If anyone out there has the same condition and has any tips I'd really appreciate it!

Anyway, back to "Papers Revenge". I started carving the string and scissors. I'm not sure right now how to handle the rock. The black is just a marker that I use so I can see the cuts better.

I'm really liking the textures in the string, but it took an increadibly long time to carve!

I've been a little slow starting this, as I said in my last post, I've been preparing for my summer festivals coming up. Sending in paperwork (and money) isn't exactly a good time but it has to be done!

Back to "Papers Revenge". I started by taking a few reference photos. Truthfully, I just discovered that I like to tie things up. I know, It's a little disturbing.

I think I'll end up changing the shape of the rock a bit, and maybe the look of the scissors to be a bit more interesting. That's an artists prerogative after all.

I made a simple sketch of this piece. Notice that I moved the scissors down from their original position.

Carving started last night. I'll start with the string and move on from there. I don't know exactly how I will handle the box in the background yet. Unlike "Testing Gravity" I think I will keep the colors in this one more muted. We'll see where this goes!

TGIF! It's been a long week. One of the galleries that represent me called yesterday and requested more work to hang. That's great news! It means that things are starting to pick up again (I hope). I need some revenue. Summer festival registrations are going to be due soon, and that's some serious "ching"!

I've been thinking about my next project. The last 3-4 pieces that I've done has incorporated "string" in one way or another. My thoughts at the time were to use string symbolizing connections, restraints, ties, etc.

I've had this obssesion with "Rock, Paper, Scissors" for quite some time now. I keep toying with different ideas. I'll doodle something in my sketchbook now and then, but have had trouble coming up with something really original and different.

By George I Think I've Got It! This time I'll use string as the "tie that binds". My idea is that maybe I don't need to show all three elements. For example, what if paper decided that he was sick and tired of always being smashed or cut? Would he get his revenge and strike out to find a better gig?

Right now I just have some very rough sketches, but I hope to work on refining my idea this weekend.

Stay tuned! I'll have some sketches to share soon!

Finally!

I think this image has been one of the most involved prints that I've ever done, but I really like the way it's turned out.

I always feel really good when I finish a project. I can finally get everything cleaned up, put away, and get my work area ready for the next project. Believe me, I have plenty of ideas just waiting (I wish I could say "patiently"), to materialize onto paper. I think I will give myself at least a few days before I start something new.

As I said in my last post, I wanted this print to look somewhat rustic. I chose a dark brown color for the final layer.

This print is also one of the largest that I've done so far. The image size turned out to be 10" x 25". After I weeded out the ones that didn't print well enough or register properly, I ended up with an edition of 22. Not too bad!

It's been a busy weekend. My sister, neice, and nephew came back from Green Bay to visit. We had a "girls" day on Saturday which was really fun! Shopping wine and a movie. You can't beat that combo!

I also found out that my solo exhibit in Lanesboro, MN is doing really well so far. I've sold 6 pieces so far, so I spent most of the day Sunday framing and packaging replacements and I'll send them today. It would be great if this momentum could continue until the show closes in April!

I was also able to get the color plate of "testing gravity" done. It looks like a real mess right now, so I hope the colors work well once I get the final plate printed. I find it really difficult to blend oil based inks on linoleum so the color looks smooth, but that wasn't an issue this time. I wanted the brayer marks to show so there would be a lot of texture and look VERY rustic. I'm excited to see the final result!

I finally have my two plates for "Testing Gravity" carved and ready to print! I've been trying to get that done and get ready for my solo show in Lanesboro, MN coming up Feb. 11th. I was hoping to get the new piece finished for the show, but I found the other day that I was out of paper! It should be delivered soon, but it would still be too much of a push to get it done in a week.

The linocut on the left is the main plate, and the linocut on the right is for the background colors.

Here's a close-up of the text. I'm really happy with how it turned out!

If anyone would like to stop in February 11th for the opening reception, I'd love to see you!

Wow! I didn't realize it's been so long since I posted! I think I pretty much just floated through December with nothing much to show for it besides a few extra pounds (or more) from the Holidays. I still can't believe that we still have no snow here in Iowa! Most days we barely need coats in the afternoon. It's strange, but I love it. I'm just hoping that Mother Nature doesn't come back with a vengeance come art fair season!

I finally returned to my current project "Testing Gravity" last week. I've been doing a lot of thinking, but not doing much. Here's some pics of the progress so far. This is a little blurry, but I have some good textures in the string.

The fork was rather difficult. I didn't know quite how I wanted to render it. Metal is really hard to represent when there are no grey tones. I think it turned out alright.

 (More)

I haven't posted in awhile. I've been a little burned out and without inspiration for the last couple of weeks. A few days ago I was given an opportunity to have a solo show at the Lanesboro Arts Center in Minnesota and I accepted. This is kind of a last minute thing. The show would start in February. Luckily I have a lot of work already framed and ready to go from another show I just finished.

Anyway, I'd like to get a few new pieces into the show if I can work fast enough. There is an idea that's been rattling around in my head for awhile now. I'm going to title it "Testing Gravity". I have this image in my head of a pear hanging from a string and sharp forks waiting to for it to fall. I used a pear because I guess it the fruit that seems most human to me. I don't exactly know why that is. That's as far as the idea has gotten. I was playing around last night and took some reference photos. Usually that helps the process. Here's how I abused my pear.

And then I ATE IT!

I've just uploaded the final image of "Shiny Things" to my website. I also reused a section of the plates and made a shorter version. Here's the final products.

The second piece was printed on a tan Rives BFK paper (which I'm starting to love to work with). I ended up using a very dark brown ink for the crows. The marbles are all hand painted.

I had to share this today. I usually make a point to close my studio door, but on a few occations will forget. Last night I walked in to do a bit of cleaning up from my last project and this is what I found.

Apparently "Fang", our lovable but oversized kitty (22lbs to be exact), decided that since everything else in the house had a layer of his hair covering it the new press should too. I was one step ahead of him for once. I anticipated this and If you notice there is a piece of cardboard covering my blankets. Bad Kitty!!

The Macnider Art Museum in Mason City, IA is now showing an exhibit of 12 works by Mauricio Lasansky. If you aren't familiar with Mr. Lasansky's work it's work looking into. If you're a printmaker his work is a "MUST SEE"!
Lasansky is considered to be a forerunner in the evolution of the graphic arts as a critical art form and has become recognized as one of the "Fathers of 20th Century American Printmaking."

Below are a few of his pieces that are showing at the Macnider Museum.

Left to Right: Sol Y Luna, For An Eye An Eye 1, Landy In Blue, The Artist Approaching Middle Age, and Kaddish #8

His work has always been a great inspiration to me, especially since he has such a strong connection to Iowa. Mauricio Lasansky was invited to establish and teach at the printmaking workshop at the University of Iowa School of Art and Art History in Iowa City in the 40's. To this day, it serves as a model for numerous other university printmaking departments.

He also has a gallery in downtown Iowa City that I would love to visit. This last summer I participated in the Iowa Arts Festival and my tent was located right outside of his gallery! It wasn't open. I think it's by appointment only, but I must have looked suspicious, and maybe a little pathetic, with my nose pressed up against the tinted window trying to catch a glimpse of something. I hope no one was in there!

There's a great interview with him on You Tube made by the Univerity of Iowa you should see.

http://youtu.be/n8VmsgC53nA

I'll close with a quote by Lasansky from his teaching years:

"I tell students to stick their hands down their throats and reach into their stomachs. What they bring up is a lot of crap, but it's their crap."

"Recognizing what makes their "crap" their "crap" is the first step."

I used the new press to print the last color of "Shiny Things" and it worked great! The crows are a dark, slightly transparent, grey color. I decided to use grey instead of black so the crows might look a little softer. I didn't want them to look too harsh.

Here they are all lined up like good little soldiers! The next and last step will be a little hand coloring in the marbles themselves.

I've been so excited to give my "new to me" press a try. It tooks some time to get it into the house. It's a lot heavier than I thought it would be. After we (and by we I mean my husband as I watched) had it all set up and ready to go I realized that I forgot that I will need press blankets for the larger bed. Luckily it only took a few days for delivery and I was ready to go! After I figured out the fine details I went back to work on "Shiny Things" and am very happy with the results! You can see my old, much smaller, proof press in the background.

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• Papers Revenge - First Plate Finished
• "Papers Revenge" Progress
• "Papers Revenge"- Beginning
• String Theory
• "Testing Gravity" Completed!
• "Testing Gravity" Progression
• All Carved and Ready to Print
• Solo Exhibit in Lanesboro, MN
• "Testing Gravity" Revisited
• Testing Gravity (How I Abuse My Pears)

• "Shiny Things" Artwork Progression [6]
• General [8]
• "Papers Revenge" Artwork Progression [4]
• "Cats Cradle" Artwork Progression [9]
• "Testing Gravity" Artwork Progress [5]
• Art Festivals [3]
• Experiments [1]