Filed under: painting, printmaking | Tags: abstract, acrylic, art, artist, painting, printmaker. visual arts, printmaking, woodblock print, woodcut print
Okay. Remember how I was complaining about the “dusting” of snow the other week? WELL. As those of you in the Northeast well know, now we had something to really cry about. Yes, snow…lots of it…before Halloween. I am lucky to be writing this email at all, as there are many people who are STILL without power. Can you imagine? Not good. Think, “The Shining” but with more, yet likely smaller, houses. Really not good. The scene of our backyard:
Looks worse than that last photo I posted, right? Now, I grew up in upstate New York for my elementary school years. Their snow makes our snow look plain silly. BUT…I do not recall EVER having snow in upstate New York before Halloween. It’s just not right.
I’ll stop whining now.
My son’s halloween costume, which he refused to wear trick or treating but was happy to wear at home in order to help dad with the mail:
No, I did not make that costume. I gave up for two reasons: 1. a crocodile was too complicated to make, and 2. I had a strong suspicion that he would not wear the costume in the first place. Don’t even get me started about the costume that I slaved over last year that he also did not wear. My child finds halloween too stressful. Hmm.
Art-wise…I think that this was a pretty successful week. I had a GREAT printmaking workshop with Catherine Kernan over the weekend. SOOOO GREAT. She does all sorts of crazy things with woodblock prints. I found her to be such a good teacher and very inspiring. Here are my prints from the weekend:
I like it! Next:
It’s odd how different the background paper looks, even though it was the same for all of the prints ( I mean the white area at the perimeter).
I saved that one above from being a muddy mess. Nice!
Catherine really liked that one above. It looks better in real life. Last print:
You can tell if you have a good teacher when the quality of your work really improves. I felt that this was true at this workshop. It was a lot of fun! All of those prints are made from just two blocks.
I also had some success with painting. Here it is:
My teacher really liked it. He had some helpful comments along the way. It also didn’t feel hard to do. I’m wondering if the fact that I was actually in a bit of pain at the time of doing it (think: big headache), somehow helped. Because of that, I wasn’t totally focused. My thoughts kept getting interrupted by my discomfort. This sort of quieted down any inner discussion about judging the work as it progressed, as my mind was preoccupied. Not that I’d like to be in pain when I paint, but I am wondering somehow if it actually was a help! Sound crazy? Perhaps so.
I like the painting anyway. Comments? Everyone have a good halloween? I think that I’ve consumed enough candy to last me until 2013 at least…not that I’m letting that stop me from munching on more “fun size” calorie bombs.
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slightly wonky 
Nice job on the wood blocks! They have elements of previous work you’ve posted on here, but these feel more finished. I am drawn to the top and bottom one and the orange one your teacher liked. Again, great job. I think you’re onto something.
Comment by lisa foster November 3, 2011 @ 8:46 pmOh, thank you!!!! That’s so kind of you. Yes, I really enjoyed the wood blocks, so maybe I’ll see where it takes me. Again, a good teacher can really bring out good ideas… thanks for your feedback!
Comment by slightlywonky November 3, 2011 @ 10:14 pmI can’t believe that the purple and black print was on the same paper as the other prints! It looks white in comparison. It’s so funny how one’s taste for particular colors really impacts their opinion about works of art. If I just saw the first print, it wouldn’t have grabbed me because I really care for neither purple nor black but the blue and orange and the orange and red really grabbed me!
The Snow Storm…let’s not revisit it. I have a new found appreciation for electricity and comfort…and Homesteaders!
Boo cracks me up about costumes, perhaps his fantasy world is so evolved already that he finds it ludicrous to need costumes to go with it. Maybe he should pick out costumes for YOU to wear and take YOU trick or treating instead….I bet he’d like that.
One word: Excedrin :o)
Comment by growingmuses November 4, 2011 @ 10:37 amYeah, I think that the camera adusts to compensate…thus making the background appear different in each photo. I’m sure that the more camera savvy know how NOT to have this happen.
I like your idea of ME having a costume. It may work. I wore his crocodile gloves trick or treating, and he was not pleased…I was such an embarrassment. Already???? Sheesh.
Comment by slightlywonky November 4, 2011 @ 1:17 pm