Filed under: printmaking | Tags: art, chine colle, drypoint, print, printmaking, visual art
It’s been SUCH a crazy week. I spent the whole week preparing for a portfolio review, which was held today. SO INTERESTING. I met with four reviewers: Philip Prodger of the Peabody Essex, Dina Deitsch of the DeCordova, Katherine French of the Danforth, and Jane Young of the Chase Young Gallery. It was fascinating to hear each of their reactions to what I presented, and their suggestions of how I might proceed. By the end of the morning, my head was spinning with all of their comments and thoughts. So much to think about…
P.P. suggested that I consider learning aquatint and soft ground etching. I think that he liked what I’ve been doing with the carborundum in my prints, and thought that aquatint/soft ground etching would benefit me. Both of those types of printmaking require acid, so I’ve not been able to try them. I think that he felt that my work was interesting and had potential. He seemed to like the complex layering and gestural mark making.
D.D. really liked my drypoints, and wanted me to push this further. I showed her that small drypoint of my son, which is the print recently accepted at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking. I found her positive response to the drypoints really interesting, as I think of the drypoints as much more “conventional”. She felt that I could take advantage of my ability to draw and drypoint’s “traditional” aesthetic, and do something different with it.
K.F. was very positive, and said that I need to find the “right teacher”. She suggested that I consider a master’s program (gulp!). She said that my work was visually sophisticated (!), and on the edge of being really exciting. She also encouraged me to continue with the more energetic mark making that appears in my work. That comment seemed to be a running theme from the reviewers.
J.Y. helped me to understand more what a gallery owner is looking for. They are looking for a “clear voice” in the work. She liked the tension between the “uncontrolled” abstract marks in the prints, and my clean drawing that gets overlaid. I also learned how works on paper can be more challenging for a gallery to deal with.
I have so much to think about now.
Here are some of the new prints from this week:
This is a continuation of the “long” series of prints on Japanese paper. This paper had some existing marks on it, from previously toying around with some printing. The large, textured piece of paper is chine colle, which took the ink in interesting ways. I like the abstract vertical form.
and
This series on chairs got some interesting comments. I think that people responded well to the layering and textures. The icon of “chair” brought much debate/discussion. Several of the reviewers talked about “narrative”, which comes when one uses a recognizable form like this.
and:
and:
and:
This series was an exercise in restraint. Perhaps I have pulled back on the reins too far…but I wanted to try to work more “simply”. These prints are very much about “chance” and do not have any drawing marks on them. These prints got mixed reviews.
All in all, I learned so much. I know how important good teachers are. My teachers at UPenn for architecture were amazing. I absorbed an incredible amount in three years. I’d love to be able to do a fine art master’s degree. Maybe it isn’t as out of reach as I think! I can eat ramen noodles for a year…it will just be a year of being bloated and thirsty with an MSG headache, no prob. 🙂
Filed under: Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: art, artist, artwork, flowers, Garden, printmaking, tulip, Visual Arts
Believe it or not, some of the bulbs that I plated last fall have actually come up! Seriously. I have so little faith in gardening, that I thought that planting bulbs was a sheer waste of time for me. Not so! See!:
Don’t they look great? Granted, there are only three of them…and I actually planted eight bulbs. The other FIVE tulips were mysteriously decapitated. I’ve been told that this is squirrels. I have hard time believing that. I think that it must be the little person who lives in my house and calls me, “Mommy”. Hmmm…
Don’t they look great???? Trust me, I’m shocked. Here are a few other things growing, that I did not plant:
And also:
Of course, I’m just showing you the highlights. I’ve edited out the crabgrass.
I did another print:
I’m still on this long theme, with a lot of black. I think that the photo makes this one look uniformly black, but in reality, there is more going on. The black in the upper right area isn’t really black at all, but a dark green…somewhat translucent. This doesn’t seem to be coming through in the photo. Here is a detail:
I think that you can kind of see the layers in the black area. I like this one. I like the shadowy things barely visible in the dark areas…with just a few pops of color and lightness.
I’ve ordered a special brush to do the Moku Hanga printing (as shown in the last post). As soon as I get it…I’m using it! In the meantime, I’ll have to get some wood blocks carved. I’ll keep you posted…
Filed under: printmaking | Tags: art, artist, print, printmaking, woodblock printing
Well…I took a class in Moku Hanga this weekend. What’s that? WELLLLLL…it’s the Japanese style of woodblock printing. This is an old craft where people spend decades becoming experts in either print design, cutting of the blocks, or printing the blocks. So far, I’ve spent two days. I’ve got a lot to learn.
Regardless of this daunting history, I plunged in and made a few, simple prints:
I wanted to keep the design simple, and to work on color transparency to describe form. I also created a second print:
This was too simple, for my liking…so I worked on the first one with a few more variations:
That is hopefully the Japanese character for “box”. I decided that this was perhaps too much, so I scaled back:
I liked this one. Notice how wrinkled the paper is. We’re working with super fine paper which is damp. I need to rewet the paper, and dry it flat this time. I liked this print, so I did another color variation:
I enjoyed this, and want to try more interesting designs. It’s definitely not a type of printing where you can just wing it. There are so many complicated variables…how wet is the paper? How much pigment to use? How much rice paste? etc. etc. etc. I’m like Ralph Macchio in the Karate Kid…all impatient to be brilliant immediately. This was fun, though! Now, I’m itchy to carve more…(don’t talk to me about my allergies…I’m itchy because of that as well…)
Happy Mother’s Day!!!!
Filed under: printmaking | Tags: art, artist, print, printmaker, printmaking, visual art
So, yesterday was an interesting class with Christiane. I showed her my two, long prints. She helped me to improve them by giving them some focus. She felt (and I agree), that they were too busy. So, I reworked one of them…and painted it black!
Is it even recognizable as one of the prints from my previous post? I am much happier with it, even though I had to obliterate most of the print. But, we saved the good part, and got rid of the rest.
Then, this morning…I did another one. I think that this also has some potential:
It was hard to photograph these, as it’s a bit breezy…and they kept floating away. I’m relatively happy with this one too. The yellow bothers me a little…
Here’s a detail:
This idea of obscuring part of the print is so interesting to me. Not something that I had really thought of before. It’s kind of like an eraser for printmaking…a good solution for my rather busy prints. I’m going to keep this technique in my back pocket…
Here they are together (inside…because of the wind…)
I had originally thought of them as horizontal, but now I like the vertical orientation. Comments? Love the black? Hate the black?
There is a print show featuring Selma Bromberg at the Cambridge Center for Adult Ed, where she teaches. This is my printmaking teacher. In addition to showcasing her lovely work, there is also a part of the show that is student work. Please come see it!
The reception and raffle for one of her prints is tonight. Unfortunately…I can’t make it. BUT…I have a print up at this show! You can see all of the prints on this website. I know…the only qualification I needed was to be/have been a student of hers. But still! I now have two print shows on my wafer thin resume! This is the print that is up:
This is not a recent print, but one done at CCAE earlier this year. I like it! I like the layers, textures and colors…
Tomorrow is my husband’s birthday…Happy Birthday, John! I hope that you’ve been wanting prints for your birthday…’cause I’ve got lots! (JUST kidding) 😛
I’ve got some new prints. I’m working LONG on Japanese paper. I also did full bleed prints, which I like because you can be more loose about where the paper sits on the plate.
Yes, it’s another grey day outside, with not much light. Also, it was starting to rain as I took that photo, so I didn’t try to do a better job getting all of the sides to appear parallel. (details…details…) This one was somewhat successful. I wonder, though, if in the end…it’s just too much. Thoughts? Detail:
Yes, perhaps a bit much.
The next print was going along pretty well…but then I printed some orange marks (the big loops in the middle), which I didn’t like the look of afterward. I was trying to decide if this one is “done”. I probably should consider it done, lest it gets “too much”, like the previous print. My mother would say, “clarty”.
Detail:
On the subject of moms…not only is it Mother’s Day on Sunday…but it’s also my mom’s birthday today. Happy Birthday, Mom! She recently gave me a couple of photos of me when I was little. Does Photoshop have a “cute” filter? I thought not. Oh well. Look at the drool! Ech!
See that dazed expression? I still do that. Often. At least the drooling has stopped. Look at the double chin! That’s gone too, thankfully.
Now, check out these gams!
Yes…my legs haven’t improved much either. Sheesh. At least I’ve given up on all white outfits…and frills. No frills.
Happy Mom’s day to all! My son naturally asked when it was “children’s day”. I told him that it was his birthday. I’m sure that he felt gypped. Not to worry…he’s always scheming ways to get Grandma to buy him something. She’s like putty in his tiny hand…
Filed under: Collage, Fleeting thoughts..., printmaking | Tags: art, artist, Collage, print, printmaking, Visual Arts
So, I did a bit of a crazy thing. I signed up to have my “portfolio” reviewed by professionals in the local art world…gallery owners, curators, etc. The Cambridge Art Association has organized this. Each artist gets three, 20 minute conversations with three different reviewers. This seemed like a great idea when I signed up. Now, I’m panicking.
I realized, after signing up, that this is a very formal interview. Think of it as a job interview for artists. I thought that I could casually bring a pile of my work, and just talk about what seems to have potential. This is NOT what is supposed to happen. I am supposed to have a clear, coherent portfolio of around 8 works/images to discuss. I am presenting myself and my work, as if I was trying to get them to offer to show my work. This is…serious.
As a result, I am in a bit of a panic. What am I going to show them? Which one of these varied things is going to be my “thing”…my “artistic vision”? My vision feels blurry right now. I now believe that I must create something BRILLIANT in the next couple of weeks. When I puts this kind of pressure on myself…a kind of paralysis ensues. I’m freaking out. I also realize that I CANNOT mention this blog, lest they read about my panic. That wouldn’t be very professional, I think.
So, I somehow have to get my act together very quickly. I do wish that I could miraculously come up with some brilliant things in the next week or so. I have a feeling that’s not reasonable.
Sigh. Now, onto other matters of panic…
I’m taking a collage class. This also stresses me out. In graduate school, I took a collage class. It was traumatizing. I think that I have mentioned it before in a previous post. Anyway, I am hoping that this class is more relaxed, and doesn’t make me break out in a cold sweat every time I see a glue stick.
Here are the random things that I did in the last class:
We were supposed to do a collage about ourselves…in 20 minutes. That’s what I came up with. Hmmm…I won’t explain.
This is the next collage, where we had to use one entire page of a magazine to make the collage:
I kind of liked that one. This next one was supposed to be an “all text” collage. I was in a rush, as I ran out of time because I was chit-chatting with my classmates.
Kind of silly. This was sort of refreshing, though, as our collages in grad school ALWAYS had to be rectangles with clean edges. Yawn.
Here is the other color scheme of that lino print from before. I’m disappointed with it.
Okay, pay attention:
Has anyone out there done an “artist interview”? Any words of wisdom? I know. Don’t panic. Seriously…besides “not panicking”, anything else to think about? How do you decide what to present, when your work is so varied? Don’t say, “avoid participating in interviews”, or “get your act together”. That’s obvious, and not helpful.
Maybe I should wear a disguise and use a fake name…KIDDING (I think).
slightly wonky 