Art

engraving

my first engraving. i had been curious about engraving tools for a decade now, and finally fessed up and bought some. what really pushed me to finally try engraving was the books i bought from crown point press i had mentioned a few posts back. i decided to draw a mosquito because they're everywhere right now, completely inescapable. they're pretty disgusting too... this is my first proof. i ended up reworking the plate, cleaning up some of the lines and adding more texture and darkness. the second proof looks a lot better, but is still at the studio.

quit buggin' me!

the bugs are so bad this summer. with all the rain they're bigger and stronger than ever! this one's got the double stinger, he's not messin' around.

add some blue...

step three of my reduction print. the garuda is really starting to look wonderful! just two more colors, i think.

oxx

i love symmetry, yes i do. i love symmetry, how 'bout you? when i was working on this my nephew told me that some shapes were bigger than others. i'm the farthest thing from perfection. you can't free hand perfect lines and shapes!

excuses excuses

well... i'm still here. been working on prints, drawings and paintings. but- the weather was nice so i was going to the cabin a lot. and then the weather got bad and then nice and bad...repetitive storms give me anxiety. i have plenty of works to post, just haven't had power at my house going on five days now. so, i apologize to the three people that regularly check my blog! i will post some new stuff the minute i get my power up and running again!

step two

my second color for the reduction print. you can see the underlying yellow from 'step one'. next is either blue or red- keep checking for it.

international quilt museum

last week my mom and i went to the 'international quilt museum' in lincoln, nebraska. it was our first time visiting and we had such a treat! on display were beautiful traditional quilts along with some contemporary quilts by nancy crow. i was extremely inspired and revisit the quilts in my memory frequently. we stopped in the gift shop and picked up these great books. if you haven't been to the museum, you better get going!

step one-

step one in a reduction print is carving out the white areas. normally you should print light to dark - yeaye yellow! soon you will see the garuda - soon...

smelt roe

this is the current acrylic painting i'm working on. i started filling the space with these little tiny red/orange circles and couldn't help but recognize them as smelt roe. so, of course i was craving sushi for a couple of days.

celtic cross (green)

i'm still trying to figure out which painting/drawing i should do my first solar plate with. i'm thinking this would be the best bet because of its simplicity and one hue design. hopefully i can put some time in this coming week on it!

oh my!

I have had these books on my wishlist for a while now, but a couple of weeks ago i found a deal i couldn't refuse. The first book "Magical Secrets about Thinking Creatively: The Art of Etching and the Truth of Life" is all about the etching process. The second "Magical Secrets about Line Etching & Engraving" is so beautifully illustrated and written. And the third "Magical Secrets about Aquatint: Spit Bite, Sugar Lift and Other Etched Tones" is equally as fantastic as the other two. It's like falling in love with printmaking all over again. A big thanks to Crown Point Press for putting out the books and being a great source of inspiration since the first day i went there back in 1998!

polaroid

i did this the other day for my friend jenifer altman. she's been working so hard on a book of polaroid photographs "for the love of light". this was a last minute detail, but i just wanted to hang out with her and her family.

garuda V

i think this is my last garuda - at least for a while. i finished this painting last night and started on my reduction woodblock this afternoon at the Guild. the print will be mostly this garuda body, but different in the face. soon - you shall see...

celtic bird

as you can see, i'm still on my celtic kick. i was hoping i could transfer this to a solarplate, but it's too big for the plate. so, i'll either shrink it down or do a different one. tough call...

garuda IV

still painting my garudas! i like this one better because he's orange...

bye bye

just saying goodbye to 12inches of my hair. it feels pretty weird still... i'm sending this braid off to locks of love!

abstract celtic cross

i couldn't help but do more with the celtic cross. the colors matched, the composition was already there - it was too obvious. i think this one is finally done.

black heart

when i was out in s.f. i had a request for a black heart on a red shirt. it's a little delayed, but here it is! i hope cindy likes it...

garuda III

as you can see i keep drawing/painting these 'garuda' guys. i have become strangely attracted to them, and the idea of them. they are protectors of images.
i'm trying to find the perfect drawing for a woodblock print.

revisiting Hokusai

this is just a little sketch from a Hokusai woodblock print. his prints are absolutely amazing and his compositions are wonderfully orchestrated. this particular print was the basis for a woodblock i did last year and had great fun with.