Palate Cleanser

When dining at a fine restaurant, a neutral flavored food is often served between courses to clear the palate from one flavor to another. I view print exchanges in a similar way. After working on an involved long drawn out project it's a nice change of pace to do something on a small scale, to keep the studio momentum going, without becoming overly involved time wise.

"Abracadabra"

When I came across the announcement for the Wingtip Press "Leftovers VII" Print Exchange, I knew it would be a fun change of pace.

The premise of  the "Leftovers" exchange is to put to good use some of those many bits and pieces that one always has lying around the studio.

In addition, the exchange benefits a good cause; one of each print submitted will be auctioned off  to benefit a hunger relief task force.



I always have small scraps of Solarplates tucked away, as well as odd sizes of paper. Just what is needed to turn out a small edition of tiny prints.

It didn't take long to have the edition printed.

This morning I dug out my watercolors and added a bit of hand-coloring. All that's left to do is fill out the paperwork and pop these in the mail.

There's still time to submit if you're interested in participating.

Finally finished.

Gifts - Photopolymer intaglio collage monoprint.

Finally! After a day in the studio, I'm ready to call this piece finished. Hand-stitching secured a few grass twigs to the nest print and a few well placed stitches anchored the crocheted nest in place.

My intention was to juxtapose an image of Nature's handiwork with a hand-made attempt at reproduction. No matter how clever one is with their hands, you can't match the beauty of the natural world.

Offering

"Gifts" was created as a re-envisioning of an earlier print -  "Offering". Both will be part of a group show entitled Vision / Revision.

I wanted to make a strong reference to Offering, but rather than producing an edition, I decided to experiment with layering prints to create a monoprint collage. As the piece evolved, it was refreshing to play around with options and turned out to be a good way to work when there were so many starts, stops and interruptions.



Time to clean up the studio and start fresh for 2017.

New Year - Old Business

Like everyone else, I was swept up into the end of the year frenzy of family obligations and festivities. Time in the studio was scarce. With the new year well underway it's high time to finish a pending project so I can start anew.

The deadline for an upcoming group show at the Center for Contemporary Printmaking entitled Vision / Revision is fast approaching. Two prints will be shown side by side; one a re-envisioning of an earlier piece. Playing off of "Offering", a traditionally printed edition, I wanted my re-envisioned piece to be more experimental and decided to create a monoprint collage. 

"Offering" and re-envisioned monoprint under construction.

The new piece is composed of two separate images to be mounted as a single print. Both are photopolymer intaglios.

I struggled a bit with an image to compliment the nest image...

... and finally settled on this.

I'm in the process of cutting into and assembling various prints into one hopefully cohesive piece.

I also wanted to add dimensional elements so I experimented with crocheting a nest. After a couple of experiments I decided to go with the one made with finer thread.

I plan on stitching a few grass stalks onto the nest portion but I'm currently at a standstill trying to decide how much layering to do.

I'm not sure if I should include the printed arched cutout of netting or omit it.

I'm so close to finally resolving this that I need to step away before making my final decisions. I think I need to head to the beach for a change of scenery and hopefully come back with fresh eyes.

Sooner or later I'll be able to pull it all together.