Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Half Spread

Finally a touch of wild colors and crazy things. Along with the urchin test and magnolia seedpod, I’ve added a weird drawing utensil. At least, I think it’s a drawing tool! It’s from the strange collection acquired by my dad and his mother. Eventually the bones will show themselves on the other page…., well, maybe. So far there is one bone and a tooth, but the rest is still in the works. I’ll be adding a few other things to the urchin page, shadows, maybe a shell. Time will tell.

I’ll be off to Eugene today due to a request from one of the therapist. Hopefully a good thing. 🙂

Adding & Testing

Rot Project Update: I always enjoy attending critique group and last night didn’t fail. Although my selection of current work was rather slim, I took four of the most recent paper cuttings. The big thing I took away from the group (something I already knew in the back of my brain) was the need to use my g-grandfather’s script rather than a font from the computer. This will require loads more work, but in the end it will pay off. Today I chose to play with acrylic washes over the current test which brought up yet another question: Is it better to create color washes over the paper prior to cutting or after? The above test does prove that it is possible to add color after, but special pressing and drying is required. However, all of the cut edges receive color which makes it look more finished. Just another thing to consider as the project moves forward. Goofy-nit-picky things, but it will make a difference in the final product.

Again, if you’re interested in learning more about the Rot Project, please click on the highlighted link !

Book Collaboration update: I’ve been working more on the full page spread, with color starting to make an appearance. Maybe tomorrow I’ll post a photo, depending on how far along I make it. It’s certainly more challenging to work on someone else’s book than my own!

Seedpods and Tests

Slowly, things are emerging on the full page spread, starting with pencil and eventually moving into color. I pulled out a magnolia seedpod and urchin test (yes, that’s the official name for the shell). Both of these items spend a most of their time situated directly below my computer screen, an area that is deemed safe. So far the cat hasn’t whacked them off the desk, nor has the dog attempted to consume them. Fingers crossed that I keep the door shut while I’m not in the studio.

I also spent a bit of time cutting a bird today. It seemed a shame to let the blue paper go to waste. Now all it needs is a frame, light and acrylic. High time to pull out the power tools and make a mess in the clean garage!

Collecting

I’ve finally cleared the desk in order to start working on Cathe’s book. The subject is “Collections” and I certainly have quite a few. Last week was spent sorting and tossing (donating) some of those collections in an attempt to clear out the garage. In the animal world, there is a rodent called a Wood Rat (aka Pack Rat). It loves collecting shiny things, things that are different, eye catching bits and bobs. They take these special items and stash them in their ever growing home. Yes, they do add on to their home to accommodate more stuff. They’re the mini-hoarders of the animal world! Sometimes I feel our home is a pack rat’s nest. I have loads of my old things, art in storage, plants, animals, magazines, papers and so much more. It’s been 20 years since we moved into this home and we’ve not had a good clean-out in all that time. The studio could also use a good cleansing, but sometimes it’s hard to part with materials. “Oh, I’ll need that for project X, when I get around to it!” Way too easy to put things in bins and stack them on another shelf. Clearing out my parents home after their death made me realize how much we hold on to. Yes, some of the items did come to my home, but a huge amount went to different charities. Now, I’ve been making a concerted effort to clear out our own items (or part with more of theirs) as I work through everything. I think it is slowly paying off with actually regaining workspace in the garage!

As I work through the garage, I’ve encountered boxes of my old ceramics and other art projects. I should probably have an art give-away party for my friends and let them enjoy the ceramics! Maybe for Dave’s birthday in late May…. Hopefully the Camas background will be leaving the space as well, thanks to another friend who wants to turn them into a room divider.

My desk is finally clear, but the cat has taken over my chair. Hmmm….. he’s part of the animal collection…. maybe he’s fair game to draw too!

I should also mention that we currently have a pack rat visiting our home nightly. Fortunately, it’s outdoors and only collecting seed spilled by the wild birds. I’m waiting to see if it eventually makes its way inside (in a dead state) by Nigel or Moby’s swift paw/jaws. Hopefully not. If alive, it will feel like it’s in heaven with all the goodies to choose from!

More than Beautiful

On May 3, 1891, my great grandfather wrote to his bride-to-be about some of the things he encountered while working in the forests of Washington State. He was the assistant geologist for the mining bureau. I’m not certain how they met, but he sent letters often via train back to Puyallup or Tacoma, wherever my g-grandmother happened to be. He was living in a camp near or in Carbonado, WA, on the flanks of Mt. Ranier. I’ve been looking back through his letters in search of a particular passage where he talks about walking through the pristine forests. “The scouting trip yesterday was more than beautiful, through virgin forests never polluted by the hand of man, carpeted with soft moss as far as the eye could reach. The immense trees rising in their majestic grandeur to the height of several hundred feet as straight as an arrow, not a branch for over a hundred feet from the ground.” Almost 124 years ago…. and a sight you’ll probably never encounter.

During my father’s childhood in Eugene Oregon (1930’s), he talked about a particular section of river that he and his brothers would camp along. He too would talk about the moss-covered logs, ground covered with sword ferns and all the ancient trees. Now, that particular area is totally underwater thanks to one of many dams.

As I work through the beginning part of the forest rot project, I want to feel a connection back to my g-grandfather’s experience: walking through the woods, encountering sights never seen by the encroaching population. I want to incorporate a portion of him into this project, even though he was a horrible man who eventually left my g-grandmother and child. I’m planning on cutting out the full quote, but not necessarily in one full run. Possibly short sections that are placed through the mixture of other cut paper. But time will tell if it really becomes part of the project. One thing I’ve determined, cutting words is very difficult on the hands.

Size: 12″ x 2″ (30.4cm x 5cm), 300gm watercolor paper.

Support Crew

Life continues to drift in and out of days spent with my brother in Eugene and trying to recuperate from energy spent towards him. I’ve had since Friday “off” but it’s now Sunday and I’m just starting to feel like possibly doing something creative. Friday, I was fortunate to spend a bit of time helping jury the initial applicants for the 2015 Art in Rural Storefronts. The town of Harrisburg Oregon has opened 3 windows for artists. The next round of selection involves town members choosing from the remaining applicants. I’ll actually be taking part in this portion as well. No, I didn’t submit anything, but it would have been fun. I figure two years of acceptance is good enough for now. My projects are way too labor intensive for what I take away. Maybe if I figure out something less crazy….

The above photo is of my attentive house crew. The only reason they are attentive is because we had bacon for breakfast. That always makes the critters so focused!

Below is another cut paper experiment created today. This time it’s blackberry brambles. The nasty things are popping up all over the yard and it’s going to be hard to tackle the majority of them. It would be nice to only have them on paper and not in the yard! The image is 6.5″ x 6.5″ (16.5 x 16.5cm).

More experiments to come!

Mulberry paper, Arches 300gm watercolor paper, balsa wood, glue.

Adding Light

When I started creating silhouette images of native (and some invasive) plants, I had wanted them to hang in windows where backlighting could increase the design contrast. Fairly quickly I shifted to creating lamps using papercuts, but I’ve struggled achieving a really good bond between the translucent and thicker paper (not to mention how long it takes to cut and assemble one lamp). Plus they are fragile. The lamps have sold, but not as quickly as I had hoped. They remain on the back burner for now. In January, I started playing with boxed birds. This was yet another take on the original idea but adding a fluorescent bulb into a wooden box frame. For now, this seems to satisfy what I’m wanting artistically, I just need to get better with my designs and increase my woodworking proficiency. It all feeds off one another and I keep circling back to the same general concepts.

Below is an image of my first serious silhouette piece. It’s titled “A Walk in the Woods” and was created for the Art About Agriculture show through Oregon State University in 2011. That year’s theme incorporated the forests to the valley. I didn’t leave the forest.

The boxed bird example from earlier this year.

Eventually it will all come together in this new project. I promise!

Starting something new

Finally my brain is ready to start experimenting with a new project. It will involve copious amounts of cut paper, mounted onto translucent paper and set into wooden boxes. It will also involve spending more time out in the forest doing a bit of research. Today was a testing day. I needed to determine a better paper than the thin black Canson I normally cut and how it will hold up with adding acrylic ink washes. The experiment landed on Arches 140# (300gm) watercolor, CP, and it did extremely well for colored ink addition (not at all surprising!) Now I’ll figure out if it can handle the mounting and framing process. I also need to figure out if my fingers can handle the work. Time will tell. Lots of figuring and more figuring to come!

The above cut is of a wood violet, with unopened flower. It’s not a design that will make the final project, but it is forest related. The outer dimensions are 4″x 4″ (10cm x 10cm). This is way too small for the piece to come. The smallest work will be 8″x 8″ and move up in size from there. The ink used was a Prussian Blue. For the project, it will change to some sort of dark brown with green.

Party Animal

Today is the birthday of an amazing artist, Rosie Scribblah. She posts daily sketches of her life in Swansea Wales. If you’ve not visited her site, click HERE. We’ve been blog friends for many years and actually spent a week together at Wingtip Press in Boise Idaho. She taught a multiple day workshop on Manier Noir drawing and Monotype Prints. Anyway, she is a huge inspiration and I adore her work (and cats too!). Nigel wanted to wish her a very happy day. I can’t imagine trying to get a cat to wear a party hat, so I placed one on his head in this image. He’s such a party animal!

Happy Birthday Rosie!

Micron pen, watercolors, A5 watercolor sketchbook

Passing the Blog

It’s official. I’m now the blog master for Philomath Open Studios! Last Monday we had our first group meeting for the season and the blog baton was passed to me. Kris Mitchell has done a wonderful job with pulling together so much information regarding the studios and visiting artists. This year, I needed to take a more active roll with the group since I lacked energy last season. I seem to vaguely recall a few odd things happening last year that disrupted the normal flow (attempting to run a website for another group, some installation art project in Halsey, death, you know…. those general sorts of things). I hope to bring in a different mix of ideas to increase interest of our event. Hopefully videos of artists in their studios, more photos, artwork, upcoming events and venues, and things that might help educate the general art buying community far and wide. I’ll try not to do much crossover on this blog, unless it’s really noteworthy, but I do encourage folks to check out Philomath Open Studios and maybe join the blog following. We also have a very active Facebook site too!

This year’s poster was designed by artist Kris Mitchell. She is one busy gal!