Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Fox Sparrow Continues

Couldn’t ask for a better afternoon to spend in the studio. Rain and generally blustery weather. Gusts should get upwards of 30-40mph tonight, nothing compared to my Welsh friends and their hurricane level winds. So, it was a good opportunity to work on the fox sparrow. I focused on darkening lines and removal of background linoleum. The block is only 4″x 6″ and composed of gold linoleum. I’ve discovered the gold variety to be a much nicer surface to cut or scratch with the etching needle. Getting around the delicate claws and feet of the bird will be a tad challenging. Maybe that will be for tomorrow. I’m not in a big hurry with this print. The deadline isn’t until April.

The love cards continue drying on the print rack. Dave was hoping to start writing in them this morning, but it will have to wait. Oil based ink takes a while to dry, especially when the studio isn’t super warm. Maybe Sunday. He spent the day at work so it’s not like he was around much anyway. The China trip is fast approaching for him. No, I won’t be going. Someone has to stay here with the crazy critter household. 🙂

Love

Start with a carved block

Add red ink

After a bunch of alterations and press issues, you get something like this

A little sloppy, but that’s how love is!

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Loading the Walls

Wednesday morning a small group from the Merry Inksters went to Philomath to hang a print exhibit inside Gathering Together Farm. The business isn’t open yet for the season, but they are having 3 big dinners at their restaurant around Valentine’s Day. The 6 artists exhibiting are Carol Chapel, Debby Sundbaum Sommers, Julia Lont, Victoria Martinez, Sally Oviat and me. The below image is of Carol & Debby hanging Julia Lont’s letterpress work. Sally’s beautiful letterpress poem is resting by Debby’s head.

There is one long yellow wall and part of the blue wall to hang work on. The sloped counter top is normally filled with fresh veggies, but most of the root crop and local wines had to be moved to gain wall access. My dogs took up residence starting on the blue wall and spread into Carol Chapel and Victoria Martinez. The photos progress down the long wall.

Victoria’s mandala block prints in the center.

Julia Lont’s Bluebird, Carol Chapel’s frog and the large monotype by Debby Sundbaum- Sommers (3 color separation).

Julia Lont’s letterpress grouping. Sorry about the glare, I just couldn’t get in a good spot.

I wish I had taken a close up of Carol Chapel’s Redtail Hawk. It’s wonderful! Since I didn’t please visit her website here.

Carol Chapel and Debby Sundbaum- Sommers

Me and my pooches. To see the dogs please check my website here.

We moved pretty quickly to get out of there since the river was rising. I bet the full parking will be flooded by this evening!

Gathering Together Farm will officially open at the beginning of March. The artwork will remain up until early April. Carol Chapel also designed and created the GTF sign in the top image.

Block work

How do studios become so messy? It’s just me in the space. No dogs allowed, no husband, just me. Yet, I can be a real slob. This tends to slow down production especially when I have multiple projects running at the same time. I’m finding it really is a bad idea to be playing with charcoal AND finishing off a paper lantern in the same space (like 3 feet apart). Charcoal will always win. So, this morning I spent time sorting and cleaning to avoid future problems. The charcoal has been put away for now and the lantern completed and safely stored. Ok, now what? What is the most pressing project that requires attention? Oh, that Valentine’s day block print! Is it something that could be completed by Friday? Possibly, if I get the Takach press involved. Hand rubbing the block doesn’t sound the least bit appealing. Check back on Friday for results! 🙂

Work has commenced on another small bird design. I’ll be using the linoleum drypoint technique again. So far I’ve transferred the drawing onto the lino and started scratching in the feet and legs. This might end up becoming the Leftovers VI submission. A long ways to go for this little bird.

Tomorrow we hang the show at Gathering Together Farmstand. 6 Printmakers will be represented. Looking forward to seeing everyone’s work. I’ll try to remember the camera and post images later.

Snow Day!

This morning at 7:30 I wandered outside in my big rubber boots to measure the snow: 10″ (25.4cm)! Incredible! More is expected as the day progresses.

The view of the bird feeders late afternoon on the 6th

Joyful dogs playing on the 7th. An early morning shot.

One of the many Song Sparrows visiting the feeders. We also have lots of Fox sparrows, nuthatches, chickadee, juncos… and several other species visiting today.

I started a sketch this afternoon, but didn’t make it very far. It’s based on a DaVinci image that I was intrigued by due to my friend Rosie. She took up the daily drawing challenge for February on Face Book and has been revisiting master artists work. Thanks Rosie for your inspiration. I hope to keep working at different things this month. Anyway, I didn’t complete it because the dogs tore me away for a romp in the snow. Anything to make them tired!

At 4pm, another measurement taken: 14″ (35.5cm) on the back deck! We’ve never had this amount in my memory (and I’ve lived in the Willamette valley my entire life!) And it continues to fall at a steady rate…

Above is the view from our living room looking out the 8ft sliding door. Below are the little bird feeders. Oh my! They have become Gnome Homes!

The image below is from under the deck looking out towards the juniper bushes.

I’m curious to see how things switch over to rain tomorrow and Sunday. It’s going to be a giant mess! We really hope the power stays on.

🙂

Snow

The computer models said we might be in the path of snow, but do we ever believe the weather folks? They were right this time. It started this morning and hasn’t let up yet. Our temp is around 22F (-5C) and we’ve accumulated over 5.25″ (13 cm ) of snow. I realize it’s just a drop in the bucket compared to other parts of the country, but it’s big for us. The dogs are enjoying it and dragging in loads of snowballs to gently melt on the carpet. Oh, how I love those furry guys and the gifts they bring in. *Sigh*

Below are 2 photos taken 1.5 hours apart. I had just put out a new bird feeder (top photo) at 8:30 am and was pretty impressed at the snow accumulation (bottom photo) by 10 am. Sure glad to make the little guys so happy. I probably should have stocked up on more food for us!

The dogs have been loving it!

I’ll probably be taking more pix as the day progresses. We don’t get snow like this very often and certainly not twice in one winter! This has already piled on more than we had back in December and it’s expected to continue all day and possibly into tomorrow. I wonder how I’ll get to work tomorrow….

Four years ago

It was a beautiful sunny day, just like today, that I sat in my mothers hospital room sharing the couch with my father. I watched him say his goodbye to her, knowing it was the final farewell. 50 years of marriage that would end during the early hours of the 6th. When he left the room I felt horrible panic, not knowing if I should stay or go or what I should do. She was no longer able to communicate and I felt lost. I had already told her about my journey down, seeing eagles and hawks. That was my way of connecting to her, through wildlife, plants, and nature in general. But I was left alone with her death coming closer as the clock ticked on. I think I lasted another hour or so before saying my goodbye. The rest of my siblings & her grandchildren came for their visits not long after I left. I’m grateful we all had that opportunity. I cried the whole way home.

As each year passes it gets easier knowing she isn’t there. I don’t relive the final 2 weeks leading up to her death anymore. She would have hated my current dog Moby and probably would have rolled her eyes at us taking on Reggie and Zeek for 18 months. She would have been happy to see all the artwork I’ve generated. When my father was diagnosed with cancer 2 months after her death, she probably would have felt justified for having noticed his health change over the past year+ before the doctors clued in. I suspect she would have been very proud of her grandchildren for where they are today.

Her daffodils continue to come up each year like clockwork. I will always miss her deeply at the beginning of February when she left us.

Chopping down doors

It’s a studio day and I’m so glad to be in it! There are 3 prints due on the near horizon and I need to move forward. Old kitchen cabinet doors have been super handy in the studio. They have been repurposed as ware boards for pottery, surfaces for burning and waxing paper, boards to help press hand made paper, and now backing for block prints. The plywood has held up to a multitude of uses and not warped.

After gluing down lino and waiting an hour to dry, carving commenced. I feel a tad ambitious to attempt skinny lines, but I just had to give it a go. It might not turn out quite a clean as I hoped. Guess I could always do it as a screen print if this doesn’t succeed.

I would love a little letterpress for just this sort of thing….

Moving on

Another one moving out the door? It may be so! This is the Oregon Ash tree inspired piece that surprised me with the heart shape created between two panels. I really hadn’t planned it out, but there it was. So far, I’ve only created 4 of this design. Two have real homes in Oregon, one in Florida, and the one above normally resides in my studio. It will be nice to see it move into a place of love. 🙂

Running out the door

I just wanted to show the finished piece before running off to Eugene. Everything is glued and functioning. Hurrah!

They really are a cozy light source. This will be going up on Etsy soon. Another maple leaf in red has already started…

🙂