Sticks, Stones, and Paper Stew Blog

Mystery Screen: color 5 and finished

Well, the mystery certainly left in color 4. So, here is the fifth and final color.

The ink wasn’t dry when I took the shot so there happens to be a bit of glare from overhead lights and doesn’t look very dark. But it’s finished. It’s so finished I’ve already signed and bundled up the ones heading to the Leftovers exchange. I guess Moby IS my leftovers- counter- surfing guy. Kind of fits the print exchange title. 🙂

Now on to working in black & white… Rogue, you will be finished this week!

Thanks for watching the progress!

Mystery Screen: color 4

It’s not much of a mystery any more.

Yes, this color certainly brought out the “dog” in the print. I’ve been having fun working with the same container of ink but just altering the values as I go. Add a little more blue, more red, more extender and there ya go. Mr “Counter Surfer” extraordinaire with his big fat nose right there, waiting for something to “jump” into his mouth. He’s tall enough to turn his head sideways and lick things right off. What a nut!

Mystery screen: color 3

Here is color 3:

Since this is the beginning of the year and I’m trying to get myself better organized, I’ve started to finally keep notes on paper I like for printmaking. So far, my preference is leaning heavily to BFK Rives for screen and etching processes. It accepts ink evenly yet continues to lay flat and not warp. It also has a smooth texture and feels so lovely (a big part of why I like paper so much). It’s also good for drawing. Some of my other papers participating in the print edition are funky… very funky! They won’t see it past my studio doors! Ok, they will see the interior of the recycle bin! Ha!

This print will become part of Leftovers IV print exchange.

Discovering Lost Blocks

April is looming! Especially since I have a 2 person show of dog prints and my print portfolio hasn’t increased much over the past year. You may think that’s months away, right? Well, I don’t work quickly on prints when my brain is taxed with other events. To help clear mental cobwebs, I spent a little quality time last week cleaning out flat file drawers. There I discovered a missing unfinished block. Actually 2 of the same dog (Rogue a border collie). I vaguely recall getting rather discouraged with the image and starting over. Now I need to decide which to finish.

Block #1:

Block #2

These 6″x6″ test prints were created using a grey ink. I’m feeling pulled to complete Block #2 since the image is feeling more controlled. Rogue will have a baseball nestled in between his face and paw.

Another print in progress

Here are the first two colors of a reduction screen print. I’m not going to say what the subject happens to be. You’ll just have to wait to find out. Hopefully it actually turns out ok… if not, you might not see the rest of it! 🙂

This is my newly acquired drying rack system. It was created by my amazing father and used while he was alive. I decided to claim it on Friday so as to actually USE it. Not a bad system! I’m liking the vertical aspect. Horizontal space is always hard to find.

Protecting the house

For some reason, I happen to be the owner of a crazy freak dog who is determined to keep my attention at all cost. If I happen to ignore him, he runs around the house and gets into trouble. This means I stop what I’m doing, run after him and yank whatever he’s acquired out of his mouth. Yes, his reward is getting my attention. I really do need to address my behavior! Anyway, he loves to raid the bathroom for hand towels, any stray socks or shirts not placed in the hamper, and the cat bed on top of the etching press when accessible. Over the past year the press has been hiding behind large pieces of sheet rock, waiting to be installed in the downstairs bath. This makes it rather inconvenient to use the press. I finally hit the “fed up” level and started clearing out all the non-art stuff from the studio. The cat, having benefited from the sheet rock shields, was now fair game. Not for long! I created protection for my Nigel. It just so happens that the garage harbors quantities of recycled materials from other projects gone-a fowl. A bi-fold closet door was utilized with extra cedar from our back deck railing to create the enclosure. Not too horrible to look at and it’s light weight.

Since this project went so well, I decided to use the same principal for protecting the cockatoo’s cage. When left alone, Moby always pulls out the seed/poo tray and spreads everything all over the upstairs. Paper, bird seed, broken up wood blocks, the works! Birds are messy enough, but to have the dog helping out really sucks. Now Mr. B is fully enclosed and I won’t have to worry about the pan getting pulled out. Less vacuum time! Hurray! The slats were originally to become trim around interior windows but I used them to sort out the fish project in November. I don’t think Barnaby will mind all the little holes drilled through them. 😉

I really should be working on a print, but I keep distracting myself with other projects. Maybe tomorrow the printing will commence.

Card creation at the Merry Inksters

Over the past two weeks I’ve taken two workshops. The first (lichen dye for wool and silk) was very disappointing as far as results and just not in my main art field. (Note to self: I need to focus on workshops in my specific fields) This last weekend was fun and something I’ve been more curious about…

Platen presses. Not something I have at home but very tempting if I had more room. An art friend, Julia Lont, has been offering 2 day workshops for creating holiday cards. With Valentine’s Day approaching, I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try out the press before committing to a more serious class. Saturday was my only available day so I could create a one color print.

After a nice introduction and technique lesson, the three of us got started on our blocks. I should have dreamed up an easier/quicker design. Too many curves and negative space. Not much time left for printing.

My friend Victoria happened to be working on site too.

Julia giving a demo on one of the many platen presses.

One student finished her image quickly. Needless to say, her block became the demo tool! Love the little whale.

We learned how to set up a registration system for our work.

Ready to print!

Ohhh, a finished whale card. Well, first color anyway.

My block ready to test….

Finished product.

My camera ran out of juice so I had to snag the above image from Julia. Not the cleanest print, so I’m calling it rustic. I think I’ve fallen in love with pulling the lever, inserting clean paper and pulling out a finished print. No painful wrists from all the hand rubbing. Maybe I’ll have to join up for a month after working through a few blocks.

Oh, and if you’re interested in taking a class from Julia, I would recommend her. She is fabulous! See more of her work on Blue Camas Press.

January Frost

The weather has been quite a bit cooler over the past few weeks. Snow has threatened but not materialized for the valley floor. Temperature has dipped into the low 20’s F at night. Saturday morning we woke to a white frosty landscape thanks to a thick blanket of fog. I couldn’t resist pulling on warm clothes and taking a few shots in the back yard.

Ponderosa Pine

Frosty Blackberry vines

Blackberry leaves close.

Interesting frost forms.

Robins in cottonwood trees

Frost spikes on bird/deer fencing

Moby behind the gate with an unimpressed look.

Frosty metal 1

Closer look at rusting frosty metal. I really love the colors.

Art in Rural Storefronts: Sweet Home Reception

What: “Art in Rural Storefronts”, Meet the Artists Reception in Sweet Home, Oregon

Where: Mountain View Plaza, Suite D, 401 Main Street, Sweet Home, Sweet Home Economic Development Group

When: Jan.18, 2013 at 5 PM, light refreshments.

More Info: www.theartscenter.net/exhibit/art-in-rural-storefronts-project/

On Friday January 18th at 5 PM, The Arts Center and the Sweet Home Economic Development Group host a reception for “Art in Rural Storefronts”; the public is invited to meet the artists who installed artwork in 2 locations on Main Street. If you have been curious about how those art installations came about and, this is your opportunity to find out the details. Gale Everett and Andrew Myers will be at the reception to speak about their work and to answers questions.

In 2 windows of 933 Main Street Gale Everett created an installation titled “Unseen Natives” commenting on native fish living in the muddy waters of the flooded fields and agricultural ditches in the Willamette Valley. She has built a fish from many paper squares, representing the acres of land dedicated to agricultural production. In keeping with other installation work she has done, Everett uses wire frames forms covered in paper.

Three windows of 1344 Main Street are taken up with a diorama of drawings by Andrew Myers. Each window shows a different scene. One window shows the fantastical version of the creation of the petrified forest Sweet Home is built on. The next scene will be about the landscape, the Santiam River; the third will go back to the communities of Buckhead and Mossville, which later became Sweet Home.

The Arts Center’s program in “Art in Rural Storefronts” was supported by an “Art Builds Communities”-grant from the Oregon Arts Commission.