Terrier Print continued

Yesterday I started a print in honor of a friends birthday. Today I’ve finished it. Images below show the next proofs in the series.

Overall, the image works for the most part. If I were to do it again, the nose would change (a bit higher and larger on the face) Also would work on shading more. I might be able to pop some watercolors in before mounting, darkening the eyes & nose. I’m certainly more pleased with the dark brown ink. The blue was bugging me. The image is hand printed on mulberry paper.

Signing information found on prints:

Most people purchase hand pulled prints that feature a number in an edition(ie. 2/25), plus a title,  artist signature and date.  Some prints show other identifiers like the ones below.

S/P: state proofs show early development changes before the final edition

T/P: Trial proofs are early proofs focusing on color or wiping technique changes.

BAT: Bon a tirer proof= good to print! Enough said!

A/P: Artist’s Proof is a reserved portion of an edition that the artist holds on to, typically 10%-15% of the edition.

So, after looking at the list, the blue dog images are S/P’s and the dark brown print would be considered a BAT. In school we were required to turn in examples of all the different state & trial proofs along with the final edition. It’s certainly nice to see the progression of work but I’m happy to recycle the in between stages!

Start of Terrier Print

We are invited to attend a good friends 55 birthday party on Saturday. He is a dog lover extraordinaire so I thought “why not create a little dog art!”.  Patrick & Cynthia recently put down their old terrier. Unfortunately, I have lost all my reference photos of little old Danny, so a generic Boarder Terrier will have to suffice. Originally I was contemplating a paper cut version, but block printing on a rainy day felt best.

Here is the start of the print.

Lino block is 4″x4″. End color will be in black oil-based ink. I’ll post further changes tomorrow.

Normally, I stay far away from animal representations in my work. Maybe I might need to try a couple more for the heck of it.

Welcome October!

September is gone. Scratched from the calendar with joyful glee! What a hellish month that was. Sorry, but the details will not make it to this page.

October is now upon us with the feeling of fall. Rain. I’ve forgotten how noisy it can be, especially when one is out walking dogs in the woods. We depend on being able to hear beasty boy Moby running a muck through the brush but the rain kills those sounds. Oh well, he always seems to come back.

October 1 was noted by the entry of a new life into the world. Dustin came forth via c-section, after many hours of labor. Congratulations to Deb & Andrew Stahlke!

Leaves are starting to change around home and fields ploughed.

Droopy Ponderosa Pine needles.

Plumeria is wanting to bloom… but will it?

The dogs are surviving the weather shift. Muddy floors to come and I’m not thrilled about that.

Moby watching out dining room window

George on his comfy(?) non-padded floor.

Our favorite dog house guest Maggie. Her parents went surfing in CA for the weekend. Unfortunately, I think picked up some flea bites from our place.

Dave will be officially shifting his position at work and it’s about time! He’s also going to take a vacation break! Hurray!!! That means the two of us will be tackling the downstairs bathroom dilemma. I’ll also need to get my act going for the Portals show plus pulling product together for an ETSY account. October is THE month to get it going!

Photos to come of art projects…

🙂

Joining a group…

Last week a good friend asked if I might be interested in joining her art critique group. Really?!!!! Me???? I was so honored that she would consider putting my name in for the group to decide. The members are all artists I greatly respect in the Benton county area. The group has been in existence for many years.  The email came Saturday that I was accepted! Woohoo!  The group also nominated my dear friend Carol to participate & she accepted too!  The date of the next meeting is set for November. This should certainly push my buttons enough to get my ass in gear and start producing!

Well, maybe after Fall Festival is over. 🙂

Maybe I’ll have to join the Corvallis Art Guild next month. Probably couldn’t hurt.

Portals Project: Second idea in the works

Last month I agreed to participate in the November/December show at the Arts Center. This years theme is “Portals”. Wow, where do I head out from there? Actually I currently have two projects in the works and both are very different from each other. Project #1 involves wire armatures & pig gut. A definite comfort zone for me but with a twist. Project #2 came about after a few days of thought. Today was more of a project #2 sort of day.

Yesterday I realized (and not for the first time) that I keep coming back to utilizing mulberry paper in a variety of projects.  Waxed, sewn, glued, tinted with tea, block printed on, water colored, illuminated… so many variations with a single base material. This time I’m wanting more dimension and limited color. So I started the new trial: creating circles that are pulled into a shield/cone form & then connected together in an interesting way. Repetition in color & form. Yippee! Minimalist!

Inspiration: About ten years ago I was fortunate enough to assist hanging a show of work by San Francisco based artist  Theodora Varnay Jones.  At that time, her work involved graphite, circles, lines, paper and  meditation. Translucency, layering, burning, gradation and repetition were excellent ways to describe that exhibit. Translucency and repetition of form continue to surface in my own work.  Here we are in 2011 and I’m finally getting around to playing with circles (a form I don’t use but have wanted to incorporate). So far I’ve managed to create over 120 shields. I’m using the same diameter circle to start with but varying how much is cut away. This enables different heights & forms. They resemble limpets from the intertidal zone along the coast. Most are plain looking, others have lines and even incense burn holes through them.  I tried playing with doing a basket weave stitch around the edge but didn’t care for the effect. Now I’ve shifted to chaining the forms together.

Cut circles missing a wedge.

Glued shield forms ready for waxing.

Waiting for the wax to dry.

I used an electric skillet for the wax.

Testing a sewing idea, but not liking the look.

Playing with possible organic forms.

Chaining cones together. This will  take a while.

It’s certainly keeping my brain & fingers busy for now.

Albany Art & Air Festival: Balloon Launch Saturday

Albany Art & Air Festival is in swing again! Friday the hot air balloon launch was canceled due to an amazing electrical storm that passed through during the early morning. Fortunately today is beautiful. The skies are filled with August harvest dust making for hazy sunlight.  We missed the majority of launches but managed to catch the last 14 or so. Tomorrow we plan on getting there much earlier (before 6am if possible!)

Here are images from this mornings balloon launch.

Flame on!

"On Point" On Point

chaseSouth of Tangent

Panda eats leaves & shootsPanda eats shoots & leaves?

A happy guy!

Hopefully we will make it back to the festival for art & food this afternoon.