Moving towards new products…

Woodworking is a love/hate relationship at my studio. I need to create using wood in order to help display other works, but really lack confidence and tool know how. My father is a good wood crafter, producing furniture, building houses & cabinetry, but I have not yet taken advantage of his knowledge (and he’s 84 yrs young!).  I watch many wood programs on PBS, enjoying the tidbits of info gleaned from sitting there for half an hour. However, getting the same thing accomplished in the “wood studio” is a different ball of wax. I keep trying! Eventually the practice will pay off!

So, getting myself into the “wood studio” (aka the garage) is challenging. My mind needs to be calm in order to keep things straight with the table saw and other potentially dangerous equipment.  If I’m distracted by too many critter crisis’s… then it just won’t work.  This is what’s been accomplished recently:

Three frames were made using hemlock and finished with a clear polyurethane. They will  house three hanging hand-colored block prints. See the below image…

The Forest Trio (which currently is waiting for the third print) will be available during the July event at the Arts Center. There are quite a few combinations that could be created using the 10 block prints already carved. I’ll be curious to hear people’s response to my new concept.  Maybe someone will even PURCHASE one! Oh, forgot to mention that they currently designed to hang on the wall. I hope to create bases eventually  for those without wall space (and I do know quite a few people who’s wall spaces are FILLED).

Below are the 7 bases for new lamps. Lamps are yet to be made, but they will be soon! Bases are constructed from hemlock, sanded to 220 grit and stained with a dark walnut Danish Oil. Once dried, 3 to 4 coats of polyurethane will be applied. They were cut & sanded yesterday & stained today.

Thanks for taking a look!

Artists @ Work Postcard!

July 2 – 27, 2011

Participating Artists

Gale Everett, Elaine Green, Kendal Hathaway, Julia Lont

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Reception: July 7, 1st Thursday Art Walk, 5:30-7:30pm

Brown Bag Art Talk: Wednesday, July 13, 12Noon

Other Related Events: See: WWW.THEARTSCENTER.NET

Gallery Hours: 12-5pm Tuesday – Saturday

Please don’t forget Dine for the Arts July 7th at Big River Restaurant!

Wildflower blockprint proofs

There hasn’t been a lot happening in the studio over the past several weeks. However, having a friend come over to work on printmaking helped spur along two block ideas.  The images are still part of the Forest Series, but will take on their own life.  They will be displayed in a different hanging system… a combination of “A Walk in the Woods” & “Journal Entry“. The images are nothing super fancy, trying to go for simple and eventually recognizable native plants. Well, if you happen to know what Camas & Shooting Stars are!

They are state proofs (meaning they are still changing).

Camas block is 4″ x 8″

Shooting Star proof 4″ x 4″

When the images are complete, they will be hand water colored like those previously created for “Journal Entry“. That’s all for today!

Flight Cancelation

My husband Dave has been in Tasmania & Australia for the past 10 days for business. I was a bit shocked to find his Facebook message this morning telling about canceled flights due to volcanic ash. He’s pulling my leg, right? No. The folks in Chile know all too much about their current eruption, spectacular images I might add, and the thick ash cloud has circled around the southern hemisphere up to 6.2 miles above our little heads. All flights are canceled until further notice. I’m glad the airlines are not taking chances! Not certain when he will be returning, but I’m hoping it will be this week! And here I was hoping life would be returning to semi-normal after Monday. Bugger!

A Summer without Sitka

For the past several summers I’ve taken to increasing my art knowledge through classes taught at Sitka Center for the Arts.The first summer was learning bookbinding skills (paper, paper, paper!). Last summer I zeroed in on paper in 3D and it struck a chord. It was an “Ah ha” moment with the light bulb turning on in my brain! Paper, light, form, structure & organic natural materials! This spring I enrolled in yet another paper class utilizing printmaking techniques and kite building. What else could I ask for? I thought it was going to be heaven. It took all of my interests and glued them into a 3 day workshop. A week at the coast without the dogs!  However, it was not to be. Friday I received a cancellation email from Sitka due to low enrollment and a change in one of the instructors plans. What a bummer! The positive part is that the money will be refunded, which can go towards the July project. Guess I’ll just keep moving forward with my own plans, keeping the focus on something I’m still learning rather than introducing a new piece to the puzzle. Plus I also want to start working on some ceramic sculptures for our yard. Art for the garden has yet to be tapped. Guess I need a garden to put the art… Wait, that’s yet another puzzle piece to muck up the works. Well, something will work out!

🙂

Out the door

Why is it that packing for a trip (and getting to the airport) is stressful, even when I’m not the one going? Dave is heading to Australia & Tasmania tonight, arriving in Sydney early Sunday morning to catch another flight to Hobart, Tasmania. After a couple of days he flies to Perth on the west coast of Australia, spends a few days there and flies back to Hobart. This is not a trip for fun, more like firefighting work issues. Thursday he received the official word about moving into the customer service team for WetLabs, a change he hopes will be good (especially since he’s been working & managing the production floor for many years). He and several other applicants went through interviews last week. A little nerve wracking for him and our household.

While Dave is gone, I will be occupying my time with art, mainly prepping for the upcoming residency in July. Paper pulp needs to be ordered, screens prepared for making paper, constructing a press, figuring out wire, lighting possibilities, and what the heck am I going to sell to off set all the expenses of the paper pulp. What’s so expensive about paper pulp? Well, first off it’s made from specific plant fibers that are beaten for a super long time. The pulp is shipped in a 5 gallon bucket from the east coast. It will probably run about $100 per bucket, and I’m not certain how many buckets the project will require. One at a time will be my motto. Pulp doesn’t last for long. Being a natural material floating in water, well, things start rotting. Keeping the water fresh & possibly adding a little bleach helps extend it’s life. Also keeping it in a cool location aids longevity… not a hard thing to do with our wet, cold weather.

The dogs have been a handful the past month. Moby & George continue to fight at least once a day, George always receiving the worst of it. I’ve also been more occupied with Fall Festival. May was a big month with the jury process and letting folks know the results. After jury selection, I did data entry for accepted and wait-list artists. Then we compiled & mailed the rejection/accepted notices. Man, that was a big pile to go through. Sure glad Cynthia helped with that one!  Fine Arts Showcase notices were finally compiled and mailed yesterday. Whew! Another big thing off the list!

Next Thursday I have an artist friend coming over to play with printmaking. I’m really looking forward to her visit. She wants to learn a variety of printing techniques, all of which I’ve had some experience. We will be starting in relief block/lino prints. Maybe in a couple of months the Intaglio press might actually get some use!  It’s been several years since I’ve had any type of workshop here at home. Looking forward to a little play amongst the pressures!

Artists @ Work

Late yesterday afternoon I popped open my email account before heading to the Ag. opening. There it was, the response to the Artist in Residence for The Arts Center………unanimous approval from the jury for my proposal. What an honor!!! I’ll be sharing the space with 3 other amazing women. Two of them will be drawing from photos. The other artist is coming up from Arizona to do a mosaic sculptures.

The entire month of July will be filled with this project. Organizing and planning is my next step. This will be the first large scale sculpture I’ve been able to create and I’m looking forward to the space (and no dogs or cats getting in the way!). I’ll certainly try to keep you posted on prep over the next couple of months.

Here is a photo taken by friends (Patrick Hadlock) at the Art About Agriculture open. Loved my “wrinkle less” linen top. Obviously it DOES wrinkle. Bummer! Still looking frumpy.

Shelley Curtis did a fabulous job with the works and organizing everything. A big thinks to Hester Coucke, I couldn’t have done it without her nomination. Hester, you’re the best!

Please click on Art About Agriculture for show information.

Spring Frog

Resting next to a 1.5″ wide post, this guy/gal certainly isn’t large. We’ve reached the time of the year when they become more visible around the house exterior. I almost stepped on one last week resting near the front door. Our warmish temps have started to bring out the reptiles too. More snake sighting in the yard this past weekend while doing yard work.  It’s a pleasure to see any reptiles or amphibians in the yard.

Boxed and off to the gallery

Hurray! The 2 pieces of art have finally left the house in a protected form. This would be for the Art About Agriculture exhibit. Of course, it wasn’t until after dropping them off that the idea hitting up a moving company for boxes might have been the best solution for the 18″ x 37″ frame. Guess I’m just used to retrofitting things to fit my needs. Wasn’t the prettiest box, but it should serve it’s purpose. Totally forgot the hanging hooks to accompany the piece… always something.

Still trying to finish off my submission for the Artist in Residency program. The description still needs more tweaking and words are failing me. I should probably drop it off as is and let it go. Talking to Hester Wednesday morning, it sounded like she had plan B & C in the works. So what am I proposing? Well, the inspiration comes from all the blooming fruit trees out side. I would construct a branching structure hanging from the ceiling that would sport dangling blossoms and buds in various stages. Branches would be made of wire armatures and covered in handmade paper created on site. Flowers would be created in similar fashion and ones that fall from the branch might even include hog gut! Think there are still 4 bags in my fridge ready to be used. A lot of this would be trial and error, but it might be fun for the public to come watch the progress. The public could also learn to make parts and pieces for the flowers, watch paper making, learn about creating paper balls using gore patterns…. so many possibilities! It would also be in creation during daVinci Days when hundreds of people wander through the center. Kind of freaks me out so it must be a good thing. It’s certainly pushing my comfort envelope! The project would be called BLOOM.

Today, Moby was introduced to cow hooves and seems to be in heaven. If I can keep him chewing hooves and knuckle bones, maybe the house will remain fairly safe. The kitchen & dining room never seem to be safe so I started to gate off those areas. Man, he can reach to the back of any counter and over 5ft up the walls. Nothings safe unless behind closed doors.

Ceramics Showcase is this weekend at the PDX convention center! Get out there and support our regional potters!