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Art Students League Ideas Monotypes Month of Printmaking

State of the Art

MoPrint Grows a Medium

MoPrint 2024 is finally done now, and there’s a sense of relief for me. It’s hard work, and there are a lot of details and dates to keep track of. Sometimes, I get so busy and tired, I don’t get to see everything I’d like to.

This year I did pretty well, on that point. In general, as the weather improves, I see more shows, and that improves my chances as MoPrint moves farther into Spring. I skipped the opening for the 528.0 show, for example, in frigid weather, but then saw it later on on a beautiful day. I didn’t see every show, or even most. That would be hard to do. But the shows I saw confirmed a pet theory: events like MoPrint make the print community stronger in the state.

It’s amazing how much interesting work there is to see, and it seems to get more interesting each event. Printmaking can be somewhat hidebound. It’s not so surprising, considering it was originally popularized in Northern Europe as a way of illustrating books, and eventually in Netherlands to bring fine art to the growing middle class ( It was also popular in Asia, at an even earlier period, but I’m not as familiar with the history, which I assume includes some of the same motivations. I certainly don’t dispute or minimize this influential history, just can’t speak to it). Advertising and political thought followed, and eventually with commercial processes, graphic entertainments such as comics. I enjoy all of these facets of print, but as fine art, prints have tended to play a subsidiary role to sculpture and painting. And they have tended to stick close to their commercial, didactic roots.

Two reasons come to mind: The first is the aspect of illustration I’ve already alluded to, in which printed images are often utilized in conjunction with words, in very didactic ways. Second is the primacy of process in the medium, in which complex, ever evolving technologies must be mastered in order to get consistent results. And consistency is gospel in fine art printmaking, never far from the commercial imperative of publishing and selling editions of identical images at relatively low margins.

The idea of making monotypes beguiled me ( a former painter and draughtsman ) with their spontaneity and unpredictability, and their unique properties as one-of-a-kind prints. Monotypes have been around since the 1600s, but have always been a bit of a backwater in the medium, itself a backwater in high art. Process adds another layer of didacticism to printmaking, already shuttled into the ghetto of illustrative art. Monotypes are a very simple process, and give themselves to spontaneity and experimentation. They seem to have experienced a resurgence beginning with Abstract Expressionism. With this, I think I’ve made my perspective (bias?) on printmaking clear.

These more traditional, process things seem to me to be baked into printmaking, which is why I am pleased to report that MoPrint 20024 seems to have continued the trend of encouraging experimentation in the medium, and what’s more, is starting to reward it. A strength of printmaking is social exchange, not just in the democratic accessibility of image and word, but at process level as artists gather around not very portable equipment in groups working together.

It’s not a surprising development. MoPrint, by inspiring a plethora of shows, classes and demonstrations, talks and parties, fosters exchange. I mentioned in my last post how those of us on the first organizing committee were surprised by how many printmakers there were in the region. Even at my own school, there are now more than 10 instructors offering classes. That’s a lot of different processes, techniques and approaches.

At one of my shows, the Colorado Print Educators show at Red Rocks CC, the opening was lightly attended. Late on, it devolved into a group of us teachers walking around to hear about each person’s work. One artist, who also teaches ceramics at, I believe, Arapahoe CC ( I apologize for going on my poor memory here, I regret not taking notes but did not intend to write a review ) had figured out how to print ceramic etchings onto vellum or something, and had made light boxes from that. While I can’t accurately describe her process ( I’d had no wine, I swear ), it was only one of many incredible conversations I’d had about techniques I’d never heard of. And each new technique seems to bring its own array of graphic permutations and challenges. Printmakers were forcing themselves to adapt. It’s the crucible of spontaneity and experiment.

Everywhere I went, people were having similar talks. Not to mention the “civilians”, many of whom were learning, for the first time, the difference between intaglio and relief. Or importantly, real printmaking and “fine art” Giclees and other commercial reproductions.

Dynamic color and process by Sue Oehme at Arvada Center during MoPrint 2024.

This brings me back to the Arvada Center, which sort of became the holy center of this year’s MoPrint. They hosted the 528.0 show, a regional exhibition juried by print experts from around the nation (open to artists living within 528 miles of the Mile High City, get it?) This had its share of traditional, process-oriented work, but was certainly not afraid of experimentation. Several print installations were included, for example, including one involving car tires inked up and rolled across long sheets of paper, which strikingly addressed innovation in process, but I’m not sure had much else to say. A large wall hanging by Taiko Chandler, printed on Tyvek construction sheeting, and cut into looping designs, was far more successful. There was a beautiful installation of monotypes of ethereal leaf motifs hanging in the center of one gallery by Alicia McKim. On the walls I was struck by a simple, stenciled cyanotype, exposed, then shifted slightly and exposed again, the characteristic blue hues creating watery passages of light. All in all, a nice show. I went there during Print Jam, where crazy printmakers roll presses into the gallery and demonstrate various techniques, including a gentleman (again, apologies for not taking names ) who participates in the burgeoning discipline of traffic cone printing, where those smushed, muddy derelict orange cones we murder with our cars in construction zones are collected from the ditches and carved (they’re essentially linoleum) then rolled and printed.

If AC was the holy center, Sue Oehme was the high priest. She seemed to be everywhere during MoPrint, but her show in the upstairs gallery in Arvada set the tone. Oehme, a master printer who formerly worked in NYC with name artists such as Frank Stella, and who now runs a studio in Steamboat Springs, showed many of her clients, including a Stella, in rare black and white. Printmaking, with its stripped down aesthetics, often offers revelatory moments. And again, here was Taiko Chandler, combining collograph, monotype and stencil. A product of ASLD classes beginning in 2011, her creative progress has been phenomenal.

But the highlight of these shows was Oehme’s installations of hundreds of shards of paper and acetate, stained by their use in her watercolor monotypes and arranged in rainbow patterns of related hues on the walls, and ultimately in the heavens, hanging in resplendent clouds, floating and glittering in the front lobby, in the low early Spring MoPrint sun as one came down the main stairwell.

Other shows also highlighted adventure and innovation. NKollective, in the Santa Fe Arts District, an encaustic/cold wax gallery, showed artists such as Victoria Eubanks and Michelle Lamb, encaustic instructors who have been leaders in the rather saucy love affair between encaustic and printmaking ( using monotypes or other prints as basis for the translucent beeswax ). But a very interesting artist at NKollective is Carol Till, a graduate of the Botanic Gardens’ botanical illustration academy, the epicenter of traditional process, who turned to the polymer etching process to make multiples of her laboriously limned flowers and grasses and bird’s nests, only to see the repeated images as an opportunity for experiment. Now, combining photograms, polymer etchings, printed chine colle’ on textured papers, along with traditional watercolor, she achieves complex layerings of her images in negative and positive iterations, all still, of course, botanically accurate. She’s a sharp woman, fun to talk with, I know her and her equally interesting hub, Greg, well. It’s quite possible her work would have progressed so quickly into such unique directions without the Art Students League print room ( where she worked for a long time before buying a press), or the biennial madness of MoPrint ( with whom, she’s another longtime volunteer ). But I wonder.

Small moments of innovation pop up everywhere-Kathie Lucas smoothly blended up-cycled materials into some otherwise traditional monotype landscapes at Tenn Street Coffee.

Early during this MoPrint, I went to the Black Ink show at Trve Brewing. This show exemplifies the democratic spirit of MoPrint, and also the madness. It’s a benefit for the MoPrint org, where artists start in fall, carving donated Lino blocks, which are then printed in editions of 25 at Ghenghis Kern letterpress ( speaking of experiment- in a letterpress shop! Check out their printer’s dingbat assemblage prints next MoPrint Studio Tour ), then sold for $10 apiece. It’s a tiny Broadway South/Baker thrash metal bar with good micro beers. People line up down the block to stream in and look at all the numbered prints on the wall then get in the other line to buy 5 or 6. I was sitting in the back, by the Nashville hot chicken counter, sipping an IPA and trying to keep the prints I’d bought dry. One was actually two prints, by Collin Parson, the head curator at the Arvada Center: first, a set of wavy lines on Bristol, and another print of them on acetate, so that you can create your own adjustable moire’ image. Parson is an accomplished sculptor who saw the print medium as a chance to play with perception and optical effects- all for less than the cost of my meal that night.

The thrash band on the stereo was punishing their vocal cords, while the tattooed kids in all black, jeans, Airwalks, the whole bit, stood next to fashionistas to buy art. It was kind of glorious, a leveling in the art scene. Most of these printmakers could never get into a museum. But, on the other hand, that night, the museum people couldn’t get into the thrash metal bar.

Thus, a very quotidian medium meets its moment with verve, fearlessness, and a democratic spirit ( not to mention, prices ). After 11 years, MoPrint has changed the art scene in Denver.

#MoPrint #Printmaking #Art Shows #ASLDprintmakers

Categories
Art Students League Summer Art Market Uncategorized Workshops

Twigs and Berries: Shady Doings

Parasol to benefit Art Students League of Denver
This parasol, among many others by League affiliated artists, will be for sale at the Summer Art Market 2022, August 27-28.

I’m not doing a booth at the Summer Art Market this year. After about 25 years or more of doing it, I wanted to take a break.

That doesn’t mean I won’t be there. I plan on being there, volunteering and posting on social media. And my artwork will be there too, at least one of them: I offered to paint a parasol/sunshade that will be on sale there to benefit the school programs.

The photo I made in a Square app for shooting things for sale on one of their web store pages. I wish I could make it work for flat art as wall as this 3D object, but I’m working on it, and may have more to share in time for the show.

Other News:

Registration for my first Fall class, Monotype Starter, a beginners class that runs Tuesday evenings in September, opens August 9 here: asld.org. Search under “Instructors ” for Joe Higgins.

I’m working on larger works with my free time not preparing for the show. It goes slowly, but you can always see it by private appointment. Click on “Contact” in the menu bar above.

#sam2022 #asldprintmakers #artclasses

Categories
Art Students League Etchings and Small Work Month of Printmaking Uncategorized

Warming Up at MoPrint

Yes, it’s fair to say that the Black Ink fundraiser at TRVE Brewing was popular.

Despite the on again, off again winter weather, MoPrint is off to a great start, and people seem to be eager to see it after 2020 was cancelled, mostly, by the pandemic. I’ve seen several shows already, which is more shows than I probably saw all 2021.

ARThropod, Artists on Santa Fe: Carol Till and Jeff Russel take differing approaches to the subject matter, insects ( arthropods also include lobsters and crayfish, etc, I believe, but I saw mostly insects in the exhibit). Carol is a botanical illustrator by trade, who has migrated to printmaking. So hers are naturalistic, though abstract elements such as chine colle and hand colorings have been added. Jeff is more known for patterning and collage, and his prints follow that approach, projecting a more decorative designerly style.

Black Ink, TRVE Brewing: A MoPrint fundraiser, and a crowded one, with lines out the door. That’s what selling editions of linocuts donated by 60 artists for $10 will get you- a madhouse. It’s rare and gratifying to see people line up to buy art, of course, but I didn’t stick around too long as I’m not totally ready for crowds yet, and I had other commitments. I’ve posted a quick snap of the craziness, and I got my share of affordable art, of course. A lot of money was raised to keep #Moprint going. No word on how my own effort sold, but whatever prints are leftover can be bought at the Open Portfolio event at the Botanic Gardens, this Saturday from 1-4 PM.

This Lino cut by Greg Santos will soon be on my wall.

ASLD Print Fair Exhibition: I’m in this show, but will nonetheless extoll its overall strength. ASLD artist such as Kathie Lucas, Mami Yamamoto, Taiko Chandler and Michael Keyes contributed noticeably strong work, among many others. The opening was also crowded and many works have already sold. It’s up through March 27.

I also saw monotypes, ink transfer prints and some very interesting oil resist prints/drawings at Edge, and a great ceramics installation at Pirate. I tried to see the Women in Printmaking show at 40 West, but it was unexpectedly closed, so I’ll try again. I’ll be out there this Friday night for the opening of SurfaceIn/sight, a national printmaking show I juried, and that I’m excited about.

I will also be at the Botanic Gardens Open Portfolio show this Saturday with a portfolio of many (mostly smaller) prints culled from the flat files and past shows. Other upcoming events are described more fully, here.

#moprint22 #printmaking #denverart

Categories
Art Shows Art Students League Etchings and Small Work Monotypes Month of Printmaking

Month of Printmaking 2022

Illustration of artist's monotype process in relation to Month of Printmaking
This monotype is one of several ghosts and variants I created from a trace monotype image I did in 2021. The chair imagery is simple, but lends itself to multiple treatments and suggests to me a state of being in the present, with the asterisk suggesting more info to come, or in other words, change. It’s about presence. Showing at Art Gym imPressed show, March 24-April 17.

It’s been a busy, snowy run-up to #moprint2022. But the pandemic seems to be easing, at least in the vaccinated parts of the state, so we can keep our fingers crossed that this one will go off as planned, unlike 2020.

I committed to a lot of events, which has kept me running, but it’ll be fun if it all comes off. Note: I do not anticipate doing the Summer Art Market this year, to give myself a break, and to re-fill my inventory. So MoPrint may be the best opportunity to see work by me this year. Of course, you can always contact me (above) for a private showing. Here’s as complete a list as I can give right now:

February 26, 4 PM: Opening for Print Educators of Colorado show at Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins. I have 2 pieces in the show and anticipate being there for the opening. The show runs through April 9.

March 4, 5:30-8:30 PM: Opening for ASLD Print Fair Exhibition, Art Students League of Denver, 200 Grant St. I’ll have 1-2 pieces in the show. There are free demos by ASLD faculty and artists upstairs. I will be here most of the night.

March 4, 5-10 PM, Trve Brewing, Broadway and 2nd, Black Ink fundraiser for MoPrint. I will have an edition of 20 lino cuts available at a ridiculously low price of $10 apiece, along with 60 other artists. It all benefits Month of Printmaking. I will be here for part of the night.

March 5, 10-4 PM: ASLD Print Fair Pop Up Portfolio show and free artists demos at ASLD 200 Grant. I will have a portfolio of selected prints available for sale, and I’ll be here all day. Prints are an affordable way to start a collection!

March 11, 5-10 PM, Core New Art Space. A show of many techniques in printmaking, that I juried from a national call for entries. Show runs through March 27. I will be at the opening, at least for the later hours.

March 12, 1-4 PM, MoPrint Open Portfolio, Denver Botanic Gardens, Mitchell Hall. This is also a portfolio show, so no framed work, and mostly small pieces that I can display on a table. I predict prices will be very affordable.

March 19, 11-4 PM. I will be doing a demo this year at the MoPrint Print Jam at the Denver Art Museum, Martin Building Creative Hub. There will be 14 separate demos ( by various artists, in various techniques), and 3 workshops you can participate in. My demo will be at 11 AM.

March 24, 5-8 PM, imPressed, opening for juried sprint show, Art Gym. I will have one medium sized piece in the show, and I plan to attend the opening. Show runs through April 17.

All info is on the MoPrint.org website, along with all of the other Moprint-associated events. I will be seeing as many as I can; hope to see you there!

#moprint2022 #ASLDprintmakers #ASLDprintfair #denverart

Categories
Art Shows Art Students League Month of Printmaking Workshops

State of the Artist

Illustrates post on 2022 schedule
“No one, I think, is in my tree..” That wasn’t on my mind when I made this, but I just watched the “Get Back” movie, so I couldn’t help it. “Tree with Moonrise”, Monotype, 2021

It was a busy holiday season because of medical appointments. Most were catch up on things deferred during lockdown, or even earlier. I’m hoping it will pay off this year with a more active lifestyle, including travel.

2022 won’t wait however. Here are some things I have planned for this year:

  • MoPrint 2022! It was cancelled in ’20 as COVID came roaring in. We’re hoping this one will have better luck.
  • MoPrint events I’m helping organize: Art Students League Print Fair, March 4-5, Demos, portfolio show and month-long exhibit. ASLD.org
  • MoPrint shows I will be exhibiting in: Art Students League Members Exhibit, March 4-28; Print Educators of Colorado, 2022, Lincoln Center, Ft. Collins
  • MoPrint Shows I will be jurying: Core Gallery Details TBA- I will post these
  • MoPrint fundraiser where my work will be offered:
  • Other shows my work will be offered: ArtMA childhood cancer benefit gala at the Denver Design Center, February 12
  • Classes offered: A full complement, from sampler, to beginners, to experienced, about one per month, beginning with an online class on ‘Monotypes At Home’ which is registering now and begins next week.
  • Kids Class offered: My ‘Mad Science Monotypes’ art camp returns July 5-8 for 14-17 yo
  • I’m still monitoring print studio sessions at the League many Sundays and Fridays. $15 a session, a screaming deal. Register online
  • Look for an interview to be posted by Voyage Denver in their ‘Inspiring Stories’ section.

Most of these take place January-March, making for a frantic start to the year, which is always true during MoPrint years. After that will be much more relaxed as I am not planning to do the Summer Art Market this year. Yes, this will be the first one I’ve missed in over 20 years, although I won’t really be missing it as I’m planning to volunteer.

I felt like a break would be good for recharging my batteries and refilling my portfolio. I also intend to explore other options such as online sales, videos and even ebooks. These are things I’ve dabbled in, but never had time to pursue properly.

While this blog was less than regular this crazy Fall. I will try to update regularly, so check back. I haven’t updated my ‘Workshops’ page yet with a full ’22 schedule, but will try to do that next week. I have many book blurbs from all my holiday reading while isolating and convalescing, too.

I wish everyone a happy, prosperous, safe New Year. Fingers crossed, we’ll begin to emerge from several very dark years and there will be opportunities for all to pursue fulfilling lives.

Categories
Art Shows Art Students League Summer Art Market

SAM Wrap

Illustrate post on Summer Art Market 2021
‘Wishful Thinking’, Monotype, 26×20, 2021. A similar print found a new home as part of a UCHealth program at the Summer Art Market.

The Summer Art Market returned, about 14 months late, after the COVID shutdown. People were clearly glad to see it come back. Attendance was crowded on Saturday morning, and steady for the rest of the weekend, with only the afternoon heat really slowing things down. The sales were strong for most artists I spoke to.

It was no different for me, as the show was an all-time high. That makes all the work of framing and wrapping, packing and hydrating worthwhile, but it’s been over 25 years of doing it, and I’m going to take a year off next year, in all probability. It’ll be nice to recharge the batteries, and the steady time in the studio has been very rewarding, so a year of simply doing new work without regard to what might sell could be a tonic. I’ll undoubtedly volunteer to enjoy the vibe, and for the first time, see the whole show.

As for now, I’m going right back in the studio, as I was really pleased with the way things were going, and was a bit reluctant to stop for the show. I’ll be monitoring the print room most Fridays and Sundays this Fall, which is when I work on my own things.

Other than that, I’m planning a relaxing autumn. Restaurants and shopping now seem safer, at least in this area, and like many who attended the show, working on freshening up my house will be a nice distraction. I’m postponing travel till Spring, hoping things will stabilize.

Reading is always a go-to activity in my house, and while I’ve been too busy to attempt any major works, I’ve been reading enough lighter things to post some blurbs. That will be next.

Categories
Art Shows Art Students League Summer Art Market

Twigs and Berries

It’s ironic to note that as the reopening of quarantined restaurants, bars and businesses presents options for going out after a long lockdown, the heat has made leaving the house quite unappealing. Viruses and global warming have made our world resemble a Steve Erickson novel.

My own narrative this Winter/Spring has included a health issue- no, not that one in the news- a lovely condition where one’s autoimmune system attacks your own joints and muscles, making going anywhere, even to the fridge for a drink, painful. Thanks to treatment, that’s now manageable, and I’m back in the studio, if not in the bars.

I haven’t titled this one yet, and it’s not even dry yet: monotype, 14×20″ 2021. It contains up-cycled relief and drypoint elements, along with stencil and resist elements. As such, it qualifies as a bit of an experiment or study, which is why no title immediately presented itself. By ‘up-cycled’, I mean clipped and shaped bits of material such as styrofoam or Mylar or Tetrapak cooking broth containers etched and inked as if a traditional linocut, or metal drypoint plate. These can be top-rolled or spot-rolled to create variations of hue, even when only using two colors. I’ll post further previews of works available at the Art Students League Summer Art Market in future posts.

And I’m preparing for the Summer Art Market, now postponed to August 26-7, and distanced and limited to a few thousand visitors. As I was incapacitated for March/April, this postponement has been a fortunate twist. It was not fortunate for a friend- we’ll call her Susie- who went down to visit my booth during the traditional weekend, this last one, and found a quiet intersection in front of the school.

Don’t be like Susie! Read my blog for further updates.

Classes are also ongoing as people begin to venture out. A teen camp in July is full, and an adult evening class is registering now. The print room is religiously cleaned and distanced, and we’re going on a year without any reported re-closures or incidents. You may attend without a mask if you are vaccinated. Evenings in the print room are cool and pleasant.

Other than that, It’s been a lot of what I’ve come to think of as ‘comfort’ reading and viewing, with soccer books and telecasts a prominent feature. International football is returning with the Euro Championship, and with the US national team winning its own continental championship. I also re-read The Ball Is Round, by David Goldblatt, a history of the game from a somewhat Marxist/cultural perspective that is even more rewarding with a second run-through. I post on reading and pop cultural matters to break up the content presented here, and I may work up a post on that soon.

Stay safe and be cool! #sam2021 #asldprintmakers #monotypes

Categories
Art Shows Art Students League Online Art Classes Summer Art Market Workshops

SAM Update: We’re Baack!

The Summer Art Market is back! It will of course be different as a result of the pandemic, and I’ll be posting about it several times before it returns, August 26-27. I’m going to be in a very similar spot to where I have been in past shows, which is right near the school’s main entrance at 2nd Avenue and Grant. I’m not publicizing the booth number yet, as the restrictions on attendance and number of artists are fluid, so the booth numbers may change, though the location will remain the same.

First note the dates. The old second weekend in June slot was too soon and too uncertain, so August was chosen. I’m glad, as the studio was closed for several months, and it’s given me time to make more work.

Second, and most important, the event will be smaller, per city guidelines. This may also be subject to change. There’s a limit to how many artists and visitors will be allowed in, 5,000 people as of now. This is about a 6th of the normal crowd, IIRC. It will allow for distancing.

To control for crowd size, a reservation system is being set up, and thus the show is expected to sellout before it opens. If you’d like to see the show, please consider reserving early. There will be a nominal $5 charge for reservations. The festival is the school’s major fundraiser, and will help them recoup lost revenues from the reduction in booth fees.

For more info, go to the school’s website. I have not seen a link for registration yet, and will post it here when I do. I’m having photos of new work done, and will post previews soon.

Classes:

I have several classes scheduled for Summer. An online teen camp from June 20-25 is registering right now. There is also a live teen camp in July which is full, but again, guidelines for class numbers may change, so getting on the wait list can’t hurt.

Tomorrow, June 8, begins registration for my adult evening class, Monotype Starter, which is a beginner’s class that gives you all the basics of printing monotypes and also certifies you to use the studio on your own. Registration link for that class is here. Numbers for adult classes are currently limited, so don’t delay. Again, however, changing guidelines may open more spots, especially as unlike kids, adults have generally been vaccinated.

More general info on all my classes is under ‘Workshops’ on the menu at top. I’m hoping to see some people this Summer, and I’m sure I’m not the only one!

#sam2021 #asldprintmakers

Categories
Art Students League Ghost

Work In Process

Regular studio work is necessary for any artist. The power of a disciplined schedule has been noted by writers, such as Hemingway; and some artists such as Picasso, seem to never leave the studio. For most of us it’s hard, especially as real wages have nose dived under corporate/conservative economics. One just works harder and longer to pay the basic expenses that the studio time can’t provide for, at least immediately.

So for me, one or two days a week is pretty normal, with two edging into luxury. I work in the print studio at the school where I teach, so for 6 months during the shut down, it was no days. Since the studio has reopened, I’ve been engaged as a monitor, to ensure covid protocols are being met, and in the 6 months since then there’ve been no cases recorded ( which would have necessitated re-closure), so I’ve been making up for lost time with a regular schedule.

Having to commit to a regular schedule actually helps with my own work. I can cover all the bases with a day to test concepts in smaller work, and then a day to expand my idea onto a larger sheet. Also, breaking news- the Summer Art Market will be back this year, but has been pushed back to late August. So I’ve been able to settle into a regular rhythm of working that isn’t as rushed by spring deadlines. I think it’s had a good effect. The ability to build up incrementally, in layers, or even set a monotype aside for a week to mull it over isn’t great for getting a lot of work finished, photographed, and framed in 3 months, but over the course of 6, it can lead to a lot of work in the flat file. That makes for a better show ultimately, as I can afford to pick and choose items for that show. It’s one small benefit of the quarantine.

I’ll pick one piece to illustrate the idea. In picking up the lost thread after shutdown, I had a fairly big stack of unfinished prints from last Spring and before to start with. This one is a ghost from my Fall ’20 return to the studio to complete work Left unfinished for all the various MoPrint 2020 shows I’d been invited to. So the original idea ( ladders, dreamy skyscapes) dates to 2019, although this one came in 2020. When on a deadline I use ghosts as insurance- if a print fails, I can use the other to pursue the idea. When not on a deadline, I use them to push the idea in different directions. By the time I was ready to finish it in January 2021, it had been a year since I worked on the concept, and my train of thought had changed a little.

Here is one of the 2019 works that inspired it. Also a ghost, it was displayed during MoPrint 2020 in the Colorado Print Educators show at Arvada Center before shutdown.

Here is the first impression of Wishful Thinking, inspired by a song on a past Wilco album, about the power of fantasy in love and life. I had been exploring ladders and nightscapes in previous images. The sky is a stenciled field of circles, the ladder is assembled of inked mylar scraps.

Another impression simply developed the ladder and skyscape.

The final state looks like this. I confess to forgetting whether there was an intervening addition to the sky and ladder before I added the organic leafy elements, and the box/nest in lower right. But it’s starting to get busy, and now I’m done. In my opinion, one can put too fine a point on a narrative or verbal concept, and lose some of the mystery. I like the contrast of the box/ nest figure to ground the ascending ladder and counterpoise the teeming sky. It gives a sense of place, which I like to think helps the viewer enter, but leaves the ultimate narrative open.

See it at the Summer Art Market, August 28-29, in the West Washington Park neighborhood , in front of the school!

Categories
Art Students League Monotypes

Holiday In the Studio

Sundays tend to be quiet in the studio. The school is open for artists who want to use the presses with a monitor (me), and there has been steady traffic on other days, but I’ve had Sundays mostly to myself. Whatever the repercussions for school revenue, the quiet time is welcome. There has been 7 months without regular studio work, and the quiet has been helping as I dream myself back into a good rhythm for creativity.

Smaller works are over too quickly and there is not enough white space to stretch my mind, so I went with larger work. Full sheet (22×30) after a couple of half sheet warm ups. Blobby, cloud like shapes allowed me to open up space, while also carrying the assortment of yellow, pink and salmon that popped up immediately on my palette (oops- no pictures yet).

Clouds are compatible with my subject matter, ladders (Jacob’s Ladders: I’d been recently reading Emily Dickinson). But the placement and execution of these wasn’t apparent at first, so the next week, I switched to an older, incomplete print from before the shutdown which turned out to be almost screaming for a ladder as central figure. Then a couple of ghosts followed on from that. This is in a deep blue that was appealing to my more crepuscular subconscious visions.

Illustrate work in progress
Partial image left over from pre-pandemic working sessions.
Illustrate work in progress
Adding preliminary ladder imagery dropping down to a plane in ochre from a deep blue sky/field.

That’s where I stand now. All potential and no resolution, wondering how it might all coalesce. The ladder image clearly needs more emphasis, but the open space behind it is probably going to need restraint, or it will get too busy. The theme, from a Wilco song on my earbuds: Wishful Thinking. I don’t really have anymore than that right now, but it feels like it’s building nicely.

I’ll be in studio a few more weeks, then I’m taking a break in mid December. I’m taking lots of process pics that I will post later. If I don’t post again before the holiday/solstice week, then here are my wishes for a safe happy season of light to you and yours!

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