The theme is In the Red, and we were to make free with the phrase and explore either the topic uppermost in most people’s minds right now: debt, or we could just be inspired to use the color red. One is, of course, immediately reminded of the quotation (attributed variously to artist Audrey Flack, designer Paul Rand, “my teacher,” “a guy I knew,” etc.) “If you can’t make it good, make it BIG. If you can’t make it big, make it RED.” To this I have seen a spuriously added, “If that doesn’t work, add a nude.”

So, here is my red contribution to the world of art.

10"x10" Tissue paper and black tree coral

This is a tissue paper collage on a white substrate. I cut the paper to allow the support to show though as the moon. The black tree coral is glued onto the piece.

As I like to do in collage, there is no paint on this piece, only paper and the coral.

I’m absolutely fascinated by both the moon and trees, and use them in my work as often as possible. There’s something primal about these natural elements that speaks to everyone. We’re part of them; they are part of us.

The show runs from September 26 through November 17 at the Lynnwood Library Gallery in Lynnwood, WA. The reception is October 1. How appropriate that the first day of National Art Month should find me at an opening.

I’m also a little blown away (is that possible? It really seems a contradiction in terms) that I’ve entered three times (2007, 2008, 2010) and was accepted all three. I wanted to enter in 2009, but I was, sadly, too busy buying a house and moving to actually make any art other than a few pieces of jewelry over a couple of days’ vacation last summer. I’m hoping “Fronds” will sell, but at the same time I’m concerned; sooner or later I’m going to have to get a business license and collect sales tax and all that, and I still find it a bit confusing.

I have added a whole lot of new images to my CafePress store and updated a lot of the old stuff. Particularly relevant to me at the moment are the Analog Mind-themed items (Texting it Old School and Analog Handheld) . My goal with the store is to get people acquainted with my art and have the shop pay for itself. It’s almost done that in the past. So I have to figure out all this marketing stuff, submitting to search engines, etc. etc.

The love-hate relationship with technology continues.

Bloodstone and jasper, silver-plated bail, hand-made clasp

Now, you want to see someone who knows how to stage a photo, take a look at Little Byrd Vintage on Etsy. Her photos of her merchandise are so beautiful, she should sell them as well. I’m all envy. Oh, and she has some really beautiful vintage merchandise, too. And no, she didn’t pay me to say that.

"Fronds" - Tissue paper on cradled birch panel

You can see a larger version here and on my Portfolio page (click on the pic twice from that page). For reference, I used a beautiful photo by Heather Thompson of Belle Etoile Designs, with her generous permission.

This collage is made entirely of bleeding tissue paper. What that means is that I had to take excruciating care that the colors didn’t bleed into each other while I was gluing, and that I used the tissue itself to lay down color on the substrate just by dampening the paper, then lifting the paper off after the color transferred.  I think it’s going to be tricky varnishing it, but I will just have to be incredibly careful. I always varnish my pieces using a UVLS (UV protective) varnish.

Man, it is so nice having a studio to work in. This is the first piece I’ve produced in my new studio (converted garage in our new house), and I have so much room to work now. It’s very exciting. Cleanup wasn’t too bad, either. No carpet, so the broom took care of all the flyaways pretty well.

I made some art! Finally!

I’m going to be working on my submission for the Lynnwood Library Gallery show using a photo by Heather Thompson of Belle Etoile Designs as inspiration– with her kind permission, of course. I hope it turns out as I envision it. Collage is such an organic process; it sometimes has a life of its own (like a party) and it’s hard to predict how or where it will wind up. I’m usually pretty good at guiding it, though.

I’m planning a solo excursion to SAM on Sunday; the museum will be open for Member Appreciation Days and members get 20% off everything in the museum store! I have to go every so often just to be alone with the art and visit my favorite Bierstadt. You can look at the piece online or in a book all day but you won’t feel it until you’re standing in front of it. It’s really breathtaking.

Backtracking:

June 2007: I had a piece (Three Crows) accepted in the Lynnwood Arts Commission Library Gallery show “Orange Crush.”

July 2007: I sold L’École des Mystères at the Mukilteo show! I was absolutely stunned. My first real sale! 

September 2007: Got the great new job at restaurant company. Despite a few stressful days, I LOVED it. I loved my boss, I loved the company, I enjoyed my work, and I liked my coworkers. I continued to work part-time for the old company doing some bookkeeping. I liked the extra money and I actually liked the work.

January 2008: Participated in a collaborative event with where the Collage Society created collages to go with poems written by members of the Cancer Lifeline writing group. It was a wonderful experience. I showed Grief, which, I am told, almost won a prize.

June 2008: Showed and sold Spinnaker at the Lynnwood Library Gallery themed exhibit “Mellow Yellow”.

August 2008: My daughter moved to Seattle! Now I get to see her fairly regularly.

October 2008: One of my kitties had to be put to sleep. He was 17 and pretty sick. It was an extremely difficult decision and I miss him terribly. I cried like a little girl for days.

November 2008: I got laid off from my terrific job. I was devastated and still feel very sad about it.

December 2008: Went back to work full time at present job, which is the former job I had in 2007. Nothing has really changed except the economy has affected us here, too, so the stress level is even higher. But at least I’m working.

Also December: Daughter married her sweetheart. He is a GREAT guy and I’m really glad she found him. They are blissfully happy.

January 2009: K & I adopted a dog. She’s a beautiful yellow Lab. She’s gi-normous, but very sweet.

So, still working (thank the gods), still making art, still hanging on and rolling with the punches.

I had to cut down “Where Did I Go Wrong?” from 11″x14″, in order to crop out a boring section, so it’s now an odd size and will need to be custom-framed. >:P. But it looks better. It’s currently being shmooshed (technical term) under glass and books, gluing to foamcore so the little bastard will flatten out. Every time I look at it, I’m completely undecided about whether or not it’s finished. I kind of want it to look a little foggier, which I could achieve (I think) by either gluing a sheet of white tissue paper over the whole thing, or applying the faux-encaustic process with acrylic medium, both of which techniques will flatten and obscure the paper textures. So I still don’t know what I’m going to do to it. When I’m not looking at it, I think, Oh, I could do this or that, but when I’m looking at it, I love the way the papers look; just way too “clear”. This one just didn’t turn out the way I’d envisioned it. I may have to try it again.

I’m also working on putting some stuff on Café Press, so if you want to support a >>koff<< starving artist, you can do so in the future.

My least favorite month is August, coming up soon. August is always Too Damn Hot (northern hemisphere, of course), no exceptions, it’s nearly always sunny (too freakin’ bright), and there are no holidays. August just plain rots.

I took a week’s vacation over my birthday, and I wish I could say I produced some fabulous works of art, but it was just Too Damn Hot. However, I could not resist trying out my new etching press.

Here’s what I learned about printmaking:

It requires a lot of time, and a lot of space, a lot of prep, and a lot of cleanup. You need room for the press, a pan to soak paper in, blotting paper and a space to blot the printmaking paper, space for your palette (it has to be large enough to roll out the ink with a brayer), and a space to work. Oh yeah, also someplace to dry the prints flat between sheets of newsprint for several days.

I pulled three prints; one 3.5″x2.5″ of daisies which needs some re-working (adding detail), a really good 4″x6″ of balloon flowers which I’m going to give to my coworker who watered my plants while I was on vacation, and a 5″x7″ chine collé (printed on collaged papers) abstract which I LOVE. Pictures to follow, when it’s not Too Damn Hot to take pictures.

Don’t get me wrong, I really love making prints, but it’s a project I will have to really clear my calendar for. So, for the time being, I put the press away and will be focusing on collage for awhile. I’m also focusing on learning how to create abstracts. I really want to understand the process. I can’t recommend highly enough this book on color and composition. It’s aimed specifically at quilters, but the concepts work for any medium. It’s colorful, informative, and contains useful exercises to improve your designs. I absolutely love it.

Immediately, I felt a little crestfallen. I really wanted to work with different colors for the second, but they wouldn’t work well with the first palette. So I did some color sketches yesterday to see how I could just move the colors around a little. It started to feel like a chore.

Then, late yesterday afternoon, I found How to Be Creative, by ad-guy and cartoonist Hugh MacLeod. It’s lengthy, so I printed it out and read it here and there last night and this morning. It is one of the best and most useful things I’ve read all year.

Item# 21, “Selling out is harder than it looks” made a particular impression on me. MacLeod says, “Diluting your product to make it more ‘commercial’ will just make people like it less.”

Suddenly, I realized that I don’t need to create something that someone might want to buy. I need to create something beautiful because I need to create beautiful things. I can use any colors I want. So I’m going to. If someone else likes it, cool. If no one buys it, so be it. I will at least be able to say I liked it. I don’t need to sell anything. I feel relieved, freed, lighter.

I forget K thinks like a marketer, not as an artist. That’s not a bad thing, and I don’t mean to imply that she’s not artistic, because she is. She will never be an artist, though, because she is a self-admitted perfectionist and she can’t ever create anything good enough for her own high standards. I think that’s tragic. But, anyway, my point is that I need to listen to my creativity, not someone else’s marketing strategy. When I need marketing, later on, then I will listen attentively. Right now, I just need to create.

I forgot to mention I just ordered this:

from Art Supply Warehouse for a total cost to me of (drum roll, please) $170. Specs are as follows:

Imported from Italy, this press is perfect for greeting cards and small prints. It is suitable for etching, collagraphy, embossing, unmounted linoleum and paper lithography printing. 10-1/2 x 16-1/2″ metal bed plate and 10″ wide roller makes this unit capable of making prints up to 9 x 15″ in size. All-steel construction assures long use and service. 3.5mm upper and lower roller are adjustable to accommodate various types of printing. Smooth 360 degree action is easy with the simple L shaped handle. Sold with 10-1/2 x 16-1/2″ felt blanket. Overall unit size 9-3/4″L x 12-3/8″W x 6-3/4″H. Weighs just 20 lbs. Easily installs to bench.

I love my block printing press, and I really want to get into monotype, chine collé, and collagraphy. I debated for weeks, but finally decided to just go for it. I ordered blankets (wool felts, one to catch sizing (“catcher”) and one to help feed the printing plate through the rollers (“pusher”)) from Dick Blick. I hope I can trim them down a little, since those are for a slightly larger press. It comes with a cushion blanket. It’s a direct-drive press, meaning you crank the lower roller and it turns once for each crank, unlike more expensive presses that have gear ratios of 2:1 and up. I don’t care. I’ve found this for sale only 2 places, and Jerry’s Artarama is selling it for $219. ASW had it for $169. The price for a better press jumps up to $399 on sale, and that’s just for a small (“baby”) direct-drive press a couple inches larger than this one. Even if it kinda blows, if it works, then it’s a fantastic deal.

I wonder where I’m going to put it? Well, it’s only 10.5×16.5, and I can take the bed off to store it if I need to, and it only weighs 20 pounds. It’s portable!

I’m kind of excited. I would be more excited but I’m a little upset that I had to use my credit card and I’m not sure I can pay the card off by January, when the 0% interest goes away. Oh, well; it was a really good deal and I think it’s perfect for a beginning printmaker with a teeny-tiny studio. I am excited. I’m also rather calm. Instead of “Oh, goody, goody, goody, when’s it coming, when’s it coming?!?!?!” I’m more like, “Yeah, a press. Cool, man. Really cool.”