listed

I finally got to listing the prints from my make-ation! I took them, as well as some new patches to Myrtle Edwards Park for a photoshoot - it was a humid 80 degree September day, I wasn't feeling too well, I was sweating like crazy and I really thought I was going to die of dehydration while I was there. It's ridiculous, I know, but that's the story! If there had been less trash floating in the sound I would've gone in for a dip clothes and all, but I settled for wading.

Last week I whipped up a second set of mountain patches again inspired by one of my watercolor paintings. These mountains are a little larger and made entirely from repurposed fabrics! (Old clothes, bedsheets, etc.) I really like them and I think the t-shirt fabric will wear well over time. See the listing here.

I also photographed a print that I have been working on for quite some time, I believe I asked for help with it in this post more than a year ago! Originally a collage from my first art journal, I think this print has more incarnations in it than I have yet to discover. I have two linos carved for this image: a positive and a negative. The positive is seen in the post I listed above and prints the outlines that made the illustration; the negative, which is this one here, prints all the space within those outlines. I was hemming and hawing over adding more colors/layers/textures/what-have-you and after feeling overwhelmed by it forever decided to stick with something simple, at least for now. The yellow ink on brown paper was a little difficult to photograph as shadows make it appear greenish, but it looks great in person. Listed here.

This next print is one of my favorites. It was inspired by a wildly visionary dream I had one night, a dream so vivid I'm still not over it. In the dream a mountain rose up from the ground against the night sky, the tallest mountain ever, so tall its tip reached the edge of Earth's atmosphere and reflected itself back, curving around the inside of the sphere like glass in a marble. This print is available in two sizes: 5"x7" on cover stock parchment or 4"x6" on text weigh parchment. Listed here.

Mission accomplished! I also gave my shop a make-over as I worked on all these listings. Before, I had the most direct or straight on shot of my item as the first photo shoppers see in an effort to stand out amongst other listings in search results, but I found the look overwhelming and too in-your-face. I changed things up so the initial photos are a little more understated, approachable or atmospheric. I think it's a great improvement!

According to Etsy my shop's birthday is approaching, tomorrow! But I don't count September 30, 2009 as the opening day for my shop, I listed a handful of items that day and didn't pay any attention to them or my shop again for the next six months, I suppose you could call it an experimental opening. Sometime in late March 2010 I got super motivated to revisit my shop and give it an honest effort, it's been a slow process since then but growth has most certainly occurred! As you can see above I've had 43 sales, I would love to make it to 50 before the end of the year. That's only 7 more sales, not a big goal I know, but a goal none-the-less. I would also love to be introduced to some new customers, so if you feel like telling a few friends about my stuff please do! It would be much appreciated!!What's up next? Well, I've still got those crystal portraits hanging around and I would love to make a print out of my oyster shell Zen experience, but I'm feeling like having a little collage/art time in and out of my sketchbook. Things could get interesting!

The End is the Beginning

Another treasury! These are fun. Inspired by winter as the season of death - not dying - but death, the actual state of being dead. Being still and waiting for renewal. This is a set of art works that explore that cusp between one state and the next. Is it the end or the beginning? Clearly it's both!
 


There are so many interesting artists on Etsy. Well done peeps!

Oh! Also, I used Craft Cult's new Treasury widget in this post. Is it working for you?

Gournal share!

Alright, here's another journal entry for all to see! Actually since I'm making this a regular and recurring post on my blog it better have a special name, right? Henceforth, this feature shall be known as... the "gournal share." Yes, gournal. If you've seen the movie Wet Hot American Summer you'll get this reference to Paul Rudd's charming mispronunciation. If not, you need to see it like, now!
Anyhoo, onto the share:

I opened up my old journal today looking for an image to post and found this little collage, the very first art entry. I used to find this image sort of abject and morbid but today it struck me very clearly as a resurrection. When I made this collage I was going through a time of general growth in my personal life, and growth I've come to realize, is always a little messy. There was a lot of upheaval and uncertainty; it had been a long time since I'd shown any new growth creatively and I was feeling lost, stuck and a little depressed. I was getting tense and frustrated, coming to the point where I couldn't stand those feelings anymore when one Saturday at work this just came busting out. It was spontaneous and almost uncontrollable. And it felt SO GOOD! I believe I stood cutting and pasting for an hour or so while my coworkers well... worked. (Sorry guys!) For almost a year after that day I couldn't be separated from my art journal, I took it everywhere and worked in it regularly. It brought me huge amounts of peace and was exactly what I needed at that time - a place to work through and express loads of complicated and confusing thoughts and feelings as I brought about drastic changes in my life and in my self. Working in this journal allowed me to grow elsewhere, creatively and otherwise. I started it without any knowledge or intention of where it would go but it's pulled me in a whole new creative direction, a trajectory that I'm so pleased to be on now!

help.

Here's a look at the print I've been working on lately. It's coming along slowly, but it's also more ambitious than any of the other prints I've done, being a fair bit larger (6 x 9-ish) and with more complicated line work. I've gotten this far, but honestly I'm not sure where to go from here. The outline plate is finished but I would like this print to have a few layers happening, I feel it needs some color and texture in the background. Huhhhh, it exhausts me. Any thoughts?

death is a meal.

Yay! I finished a print and it is now the first to be for sale in my shop - forelock.etsy.com! Cool.

Printing this was real fun, and real good practice too. It started with a little type doodle in my art journal, later I found that certain images kept swimming around with those words in my head - so a print it became! I love working over a sketch then transferring it to a block for carving. And oh, how I love to carve! I find it so satisfying - it tests my patience, control, and attention to detail while also being completely self indulgent (knives! cutting!). Win - win!

The next step has been what I struggle with most so far, on and off the press. I've had this really filthy misconception about printing. I assumed that all my hard work would be done in the sketching/carving/typesetting/etc phases, so that when I was finally ready to print I'd just be able to bang 'em right out 1! 2! 3! I could not have been wronger. There is as much work in printing each image as there is in each of the previous steps. Every single image needs particular attention paid.

So here I am bubble burst + lesson learned, and all the better for it. I didn't use the press for these prints, instead I pulled each by hand so that I might pay very close attention. I used the water-soluble oil inks again (love!) cut with a little crisco. I know many people in high places are probably frowning upon this, but it just works so well! The ink + crisco has great body and stays perfectly open while I'm printing. For burnishing I used a Japanese baren and bone folder combo - the baren first for a broad even impression, next the bone folder to sharpen up the details. Next time I will have some photos of a print being pulled, or maybe even a video - that would be fun!

I am really happy with these prints, the finished product as well as the process. I can't wait to do more! To get a little back story on the text, and see more images of the print check out the listing on Etsy. I'm off to call mi madre. Happy Mother's Day all!