Inspiration to keep on track

Since I have decided to concentrate more on relief printmaking, the ideas have been churning and gestating in my soul. I have been doing a little bit of sketching. Not every day, but when inspiration hits I have been able to formulate and sketch a few good ideas to keep for when I have time to carve and print.

The ideas have continued to flow, and I have been inspired lately to try doing some block prints on fabric related items. I had considered doing screen printing, but didn't want to stray from my promise to stick to one medium for awhile and see where it takes me. I had done some reading of other artist blogs and websites and there are many artist who have had great success block printing right onto fabric! I have many ideas for some new children's wares, tea towels etc. I had a gift certificate from my father burning a hole in my pocket and I was waiting until just the right idea came along in order to use it. The other day I ordered some fabric inks from DickBlick and am waiting for them to get shipped. I can't wait to give them a try and see how my experiment turns out.

Oh, and on the smudge ink problems I was having with Akua intaglio inks that I used for relief, I emailed Susan Rostow, the owner of the business. She got back to me super quick with some ideas to try for my current prints and a few hints to use for future prints. I can't wait to give them a try. Thanks Susan!

new specs

Check out my new specs. I went with a little bit of conservative because they are dark brown frames. but they have a flash of funk. The sides and inside rim are blue and they reflect a lot of light when you turn the right way. Great for the day job and good for my funky personality.

Not much art this week. I started printing a new series and don't have the right color of ink to do the next layer. I have been using Akua inks. I love them, but they are not drying the way I would like. I am using recommended papers, but when I use dry paper they still tend to rub color when touched. hmmm. Don't know what to do about that. Let me know if you have any suggestions. They work great when I pull monoprints with wet paper. But with relief work they tend to dry with a residue. Any suggestions?

Did you think I forgot?

I have been promising to upload some images for a long time and have not been able to get it done. I have been working slowly on this series for a couple of months now. I was inspired by the Cairn jigsaw print that was created by the Baren members and put together by Maria Arango, a fabulous artist in Nevada. I apologize for the quality of the photos. I was not able to scan them properly and only had time to take quick snapshots of them.

I chose to use the silhouette of Mount Mansfield, our largest peak in Vermont. I get to see it every day when I walk out of my farm house. It has always held a special place in my heart and is a vital part of the Vermont scenery.

I carved several blocks and then cut them along the mountain range. I have been able to mix and match to create different pieces. It has been a time of great exploration for me as each piece alters the way I look at the blocks and I have changed some mid-stream. I don't intend to number the addition, however there will only be limited editions of each type of print as they will vary in color and shapes.

I used a very simple style with a whimsical flair to represent several of the things that remind me of Vermont and our culture here in the Green Mountain State. I think I have more to come in this series. I feel some other ideas brewing but have not had enough time to put them down on paper.

Spring has been a nice change in our area, well really it is early spring a.k.a mud season. The warmer weather has been welcomed and it seems to affect everyone positively. I have had more energy lately and hope to put more time in the studio. I have been doing more sketching when an idea strikes me and I hope to continue this practice so that when I have the time to carve and print there are designs ready and waiting to be worked. Yesterday, I had the opportunity to start printing a few new pieces that I had carved a few weeks ago. It felt good to break out the inks and put my press to work.

I hope you enjoy your weekend and have beautiful weather.

What really matters

This post is not really about art, but I felt the need to share pieces of my life that feed the undercurrent for my work.

This weekend I had to face the fact that our lives are fleeting and temporary. I spent time with a family member who has stage four cancer. She told me she just hopes for more time. That statement keeps haunting me as I sit here and perseverate on all that happened in the last few days. It got me thinking about what matters in life and what really counts in the long run.

Over the last few years, my husband and I have had a lot of conversations and made a lot of changes. We live a quiet life in the country and try to keep things simple. We bought an old farmhouse and have spent the last five years renovating. We keep a garden in the summer and try to provide as much of our own food as we can. We reduce, reuse, and recycle every day. We help each other make time for our passions; art for me and music for him. We work hard to make the focus of our lives spending time with people we love, and doing the things that bring us joy.

We started making these changes as we became more and more disillusioned about what was going on around us. Our society spends too much time being consumers and worrying about having shiny cars and big houses. We want to look like models and live like celebrities. And if that isn't enough, there is no focus on the here and now. Just when you get something accomplished in your life, people are asking you about your next move. You graduate college, it's when are you going to get a job. You find the "right" person, it's when are you going to get married, buy a home, have children, and retire. And god forbid you don't have a five year plan and a desire to climb the corporate ladder.

I'll be the first to admit that these things all used to have meaning for me. I thought that was what we were supposed to strive towards. As I grew into myself more and more, I realized it was not what I wanted.

Even with all the changes my husband and I have made in our lives, it still give me pause to hear those simple words; I just want more time. With as much as I think about making this life count, I still have to remind myself to slow down and enjoy all the little things that make up my day.

I have to put tasks out of my mind and enjoy watching my daughter play and walk across the room for the first time.

I have to put my day job out of my mind when I get home so that I can enjoy my family.

I have to shut off the television and make my way to the studio and pick up a brayer and some ink.

I have to put my need to "produce" work out of my mind and just truly enjoy the act of creating.

So the gift from this incredibly emotional weekend is a lesson; Enjoy each moment in time because it may be your last. Savor it, live it, and love it. Do what really matters.

New Focus

It has been a long time since I have been able to post on this blog. So much has been going on in my life over the last year since baby girl came into our lives. I still cannot believe it has been almost a year! I have lived a very blessed life to nurture and hold that little girl as close to my heart and as much as possible. I have had little time for art, although I grab a few moments here and there. In order to keep myself engaged, I entered a print exchange with the Four Oceans press which I worked on late at night and when I was able to get some precious studio time. Nothing like a deadline to get one motivated. I have also continued to work on the series of prints based on the silhouette of Mount Mansfield. I have pulled several prints, but have yet to find the time to photograph them in order to share them with you. I promise to get to it soon!

This leads me to the direction that I have been contemplating over the last few weeks. Due to the lack of time I have in the studio, I have been trying to devise a plan to meet all my studio needs as well as my need to nurture baby girl as much as possible. Although monotype is one of my favorite modes of expression, it takes a lot to get into the mindset in order to let my muse begin to work it's magic and channel my fullest creativity. With a now crawling and almost walking baby, its hard to find extended periods of time in the studio to find the groove and develop some work that reflects my minds eye.

I have been reading up on some blogs of other artists with the same issue of balancing art and motherhood. One common link of answers has been to find 'hidden moments' to steal away and work in the studio. Given this, I have decided to really focus on relief work over the next year. I work in several mediums but I am finding it hard to fully explore each idea or design without a lot of time to commit to each form of printmaking. My challenge has been getting completely relaxed and into the mindset late at night to connect to my creativity after giving baby girl my attention all day long. So, I am now choosing to focus on relief print because I think I will have the most success with using 'stolen moments' to fully explore the medium with each design or idea that comes from my muse.

With this new focus, I will also need to work on doing a lot of sketching to get the creative juices flowing. When I do monotype, the magic happens in the process of creating the plate and messing with the inks. With Relief, a lot of this happens on paper. The beauty of sketching is that you can do it anywhere, anytime. I can then work on cutting the plate in stages. Although I like to keep some spontaneity in my cutting process, I can easily do it in stages when there is a need for interruption to attend to my non-art life. Printing can be done late at night or when I have some childcare available to give me the time to pull the prints.

The other stage of this exciting new plan is to work outside the box of the formal edition constraints. Since running large editions can take a lot of time and is not the most enjoyable part of the work for me, I need to rethink how I can explore this medium. There are a lot of contemporary printmakers out there who follow the beat of a different drummer and fully explore each plate by layering different designs and utilizing different colors to make either monoprints or small editions of prints with repetitive images. This allows you to maximize each design by changing colors, composition, and layering other designs to create even more compositions. I think it also adds a really creative and joyful way to explore this medium, which is why I love printmaking. There is so much you can do with it!

I added this print above because it is entitled "hope". I have a new hope for my artwork as well as a new hope for our world and our country. So Happy New Year and here is to hope!

It has been a long time since I have posted. I have been more busy being a mom than an artist. Every once in awhile I get some free time to do some printing. It is not often that I get a block of time uninterrupted in order to take out the inks. Here is a print in the series I have been working on for some time. I have several blocks carved and have done some test prints. I am pleased with some of the prints, but not all of them. I think not doing art all the time has left me a little rusty. I was in such a groove for several years and there was a certain flow to my work. I am currently in a bit of a rut by not having a lot of time to work. I guess that is the trade off for this year. My daughter is not much of a napper and the days that I am home are mostly devoted to her. The only time I get to do some work is when she is asleep for the night or my husband takes her for some extra time at night to give me some studio time. Right now we are both home with her part time so that we can avoid daycare for the first year. It has been great for her, but there is not much free time or a lot of family time for that matter. I will be sad to put her in daycare when she is one, but she will more likely enjoy the stimulation of the other kids by that age. We will also have more of a regular schedule and more free weekend time. For now, I will just have to settle for less time in the studio.

back at it...

Today for the first time in months I was able to find some time to get back to work. Baby was sleeping as she has gotten better at napping without me, so I took advantage. I have been doing sketches when I can and have been planning a new series of blocks based on the profile of Mount Mansfield. This is largest peak in Vermont and I grew up looking at it almost every day. I am so lucky to live where I do!
The process I hope to achieve is to work out all of the blocks and then cut them along the profile of the mountain to create jig-saw blocks that I can then mix and match into endless combinations with different colors and compositions. I just hope it works as I have never done a jig-saw print with lino blocks before. I am hoping that I can cut them along the profile of the mountain with a blade without injuring myself. This will give me endless hours of fun and enjoyment while I work on the multitudes of prints that can come out of this series. Endless inspiration; One of the many reasons that I love printmaking!!!!