This last week has been loaded with art related things- I'm so happy. I taught class, went to class, had two receptions and took down and hung a show. So much fun and I hope we'll even be written up with the local news papers in Nummela Finland.
Where to begin, well first I wanted to show you the doggie print. I got most votes from friends to go with the orange and brown theme, so thats what I printed it with. The paper is cream colored Stonehenge. Heres the stack of prints, all 45(ish) of them. I still have to go through them and sign and edition them. But the grueling part of printing is over. Below is a closeup of it. I hope to make more linocuts in the future, it was so much fun. I also liked doing two colors for a change, so I hope to work with more colors in the future too.
I almost forgot to mention it, I also finished cleaning up and painting my little Kelsey 5x8 letterpress. During my last day of teaching polymerplates at my Tacoma Studio we inked it up for the very first time and tested one of the student plates on it. After futsing for about an hour with everything we got it to print fairly well. I think one of the hard parts was that it was not attached to a base, so applying too much pressure was out of the question. But it worked, and now I need to get back home and test it out a bit more. :)
So talk about exhibitions! I was able to organize a group show for La Familia Gallery members in Seattle. La Familia is a co-op gallery that I have been a member of since November 2009. I brought all the artwork in two suitcases for a show at Gallery Golden Point in Nummela, Finland. I have known the owner for quite a while, so I was comfortable organizing the exhibition with her. The pieces went up on tuesday and the reception was held right after. I was interviewed for the local newspaper, so I can't wait to see what they write about us.
The exhibition was well received. Everyone was super excited about it, since Gallery Golden Point is in a smaller town about an hour from Helsinki, seeing a variety of works from across the Atlantic was a breath of fresh air to the city and proved that there can be an international art scene outside of Helsinki. Here are a couple of shots from the show. As a co-op gallery we are also going to be showing at Art Monaco '10 at the end of April. With volcanic ash flying in the air, we have been on the edges of our seats waiting to see that our crates get there on time and that the members responsible for our booth will make their flights. I'll write more about that when the time comes.
The other show that just came down was at Galleria Gjutars in Vantaa Finland. I did not fly in until halfway through the show so we had a closing reception last Saturday and the show came down on Sunday night. The gallery has two floors and I had the upstairs space. The gallery fit well for the type of work I had, so I was very satisfied with how everything went. You can see more pictures of the installation on my flickr site. 
Lastly I took a non-toxic printmaking class over the course of two weekends in Espoo Finland. I learned several new techniques that I was unaware of. There is so much to tell, that I have to write a whole new blog about that. It was nice to get some time in a studio, try new things and get the gears working again. I have had so little time in the studio to make new work lately its pitiful. I hope to go home and get a grip on time and actually get some new work done. Stay tuned for insights into etching non-toxic hard and soft grounds!
