Trees I Have Known

One of my new Z-Acryl pieces was accepted to a juried show in Kansas:

Trees I Have Known is a juried exhibition featuring artwork and ephemera made by and collected by a diverse group of artists, thinkers, and neighbors who have created work that reflects upon the tree as subject, metaphor, and inspiration.
The work for this exhibition was selected from submissions by 150 artists working in Lawrence and beyond. Over 30 artists working in a wide range of media will be featured:
Bobby Neel Adams (New York), Charles Boone (Illinois), Kyle Bravo & Jenny LeBlanc (Louisiana), Stacey Cluppert (Wisconsin), Eric Farnsworth (Lawrence), Jon Feinstein (New York), Jenny Lee Fowler (New York), Justin Guilbert (France), Mirka Hokkanen (Washington), Paul Hotvedt (Lawrence), Chancey Jahnig (Lawrence, currently), Lora Jost (Lawrence), Mindy Kober (Texas), Jeff Krolick (New York), Dave Loewenstein (Lawrence), George Lorio (Texas), Robin Masi (Massachusetts), Eleanor Matheis (Lawrence), Elaine McKay (New York), Michele Monseau (Texas), Melanie Mowinski (Massachusetts), Colleen Mullins (Minnesota), Tim Obrien (Lawrence), Erika Osborne (West Virginia), Sarah Nicole Phillips (New York), Katherine Sehr (New York), Erika Shearer (Lawrence), Matthew Szosz (California), Suzanne Szucs (New York), Jake Vail (Lawrence), Erika Villareal (Indiana), KT Walsh ( Lawrence), and Roscoe Wilson (Ohio)
The Percolator exhibition was borne from discussions with Stephen Goddard, curator of Trees & Other Ramifications: Branches in Nature & Culture. The Spencer Museum at the University of Kansas will be showing Trees & Other Ramifications: Branches in Nature & Culture during the course of this exhibition.

Spring Thing Reception

Of course I forgot my camera (2 times now!) as we were setting up the show this week. I also went to a cool letterpress artists printpalooza at the Kings Bookstore, with steamroller printing and everything, and of course did not have my camera with either. I think I need to strap it to me permanently or something.

I wanted to announce the reception for Spring Thing at the Grand Impromptu Gallery this friday March 6th from 5-8pm. We will also be open for the monthly art walk Thursday March 19th from 4-8pm.

I helped paint and hang some work this week. The show looks really nice, if you have a chance to stop by. We are featuring works from all the members, so there is a really nice variety of 2-d and 3-d pieces. I wont forget to take the camera with to the reception on friday and then I can finally post some photos.

Grand Impromptu Gallery

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I am so excited to have been selected to be a member of a co-op here in Tacoma. They are a pretty new gallery that started about a year ago. The space is awesome and is part of the Tacoma art walk every month. You can visit their site at http://www.grandimpromptugallery.com/. A new show is going up at the end of the week, titled Spring Fling, and I will already have work in it.

I am so happy to be a part of something new and exciting. I look forwards to being an active member and bringing something to the table there. Pictures to be posted soon!

Book on water and reflections

I received a link for this nice book from the scientific illustration list serv. The book is from 1903, author Sir Montagu Pollock, title A Study of Reflexion and Colour in River, Lake and Sea. The book is old, but offers some intersting insights into the physical nature of reflections in water.

The database can also be searched with other keywords (woodcut, print, etching etc.) to find other old forgotten books and ilustrations. In addition to texts, you can also find audio, film and music files.

PLU National Print Exhibition

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Above: Patrick Merrill, 4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse, woodcut, 1st prize; Robert Schwieger, Bob's Workshop, screenprint on glass.
I had a chance to visit the closing reception of the Pacific Lutheran University National Print Exhibition on Friday Feb 11th. The wonderful exhibition, organized by master printer Craig Cornwall, was juried by Tacoma Art Museum curator Margaret Bullock.

Below left to right: Tom Baker, Beacon, relief, silkscreen; Karla Hackenmiller, Liminal Deploy, etching; Andrew Au, GLNrUD, etching, silkscreen, 2nd prize; Jenny Freestone, Vessel, Recycle, drypoint, etching.


The exhibition was a joy to see offering such a wide variety of beautiful prints and combinations of techniques from established and up and coming artists alike. Ms Bullock said in her statement that her criteria for jurying pieces into the exhibition were well thought out compositions, mastery of the techniques, and intriguing combinations of materials and processes.


Some of my favorite surprises were Robert Schwieger’s screen print on glass, Patrick Merrill’s large woodcut triptych (which also won first prize) and Kathleen O’Connell’s etching, drypoint and coffee print. Mr. Cornwall was also doing a printing demo with students during the reception for visitors to see how the intaglio process works.

Above left to right: Kathleen O'Connell, Cities and Names: Cristobal, etching, drypoint, coffee; Chandler O'Leary, Versailles, letterpress; Ann Schuster, Collateral Damage, woodcut.

Please enjoy some of the pictures from the exhibition.

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Printmaking Quotes

I was on the road for a couple of days with our move, and I came to my computer to find over 90 messages (daily normal around 10)! The Mid America Print Council list serv had sent me tons of quotes about printmaking. Thank goodness Nichole Geary has collected them in her blog to share to the world. Here are some of my faves:

"Printmaking is fun because it takes a perfectly simple process like drawing and makes it as complicated and error prone as possible."
- George Bodmer submitted by Julian Cox

"Printmaking, like sex, is not solely about reproduction."
submitted by Curtis Readel, Christopher Cannon, and Jeremy Cody.

"If you can't do it in black and white, all the color in the world is not going to help."
- Robert Malone, Southern Illinois University at Edwardsville submitted by Amy Schmierbach

"Inspiration is for amateurs! The rest of us get to work!"
- Chuck Close, SGC Keynote Address, Boston, MA 2004 submitted by Syd Cross and Dusty Herbig

"The great thing about printmaking is that it brings the element of sport into artmaking."
- unknown submitted by Matt Rebholz

Nichole has a pretty cool blog otherwise too, worth checking it out! Thanks Nichole for putting this together.

Movin' and shakin'

Our movers will be here on wednesday! For all the hustle and bustle I won't be able to write in a little bit. It will be a long drive from GA to WA. Hopefully we'll get internet set up at our new house within a week or so when we arrive.

I packed my sewing machines yesterday, so I concentrated on some printmaking for a change today. I did the demo on the lithography plates last week, and got inspired to make a set of three little "hut" prints. The images are only a couple of inches tall- I think they'll look nice in some shadow boxes.

While I was drawing the prints, I was thinking back to my childhood. Building little huts was one of my favorite activities growing up. Even when the other kids would come and break our hut down, we would always build a new one trying to make innovations as we scavenged for supplies.