minis (round 2)

here are the 2 set of minis. this time around i did all the transfers with Kodak photo paper, and the results were much less colorful. the transferred images had milky film over the top, which dulled the colors and details. i applied another coat of modeling paste to see if the film would disappear, and it actually did. there are 50 total in this series, and i imagine about another 500 - woohoo!

minis

so i thought that since i've moved my "drawing studio" into the dining room that it might be fun to document the view each session. this is an endeavor that i hope to be able to remember to do. for now, mid march this is the what's going on at the beach.  we live about 10 block from the ocean and the views of the water are breathtaking most days. today's pretty mellow. 

i am delving into a HUGE series of mini-panels.  by HUGE, i mean that i see no limit in sight. i would love to install them some day in a really long room, as a chain growing around the walls. 

more pics are available on my flickr site. 

here they are, from beginning to an idea or two of the end. 

the smallest are 2"sq and the largest are 2.5x3.5".  the begin with a thumbnail size inkjet transfer of a much larger drawing, mounted onto each canvas in a random position.  i then go into the drawing with a very fine pen and create a new drawing - using the inkjet as a point of departure.  finally, the pieces are finished with a layer of gouache which is applied colorfully and 3-dimensionally, pulling forms out of the lines, creating bulbous, pod-like, spirally shapes.  the ink and gouache work magically with the surface of the transfer and the texture of the canvas and modeling gel.  the surface is much more sketcherly and un-refined, giving each piece a life of their own.  i am thoroughly pleased with these and love that each is a quick sketch, but one in a production of many.  despite the fact that they each are begun with a different part of a line drawing, when assembled in a row or cluster, they all connect beautifully to each other.  

4x4s

i guess it was last fall or maybe a wee bit earlier, i joined a drawing group of mom's.  there's were only 4 of us at the beginning and now we've grown to 6 (woo hoo) and plan to create a flickr page showing what we've been up to.  

anyway, each month we get together and review our drawings - which we create based on theme chose in the previous month.  the only real stipulation is that we need to try and keep our drawings within a 4x4" format - otherwise any materials, surfaces, etc are open.  i will post pieces from the previous months soon, but for now these were the results for the month of february. the theme was to work around something that meant a lot to you.  i chose inkjet transfers, as cj made me aware of the fact that i have been obsessed with the process for years.  it's true, i cannot deny it. so of course i had to incorporate my latest discoveries into these pieces.  

you can see the actual 4x4" transfer on each (there are 2 per panel).  the panels themselves are 6x8" canvas covered.  of course i had to turn them all into little mini series, but they are definitely fun to make....the one that are 2 by 2 are detail of the series of 4 shown below it (i hope that makes sense). 

titles are stil to come....

shop news

so i'm trying to streamline my shop to sell affordable art that's ready to hang or sit or whatever.  basically framed prints and prints.  one day i'll sell some of my latest canvas panels, but i haven't really figured out how to present them or how they should be finished ie: framed or mounted.  

here's a few shots of the shadowboxes (framed prints). i've been testing 'em out on my dearest and most beloved friends and family, and they seemed to have been a hit. let's see how they end up doing in the shop. :)

the latest ideas

this one will be brief, especially since i haven't actually made anything that relates to any of these ideas yet. they're brewing though and there will soon be an explosion of creative merry making that will completely take over every square inch of workable space in our house. poor cj - he desires so badly to live in a modern, pristine environment. i'm packrat and becoming worse at my house keeping skills as my time to make far exceeds my desire to clean up the house or clear off the dining room table.....

so first, i've been really wanting to incorporate letterpress into my drawings. the idea of combining multiple processes in each drawing is alluring to me to no end. every drawing starts with a hand-drawn image, then digitally comes to life with color, and finally are printed digitally.....but something is lost in the digital "outputting"....i'm a texture girl. sculptor by trade and way too many years of education and student loans repayment ahead of me to throw it all away for flatness. so letterpress seems like an interesting solution.

i met a most helpful and patient letterpressman (?) who runs dependable letterpress here in the city. he guided me through the process involved with non-text printing and suggested that i just take a class. of course, i had entertained the idea prior to meeting with him, but i wanted to know more about it before i signed up for a workshop that in the end, wasn't what i was looking for. on the contrary, i think it's exactly what i need to do and what i love about it is the incorporation of digital technology with a most exquisite and archaic craft. anyway, it's called photopolymer letterpress and it really lends itself to drawings. i'm ecstatic and counting down the days til the class which i'll be taking at the center for the book .

so preceeding that workshop, our little mom's group teh motherloded, is doing our own little workshop on gocco printing. another woman in our group is struggling with the digital aesthetic as well. i've been thinking about eliminating digital printing all together, but screen-printing doesn't entice my sensibilities. gocco - a notoriously simple and space-efficient screenprinting process has quite a different effect. so i'm thinking about multi-layered/colored prints, topped off with a layer of letterpress - probably the thicker black line drawing or the more finite lines that accentuate the edges.

i'm also entertaining ideas of sewing and textile printing. gocco-ing on fabric and finishing with an outline of thread, done with a machine, and lots of loose strings. i'm not certain about how to frame them or mount them yet, but just busting out the sewing machine would be a miracle and i'm sure i'll have lots of time to think about framing and mounting while i'm wracking my brain as to how to use the machine. surprising (to me) i made a lot of my clothes in jr high and highschool. i kind of suck at sewing by hand and my level of finish was never something to brag about. if i could combine my stylistic sewing abilities with the overall aesthetic of the drawing, then that could be interesting.

ahhh, what else. i feel like i'm missing something. ...oh, my newest friend kathryn clark. her work is exquisite and inspiring. she's an amalgam of eva hesse, ann hamilton and robin seloover (an old friend with the same delicate approach to her work). ironically, kathryn and i met through our motherlode group, her daughter is the same age as my oldest and we definitely hit it off. seeing her work and her studio kept up 2 nights in a row with dreams of an organized workspace, and a forgotten yearning to get back into knitting. she's invited me to take part in another group of artist/moms who's objective is based on drawing projects. i just received the 1st assignment which is to sketch from the refrigerator/freezer everyday until we meet in late september. all drawings are to be 4"x4" and dated. i'm excited and am hoping that i will find a new appreciation for my fridge/freezer..... i'll post the drawings in the days to come.

enough for now.

repeat, repeat, repeat

months back i read a totally inspiring post on design sponge (which, btw has the coolest diy projects). julia rothman gave a great detailed guide to creating repeat patterns, which of course i delved into immediately. follow this link to julia's awesome guide through the process.

since getting back into the studio, i've been almost obsessed with using the same drawing in as many applications as possible. i guess i just like to re-work things a million times until i'm either sick of it or have taken it to a point that i'm actually afraid i'll really destroy it if i touch it again.

when i began to work on the repeat project, i opted to use the originals, which meant cutting them apart and reassembling them. i then, digitally scanned each one and reassembled them as a repeat using photoshop. i've done some touching up, but for the most part the final repeat still needs some fine tuning.

here it goes:



one





two






three


that'll probably do for now. hopefully i won't walk into target and see these on a set of sheets...

anyway, there's still a lot of work that needs to be done. i've got a lot of ideas regarding color and other such options for finishing them. i'll save that for another post. it only took me 2 months to get this one up :)

daisyjanie - a seller on etsy, co-writer/founder of scoutiegirl and amazing textile designer has essentially captured my dream of printing my drawings on fabric and then creating a more utilitarian object with the fabric - such as handbags, which she does - and they are gorgeous. i have taken the month off from etsy as far as updating my store and re-listing items - just to see what happens. so far, i've had hardly any traffic through the store, however have actually had a few people "heart" me (which aside from the term, is actually a very cool way to find other artists of like mind and such). ironically, daisyjanie "hearted me" most recently and my heart skipped a beat with excitement. woo hoo.

grizzled construct

so i'm not sure why i chose to use the colors i did for this drawing, and though i made a few different versions in other color ranges, nothing really appealed to me. frankly, i don't really like this drawing, i do like what became of it. my eye in constantly focusing on the 3 lines that run off the edge on the upper right side and then the bottom areas and their small, narrow spaces.

i cropped it and flipped and reproduced it with taking away most of the color and continued repeating those things until i came up with a variety of layers that include or exclude color. transparency plays a huge role in giving the piece depth and filling in the gaps, so to speak.

i don't really have a story fro this piece, however, the image on the right side is reminescent of a boy or a soldier. having 2 boys and the imminent possibility that one day they may decide to become soldiers is a thought that chills me to the bone.

or maybe, and most likely, it's simply the incessant argument-conversation with z about the necessity of his wearing a helmet when he skateboards....i doubt he'll become a soldier, he's way too argumentative and stubborn - even for a 3 yr old (i mean "almost 4 yr old"). d will do whatever his brother does so, hence the ongoing argument-conversation.