Cast Paper and Lithography

I recently took my first lithography class with Gretchen Schermerhorn at Pyramid Atlantic, working with aluminum plates. I have wanted to give litho a try for a long time because it’s the only printmaking technique that can seamlessly transfer the line quality of a drawing to print. It was a great intro class, and my friend Lindsay McCulloch and I have been setting up printing dates ever since so that we can practice (we have to have a glass of wine to lighten up while we work because the process is so intense!). We’ve done two prints so far, have been learning a lot, and if there was ever a time to have  a studio partner this is it!

Luckily, these prints I’ve been working on fit nicely into the theme of a show I’ve been invited to participate in called Art @ Work.  The theme is unemployment, and how it can lead to depression, isolation, and breaking families apart. Conversely,  art can play a powerful role in our communities and Albus Cavus , the arts organization that partnered with The Joan Hisaoka Healing Arts Gallery to put on the show, uses public art to uplift and strengthen communities.

The prints are inspired by a stereogram I found at my husband’s granny’s house a few years ago–the photo was of soldiers baking bread in a field kitchen, during WWI I think. The image was very stricking because of the huge stacks of bread they were amassing. This led me to many other bread images, including photos of bread lines from WWII. Bread is a powerful image representing hunger and nourishment, and even though we don’t see the large piles of bread in them today, bread lines are still a necessity for many people who struggle to make enough to feed their families.

I’m very interested in finding alternative ways to display works on paper, and eventually settled on the idea of creating cast paper loaves of bread, and mounting the prints inside. The idea came to me while browsing Elisabeth Omdahl’s blog, which I discovered in a random google search a while back, and go to often for inspiration. How strange to find a kindred spirit in another part of the world–for example, she posted recently about her cat “little prince” dying. My childhood cat was named little prince!! And we have a very similar aesthetic. Anyhow, check out this lovely paper egg she made http://omdahlart.blogspot.com/2011/07/installation-tests.html . My camera started acting up recently, so I haven’t been able to get a great picture of the finished piece. These will have to do for now.

I had to work fast to get the pieces ready in time for the show, but I’m so glad to have had that push. And really glad to have had help from Gretchen and Ripley making paper, and a tip from my friend Morgan Ward about where to find a nice piece of weathered wood! It was really fun to experiement with these new techniques!

Make and Take

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

We hosted one heck of a party at Pyramid Atlantic on Saturday (Dec. 3)–A holiday cocktail party and DIY holiday event that opened up our studios and gave folks a chance to print their own cards and wrapping paper, make paper ornaments and garland, and enjoy some delicious cocktails. We had a lot of folks come by, and hopefully we’ll see some of you all again! Here’s a few photos that a friend sent me of the view from outside (this is of my block printing on fabric for furoshiki wrapping station), and a photo of a test print of by rabbit block.

http://www.pyramidatlanticartcenter.org/

Elementals

Pretty birds. I am always attracted to bird imagery, and have even considered a bird tattoo for some time (although Portlandia has made me think twice)   so when my friends Inga and Andy Hamilton asked me to participate in an arts experiment and traveling exhibit called “Elementals Birds” there was no question. Elementals is an experimental show conceived by Inga, aka Rockpool Candy, and Andy, aka MyTarPit, to see if artists, printmakers and craftspeople can physically embody feelings of peace, harmony and goodwill in their artwork and tangibly affect the environment in which it’s shown. They’ve invited artists from all over the world to participate, and have arranged for the “flock” to migrate from the Richard F. Brush Gallery in Canton, NY to the R-Space Gallery in Lisburn, Northern Ireland, UK, to the Wharepuke Print Studio in the Bay of Islands, New Zealand.

My elemental, titled “Screech owl elemental” was pulled from an old drawing in a sketch book, along with lots of other photos, clippings and drawings of birds. I’m sure the task of embodying peace and tangibly effecting the environment was interpreted in many different ways by the many talented artists who took up the challenge. I sought to make something that could give something to it’s viewers–which brought me to the question, what would I want? With birds as our jumping off point, I immediately thought of animal totems, which are symbolic objects used by a person to get in touch with specific qualities found within an animal which the person needs, connects with, or feels a deep affinity toward. I am hungry for deeper connections in my life to God, to the land, it’s rhythms and creatures, and the many mysteries we encounter. The owl is a feminine symbol, representing magic, wisdom, intuition, and courageousness. She’s also quite a beautiful creature. That’s why I chose her.

I made this bird using woodcut and monotype printmaking. I began each carving session by burning a sage bundle that I keep in my studio, trying to focus on imparting these positive and powerful wishes on my work. I was reminded to loosen up, and tried to look at obstacles along the way (like registration problems!) as opportunities for growth. This little bird provided a playful challenge for me as my first 3-D print, and I’m excited to try more of them in the future. Even though she’ll be part of a large flock, I hope that folks will lock eyes with my screech owl as they pass through the exhibit, and that she will stir something deep down inside them.

You can read about the project here: http://www.ingahamilton.com/elementals.html

http://www.stlawu.edu/gallery/exhibitions/

http://www.mytarpit.com/

my true, wild self

On this lovely night I’m happy to take some time to update my blog and share some new artwork. I’m always looking for ways to shake up my process of art-making–ways to encourage spontaneity, experimentation, and fun.  Creating assignments, using prompts, timing drawing sessions, and using new tools all help me to loosen up and distract my inner critic for a bit, and allow me to surprise myself.  3 dimensional work and work with textiles has provided one way for me to do this lately, and this coil basket is an example of that. I saw a large basket that looked like this years ago at an anthropologie store (by the way, the artists who create the store displays there are so talented!) and have always thought it would be fun to make something similar. It looked to me like a thick rope wrapped in scraps of fabric. I  wasn’t quite sure how to build this, and initially collected a thick gauge wire to create an armature–but as i started working i realized that the rope was stiff enough to hold it’s shape on it’s own, and after wrapping the rope in fabric all i needed to do was stitch the levels together to build the structure.  I ended up using waxed linen thread and an upholstery needle to bind each level together, which worked nicely. I hope to make a mismatched collection of these.

I also recently built a small shadow box and made a miniature version of the felted nests that I worked on several months ago for a project at the Torpedo Project in Alexandria with a team from Pyramid Atlantic. I really enjoyed felting again, collecting fallen branches in my neighborhood, and doing some simple construction–looking back at the photos of the crochet coral reef I’m inspired to push this idea further to create clusters of vessels, similar to swallows nests–that’ll come next!

Finally, the screenprint I’ve included comes from an idea unborn for several years-capturing the wildness and passion of a pack of wolves running. Every time I tried to draw these in the past they came out looking all wrong, and I left the project frustrated many times. This time, I did reach a similar level of frustration, but was distracted by the background pattern, and a trip to georgia for the funeral of my husband’s granny. Her house is over a hundred years old, surrounded by 50 acres of fertile land that supports pomegranates, figs, persimmons, pecans, and once sustained animals and people alike. The stories that she would tell us about her growing up there and the deep connection that she had to that place made me think of myths and fairy tales, and I always found the plants there to be quite magical. I tried to capture some of this in the pattern that the wolves are running though–an organized way of showing how abundant that place is, and the true, wild self that the wolves have always represented for me.

Inspirational talk by Callie Curry

I just came across this wonderful talk by Callie Curry aka Swoon–her attitude, sense of wonder and possibility is so inspiring!

Streetbox update

Hot off the presses–this week’s city paper reveals our box locations. Mine will live in Cleveland Park at 3426 Connecticut Ave. NW in front of Loews Uptown Theater! Beginning July 1 you can vote for your favorite box at http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/  ps. vote for me! Ha!

Streetbox named desire

I recently participated in a project called “A Streetbox Named Desire”–The Washington City Paper and Pyramid Atlantic Art Center teamed up to celebrate both of their 30th anniversaries by inviting a group of artists to design artwork for some of the City Paper’s newspaper boxes. 10 artists participated, and we had total freedom to do whatever we chose to the box, so long as our additions could withstand life on the streetcorner. for example extreme weather, prying hands, etc, and weren’t pornographic So, the results are all quite different as you can see, and all really great. There’s actually going to be an opportunity to vote on your favorite one–I’ll post the link when they put it up. We also don’t yet know where our boxes will end up–that’ll be published in the City Paper soon.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

My box design, which I’ve titled “Moon-eyed”  utilized stenciled silhouettes, transfers using carbon paper, block prints, and hand drawn elements. I wanted the imagery to be graphic and bold, easy to make out from a distance, yet also include layers and details that were subtle and rewarding only at a close range. I had a variety of themes in mind, and in the end I chose to remove the figures from their context (for example, one of the stencils came from a drawing of a woman hanging clothes on a line) and just focus on gesture. I chose my title by thinking about my relationship/reaction  to the city–wide eyed with wonder sometimes and fear others, expecially when considering the city at night. I’ll find out soon where it’ll end up (i’m crossing my fingers for H street!)

 

sculptural elements

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I’m really pleased with the way our nest project turned out! Thanks to a group of handy volunteers (Leanda Gaegan, Mike Wozniak, Patti Harden, Sarah Hanks, Claire Schwadron, Morgan Ward, Leslie Smith, and Anna Spelman), Gretchen and I were able to assemble a really lovely felted cluster of nests on the waterfront for the project I mentioned in my previous post. There are also lots of other great nests in the area, and inside the Torpedo Factory (in the Target Gallery) is another nest inspired show that is not to be missed–all will be on display thru May 15th, unless of course a tornado blows our nest away!

Working with felt on this project was really fun–I got to visit a really great shop called Dancing Leaf Farm http://dancingleaffarm.com/, where the owner Dalis (an avid felter, shepherd, spinner, knitter, etc.) gave me lots of great tips, and sold me some lovely hand-dyed roving wool and a dozen of her hen’s fresh eggs (including a blueish green one!). Using the info I gathered from her, other felters I know, and videos from YouTube, we were able to make about 15 nests of all different sizes and colors, and then Gretchen and I selected a grouping that had a similar color palette.

Working with this fiber was fun, inspiring, and gave me lots of ideas for projects I’d like to do in the future! I posted before about the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef at the Natural History Museum, and after visiting it I’m even more excited about the possibilities of working with wool and creating work that has sculptural elements!

Nesting

I am excited about an upcoming art project, and would like to share some information about it, and hopefully encourage your support and/or participation. The Target Gallery, in partnership with Habitat for Humanity, is sponsoring an outdoor exhibition of artist-made nests created by local arts groups. Pyramid Atlantic Art Center has been invited to participate, and Gretchen Schermerhorn and I will be leading. The installations will be near the Torpedo Factory Art Center along the waterfront of the Potomac River in Old Town Alexandria from Sunday, April 10 through Sunday, May 15, 2011.

The goal of the project is to inspire folks to look more closely at their own habitat. Coinciding with Earth Day and Mother’s Day, the hope is to increase environmental awareness and encourage care for the planet we all call home.  Habitat’s work for building decent and affordable homes will also be highlighted.

There are some great opportunities to participate in the event, and to donate to the kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/targetgallery/the-nest-project-what-does-home-mean-to-you to help offset costs for printing signs and maps, lighting, and the like.

Currently Gretchen and I are brainstorming about a nest made of felted wool, perhaps from old sweaters assembled from the back of our member’s closets…I’ll be sure to update this as opportunities to participate arrise.

Nest Builders – Participating Art Groups

• Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
• The Art League
• artdc : featuring the artwork of Michael Winger
• Art Whino : featuring the artwork of James Walker
• flux studios featuring the artwork of Novie Turmp, Jessica Beels, and Laurel Lukaszewski
• Hamiltonian Artists
• Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center featuring the work of Sabeth Jackson and Gretchen Schermerhorn
• Convergence
• Washington Alexandria Architecture Center featuring Virginia Tech’s Master of Landscape Architecture Graduate Students led by Laurel McSherry, program director
• microWave project featuring the artwork of Pam Rogers

Project location: Alexandria, VA

superconnected

I wanted to share this wonderful exerpt from a new yorker article i just read called “Social Animal” (there’s a link to the full article below)–it’s the first time i’ve heard someone use genetics to describe something like Joseph Campbell’s universal consciousness. It also does a wonderful job of describing why losing yourself in a conversation, or a song, or a drawing can make us so happy.

During the question-and-answer period, though, a woman asked the neuroscientist how his studies had changed the way he lived. He paused for a second, and then starting talking about a group he had joined called the Russian-American Folk Dance Company. It was odd, given how hard and scientific he had sounded. “I guess I used to think of myself as a lone agent, who made certain choices and established certain alliances with colleagues and friends,” he said. “Now, though, I see things differently. I believe we inherit a great river of knowledge, a flow of patterns coming from many sources. The information that comes from deep in the evolutionary past we call genetics. The information passed along from hundreds of years ago we call culture. The information passed along from decades ago we call family, and the information offered months ago we call education. But it is all information that flows through us. The brain is adapted to the river of knowledge and exists only as a creature in that river. Our thoughts are profoundly molded by this long historic flow, and none of us exists, self-made, in isolation from it.

“And though history has made us self-conscious in order to enhance our survival prospects, we still have deep impulses to erase the skull lines in our head and become immersed directly in the river. I’ve come to think that flourishing consists of putting yourself in situations in which you lose self-consciousness and become fused with other people, experiences, or tasks. It happens sometimes when you are lost in a hard challenge, or when an artist or a craftsman becomes one with the brush or the tool. It happens sometimes while you’re playing sports, or listening to music or lost in a story, or to some people when they feel enveloped by God’s love. And it happens most when we connect with other people. I’ve come to think that happiness isn’t really produced by conscious accomplishments. Happiness is a measure of how thickly the unconscious parts of our minds are intertwined with other people and with activities. Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day and year.”

Read more http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/01/17/110117fa_fact_brooks#ixzz1B8oFriYh