balloons, chess piece, flowers, and clouds

A very busy week in Artlandia!

new 30 x 15" collage

An artist I look up to sent me information about a call for submissions, and it looked like a great opportunity, and I even thought of a piece I'd like to submit...the only problem was that the deadline was about 4 days off and, while I had the parts and blocks, the piece itself wasn't assembled.  So, I pulled out all the stops, reprinted this hand block and (finally!) used some of the balloon prints from last September. The finished piece is what I was picturing and got submitted in the nick of time (mighty!)

It was fun to see these up on the wall - like
catching up with old friends :).

I also gave a lecture on the city blocks from the Nuremberg Chronicles at Historic Northampton and got to see an awesome woodblock demo by artist Nancy Haver and check out the exhibition Landscapes/ Dreamscapes - 2 big thumbs up!

Work also continues on more demo blocks for the upcoming workshop at Women's Studio Workshop, and I carved and printed another block this week.

print of new block with quarter for scale

Work also continues on the unicorn pseudo-tapestry borders. I reprinted the borders, scanned them and am working on a square block as a between piece.

In creature news, Honey had fun swimming in a local pond and all the kitties, but Mini especially, have been big helpers arranging (and de-arranging) flowers from the garden.

And last, but not least, there were also a lot of landscape shots from this week because we've had dramatic weather. 

Demo blocks, flowers, creature togetherness

A busy week in Artlandia!  I've been hard at work carving demo blocks for an upcoming workshop I'll be leading at Women's Studio Workshop in less than a month! 

top left to bottom right: blank block, studio paper transfer, polyester lithography transfer,
saral paper transfer, 3 early stages of carving, carved and proofed block. 

I want to have blocks representing different methods of image transfer as well as different carving stages.  It feels weird leaving the blocks in unfinished states and it was fun when I finally got to the one that I took all the way to print.  

first state proof on left, block on right with quarter for scale

second state proof with quarter for scale

I plan to keep making these to show more post-printing options (printing block to block, changing the scale, zooming in...) so I don't know how many I'll end up with, but I feel like it's a good start.

I've also been working hard to finalize my presentation and notes for a lecture I'm giving on the Nuremberg Chronicles, one of my favorite books, at Historic Northampton this coming week (wish me luck!) 

In creature news - the kitties have really bonded.  I'm pretty sure Mini thinks of the boys as "her" kittens, and they are so cute, the way they come over to her to rest. Mo especially mimics her and Max rubs his cheek against her shoulder wanting to be groomed. I love seeing how happy they all are together and enjoy moving around the house surrounded by a little flock of kitties. 

Apparently, Max is no longer too shy to sleep on Honey's bed with her toy.
Thankfully, Honey is very generous and sweet, though I can almost hear her thinking:
"Now both kittens sleep on my bed? Really Human?" 

On the feline-canine bonding fromt, Max has really come out of his shell and started to bond with Honey.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Momiji is sleeping on her other bed - two dog beds, two kittens.

Here are all 4 creatures in the kitchen with me in a typical tableau: Mini watching over everything, Honey eating a treat, Mo drinking from Honey's water bowl and Max cautiously sphinxing on the periphery near the gate.  

And last, but not least, a nature shot for the week from my garden :) :

borders, creatures, landscapes

A very busy week in Artlandia!

First - I signed and packed the first love birds collage. The birds have taken flight and are on their way to their new home!

Love birds collage 1, app. 21 x 15.5," 2018

Durer, "Venus, Cupid, and Death," from the Ship of Fools, 1494

 I also carved a new block.  I took out and was working on finishing  the unicorn pseudo-tapestry and, naturally, now that it's almost done, I think it needs just one more block (it really does though). I based it on one of Durer's borders from the Ship of Fools and have an experiment in mind for it.  

Block on left with proof on gray paper on right and a quarter for scale.

In other news, I have 2 pieces in a show, Landscapes/ Dreamscapes that opened this week at Historic Northampton, and I've been working on a lecture in association with the show about the cities prints in the Nuremberg Chronicles.

In creature news - the family bonding is going so well! 

Everybody loves treats :)

Max is learning to be an excellent Feline Assistant, Junior II.

...Hence the need for the new polypropylene cover...

Mini

Mo 

The hot weather has been hard on Honey because it's been too hot to take her outside for very long in the afternoon. To try to make it up to her, we went on a long walk in the woods where it was cooler and hiked all the way to the Hudson River.



My Mom and Dad came for a quick visit. It was wonderful to see them and I got to introduce them to the kittens. Honey was also overjoyed to see them (only Mini, being a very committed afternoon napper, after watching to make sure "her" kittens were ok, didn't really come out for pets.)


One side effect of the heat has been that Honey and I have been doing our last long walk at dusk/ just after dark so we've caught lots of beautiful sunsets/ night images this week:

And last, but not least, this nice shot -  I don't usually take indoor photos, but I thought the light was really nice and the mix of candle, electric lamp, sunlight all at once was funny.

Drapery, studio preparations, nature

A busy week in Artlandia!

Work continues on the life-scale drapery block...

As we can see, Max has been carefully observing Mo and Mini and learning how to be an excellent feline assistant. Since I now have 3 feline helpers, I'm not sure the former monikers of "Feline Assistant, Sr." and "Feline Assistant, Jr." really apply anymore - maybe "Feline Assistant, Sr." and "Junior 1" and "Junior 2"?   Hmmmmm.

There isn't as much new art work as usual this week in part because I spent a chunk of time working on the studio itself.  With 2 young kitties, it has become urgent to put into place some studio modifications I've been thinking about to get collage parts and colleges in process off the floor and onto the walls.
In preparation, I patched, sanded, primed, and painted the largest wall in the studio. 

after

before

Mo was such a helper while I worked on the wall,
and it was exhausting. (Also, notice how the fuzzy ball
that used to be tethered to the cat tree is now missing
leaving only a piece of black string, haha). 

While I was working on tasks that have been on the "to do" list for a while, I also took advantage of the few cooler days after the heat wave to go ahead and mulch the small strip of grass at the side of the house (Mini watched from her perch in the window the whole time I worked.) 

before

after

The heat has been hard on Honey, and I took her on a nice adventure to get ice cream and swim in her favorite spot. When we got home, she got a good brushing...

I especially like this one because it looks like she's walking on water, haha.

O My - sooo much shedding! I was worried she'd be bald,
but she's still her fluffy, beautiful self
(though hopefully, cooler and more comfortable now :) ). 

I got some beautiful landscape shots while Honey swam:

And also this one, that I really like, from when we were walking at dusk. 

Also, last, but not least, the garden is in high gear and I think everything survived the heat wave (whew!)