Upcoming Exhibition :) !

Poster for the upcoming exhibition! 😊

framing and hiking

A busy week in Artlandia!

Getting things ready for the solo show at Tremaine Gallery in May (thumbs up!). This week the mission was to get Lady Sleep ready to hang. This became a little more involved than anticipated (of course it did, haha.) The borders had sustained some kitty-damage and I was looking to test out some hanging ideas.  I ended up carving new blocks for the borders, a pattern block that I cut apart and interspersed with pattern/ color paper along the bottom edge, two bosses that I flipped and used to transition into the new bottom edge, and a tiny turret block that I used with pattern paper along the top.  I also re-printed the finial block for the center top and tiny blocks for the bottom.  So, yes, that "little bit of fixing" turned into 9 additional blocks, 4 of them new (haha).

new tiny turret block and

 one of the bosses

proof of the new boss blocks

I also added some additional adhesive film to the interior and then sewed the whole thing onto a mesh backing and used brads to affix the art to the mesh. This was part that made me nervous - because the sewing makes holes in the paper, it's important to do it once, correctly.  For the most part, it turned out well. One area I had to redo because the paper got caught (This really is about the maximum paper size I can handle alone.) Overall though - it seems to have worked and it's up in the wall!

The bottom border - still getting used to the sewing a little bit

But the top borders turned out better (whew!)

In addition to getting piece ready to hang tapestry-style, I also have quite a bit of framing to do and I started with the Phoenix on light gray marbling. I think it turned out well - I kept the mat clean/ dust free and the archival hinging looks good. (That pattern across the glazing is a protective film that I'll leave on until it's ready to deliver.)  2 down, 8 to go (haha.)

My friend took this candid of us - I'm taking nature photos
and Honey is so happy :) .

Outside the studio, Honey and I had a chance to go hiking with human and dog friends. I expected patches of snow, but not inches of full coverage (doh.); on the up side, I was Honey's hero for "bringing back the snow for her." ;)

Some of the photos the human was taking... 

One side of the mountain was snow covered while the other side looked like this?!?

This isn't from a hike, but I thought it was strange - the sun is bright red
even though it's not at the horizon.  

"What do you mean you don't need my help sewing, Human?"

Mini continues to hold down the fort as sole Feline Assistant until Jr. is ready to come home in a few weeks. She was an active helper this week (any studio activity that involves thread is high on her list of favorite things.)  The sewing table is one of the very (very) few places that I don't allow her. So on the day I was sewing down the collage, where in the whole, entire house did she want to nap? - the sewing table, haha. Oh Mini - she's such a good helper that I don't think she can imagine her human doing anything without her (I love her skeptical expression here :).)

I also did something a little sad this week. I planted Sunny's final Christmas tree by her grave in the yard.  Sunny Loooooved her "kitty toy tree." It was one of her favorite things, and from the time she was a kitten she looked forward to its return every year. I buy potted trees, and this was Sunny's last tree that I've been babying inside through the winter. I wanted it to be planted close to her so that far into the future her Christmas tree will be near her, and even if I ever move, there will be something beautiful to mark her grave. When the spring comes I'll add flowers nearby.

Little Sunny with her first tree

I love this photo of Sunny, here with the now planted tree.   

  

(Art) spring cleaning

My piece, "pink parrot" among many
excellent pieces at
LABspace in Hillsdale, NY

A busy week in Artlandia!  Lots of logistical goings on this week - deinstalling the show at Albany Center Gallery and delivering an artwork and attending the opening of True North at LABspace in Hillsdale, NY. 

Getting ready for an upcoming exhibition, I also went through my work to select pieces and felt like I had every piece in Artlanndia out for review, haha.  Many of the pieces have never been exhibited, so now I'm in process checking each one, making sure it's stable and ready to frame, and making any necessary repairs/ changes. I ordered and received the frames. 

One piece that got some additional work was the life-scale unicorn, which was a major undertaking for my last solo show at The Gertrude Herbert Institute of Art in June 2016.  I added additional sewing of the mesh to the paper and eased the appearance of the transitions between the parts with colored pencil.  It's nice to see it out and getting ready to be enjoyed. 

Another piece that has never been exhibited is Self-portrait as Lady Sleep from 2015. Unfortunately, it's one of Mini's favorites...she chewed some of the edges off.  However, the piece was already built with an internal border, so I think I'll be able to add a decorative layer over the damage that will be a meaningful addition. I carved a new border block inspired by Gothic stained glass and manuscript borders and re-printed some of the older small blocks for this purpose.

New border block

Mini, leaving her mark

This part of the work can be discouraging because it's time consuming but doesn't make the work look much different; however, I think it's important for the long term and will be rewarding to see it all finished.

In para-art news, even though it continues to snow (doh.) it is technically spring, so Honey and I have resumed our weekly hikes.  She is not the least bit intimidated by wind or cold (it's definitely more the human in our pair who's the weather wimp :) ). This week marks the two year anniversary of the day I adopted Honey.  She's grown so much, but still the same shining eyes and beautiful smile - can't imagine life without her! 







































Mini continues to be a big helper - she loves it when her human works with thread in the studio and here she is helping me read the art section of the newspaper.

And, last but definitely not least in exciting creature news...meet our future Feline Assistant, Jr.! Still thinking about his name, he's only 4 weeks old, so he'll be with his feline mom, litter mates, and human Foster Mom for some weeks yet, but I am so excited to be his human! I love seeing pictures and watching him grow and learn, and it won't be long before he joins our creature family.  So tiny and already so much personality! 

Look at that little face! 

In closing, a particularly beautiful batch of chocolate chip cookies for a friend's birthday and some good landscape of the week shots - a no-filter sunset and a sign on the path to nowhere.

rose bush and snow leopard

We have a rose bush (proof)!  Last night I proofed the rose bush (thumbs up!) 

I cleaned the block and want to try again because I think some of the smallest cuts filled in a little, but it was a good first attempt.  

12 x 16" linocut on gray paper

Detail

This is the historic
version from 
Gerard's Herbal 

 I also continued to work on the snow leopard. I finished cutting it out and painted the background. It is still very much in process, but I'm starting to be able to see where it might be going. 

details showing the work that went into cutting the edge - whew!

All the collars I tried for the
snow leopard before giving up
and making one.

Mini was a big helper this week. I'm happy to see her taking on an active role as Studio Assistant.

In other art adventures, I saw two great shows in New York City.  One was Like Life: Sculpture, Color, and the Body (1300 - Now) at the Met Breuer.  

Especially liked this: "Lay Figure," by Bertel
Thorvaldsen, before 1806,
with "Lay Figure" by Paul Huot, ca. 1790
in the background

and this (love, love), "Christ after the Flagellation," by Master IPS 1697

Another excellent exhibition was Grant Wood: American Gothic and Other Fables, at the Whitney.

I especially enjoyed the inclusion of a kitty watching the food preparation with great interest in
Grant Wood's "Dinner for Threshers," 1934

Capping off a most excellent adventure, I went with my parents to see Carousel - it was so good! I thought I knew all the songs from my childhood, but some of them I remembered better than others, and some of the plot points have different meaning to me as an adult as well. I loved all the set changes, singing (Renee Fleming!), and there was dancing. The choreography was done by Justin Peck who also choreographed The Most Incredible Thing - a collaborative piece with Marcel Dzama and the New York City Ballet that I think is probably one of my top 5 favorite art things that I've seen (reminiscing about that, Feb. 2016). 

Naturally, this week's landscapes are transit and city photos:

Last, but not least - in creature news, it's a very good thing Mini "re-fluffed," (she had started shedding into her spring coat when we had a warm spell in February, but after the 3rd and 4th snow storms, she's back at maximum fluff.) We are still getting snow (which Honey enjoyed, but I didn't have the heart to photograph outside.)