Archive for the 'Uncategorized' Category
I’ve made test prints of the two Fairy Tale blocks I’m working on, and am rawther happy with the results.
On the left is The Frog Prince. The princess lies asleep, clutching her golden ball, while the frog watches. My main issue now is the frog’s eyes. I’m finding it a bit difficult to get both direction of glance and emotional content into amphibian eyeballs. And in black and white, at that. Lots of test scribbles on the sides of my reference photos, but still not quite right. It will come to me one of these days.
In the meantime, I’ve done most of the corrections and adjustments that I noted on the test print for Rapunzel, and am pretty much ready for a final test before printing the edition. I’m looking forward to getting back to the press!
Now in the first round of drawing: Rumpelstiltskin and Snow White. Look for a sneak preview next week!
February 02 2010 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
So my new Camino print is carved, and I printed up the first batch this week. Here it is:
Storks, Azofra
Linoleum block print, 2009
Edition of 15
Image size 8″ x 6″
I just framed one of the new prints this morning, and dropped it off at Michael Angelo Gallery this afternoon. Its place had been held by what I called its stunt double, so all I had to do was take the placeholder off the wall and hang the real one in its place. Good thing I think about details, and have all the wires on all my prints hit the backs of the frames in the same place. It makes hanging a show so much easier!
It’s interesting to me to see the changes in my own work. Looking at my web page of Camino prints, I’m struck immediately by how much white space there is in the new piece. I find it much more difficult to print a block with lots of white; I have to be much more meticulous in applying the ink, using smaller rollers and targeting specific areas to ink at a time. I am also pleased with the variety of textures in this print. I loved the stone, brick, adobe and wattle in the Spanish villages I walked through, and wanted to give a sense of that tactile richness.
If you’d like to see the new print live and in person, come out tonight to Santa Cruz’s First Friday Art Walk, and visit Michael Angelo Gallery for my opening reception between 6 and 8:30pm. It’s at 1111-a River Street, opposite the Tannery. Michael Angelo Gallery is also open every Saturday and Sunday, 11am -5pm, and my prints will be there through December 27.
December 04 2009 | Uncategorized | No Comments »
It may be entirely coincidental, but I blame Damian and the Incident of the Whippy Tail for the death of my beloved 4-port hub, and by extension, the lack of recent blog entries.
It was not a sudden, merciful death. Rather, the hub lingered, sometimes connecting my peripherals, sometimes not. At times the green light of connectedness would glow strongly, promising access to printers and card readers, only to blink out in exhaustion as soon as data flowed. At other times, only a pale glow would appear, ghostly blue and weak, a shadow of its normal self.
I tried what I could. I disconnected the hub, hoping that a vacation would revive its strength. I tried switching cables from port to port, thinking that all it needed was some variety to perk it up. Damian even tried hitting it again with his tail, in a sort of “hair of the dog” homeopathic treatment. All in vain.
This week I finally made the call: the hub was dead. A quick trip to BestBuy secured its replacement, a new, larger, 7-port hub. Sic transit gloria mundi.
July 03 2009 | Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
It’s very exciting: I’ve just re-launched my website, www.mswest.com, and now I’m launching a new blog as well.
I’ll be writing about my adventures in painting, printmaking, and on the hiking trails –with the occasional update on my cats, as well. I hope readers will find my entries educational, interesting, and entertaining.
Right now I’m off to make some code changes to clean up the blog’s appearance — but I’ll be back soon!
March 09 2009 | Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
