Sunday, January 11, 2009

Hunting & gathering

Finally got out for a goodly walk this afternoon, despite some wind and cold. I'm still hunting for a new linocut image idea that will hold my attention long enough to get the print done! I've plenty of ideas, but I'm in one of those moods where I'm dismissing most concepts as too complex, too abstract, or too boring... no happy middle ground. (sigh) Basically I'm being completely uncooperative with myself. It's not pretty.

One of the things I'm looking for is an image to "go with" High Tide Detritus. I like how that image turned out, and I like the idea of doing more with the natural "litter" under my feet. I'm intrigued by the idea of pine cones and needles... or stones... and snow... or ice... and leaves... and bones... and sticks... and....

See my problem?

I'm sure I'll get it sorted out here before TOO much longer, but in the meantime... here are some groovy ideas I collected whilst stalking the river edge with my camera. Will they make good linos? Hard to say. At the moment they all look like a bit of a carving nightmare, don't you agree?

6 comments:

  1. Carving nightmare? I'll say! I'd run backwards, very fast, from the top one! I like the pine cones and there's a nice lichened stone, bottom left, with them and I see possibilities in the cracking ice of the third one. (May I borrow that, since there aint no ice here!)
    I'm sure you'll come up with something stunning.It's the getting there, isn't it.(sighs heavily and returns to self portrait ...)

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  2. I'm laughing out loud, of course. ANY of them would give me apoplexy if I tried them as is, I think. The top one is especially subtle.... probably to pull it off well one would need 20 colors or something. So yes, you're welcome to it! Sorry I can't provide the cooling temps to go with it, but perhaps if you stand in front of the open freeze? (PS: Shudder. Self portrait.)

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  3. I really like your concept of "detritus underfoot". Your recent High Tide Detritus has inspired me for working on a large (14"x19") monochrome relief of my own photo from the 90s that had been burning a hole in my head for years, and now I know what to do with it! I'm just doing the drawing now, and might very possibly turn it into a reduction at some point.

    I feel your whiffling indecisive pain, Sherrie; good luck with the decision making but I sure like the direction your thoughts are taking you!

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  4. All this indecision is simply the sign of a long, slow slide. Or a brain tumor. Healthy people are consistent and certain, living without doubt on a clear path ... hey, speaking of Doubt, did you see the movie with Meryl and PSH? I thought it was marvelous. Part of that might be that I feared a hollywood treatment (and there were just a few unnecessary "dramatic" shots from the eye of God) but I was very satisfied with the characters and performances. But back to the tumor and your inability to focus ... which reminds me, I had a thought looking at your linocuts: How does a linocut artist reproduce a blurry image? I have some ideas, but I have to make some more tea.
    See you later. Oh, shoot! I have to go to work!

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  5. I love the images and the thought process, Sherrie. I think there is a risk of madness to actually carve them though. There's definitely something in those pine cones, isn't there?

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  6. LOL! Well, thanks, everyone, for reaching consensus on my apparently suspect mental state. I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks I must be insane.

    Yes, Robyn, it's something pine-coney towards which I am leaning. I did go so far as to look at an image and make a mental list of color breakdown. Seems like I could keep it to 7... maybe 8. We'll see!

    And Jeff, as for blurry images in relief prints, I am STILL trying to figure out the process used by the Swiss printmaker Robert Hainard. He got these lovely, ethereal, soft images from woodcuts. The best link I can find to see his work is here: http://www.wildlifeartgallery.com/pages/wildlife_artists/robert_hainard.html

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Linocut in Progress: Color in a gray season

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