New Year's Cheer.... kudos everywhere!

My goodness! What a great start to 2013. There's nothing like recognition to inspire me to work even harder in the new year.

My little magpie linocut (now titled "Lurking," in honor of silent blog followers hiding in the cyber shadows) was voted "Best Picture of 2012 (Nature)" by readers of Katherine Tyrrell's Making a Mark.

This was the 7th year for the Making a Mark Art Blog Awards... so kudos are due back to Katherine for her devotion to art and artists around the world. Thank you.

And THEN... who woulda thunk it? Charley Parker over at Lines and Colors surprised me with a feature about my work in his December 29th post. Charley presents some really beautiful work with concise and thoughtful commentary and links to all sorts of online resources. And, holy cow! "My" post comes between articles about Monet and Le Brun? Get. Out. (Amusing aside: A scraper site that gathers celebrity gossip picked up this post, too. My name in big letters and an article excerpt next to photos of Hillary Clinton and the Denver Broncos. Yeah, baby. Linocuts are All That.)

And THEN... last but not least, Ian Rogers at Grey Not Grey put together a nice post about my linocuts just yesterday. I love that Ian hit on one of my own inner struggles with the following statement:

" There’s something deeply refreshing about somebody who simply makes art based on their experience of nature. We don’t all have to be exploring the implicit tension between modes of art history or whatever."

Yeah. What he said.

All this cyberbuzz is wonderful, but DANG. I have to get back to work. Guess what the FedEx driver brought me yesterday? 24" x 36" sheets of lino! Now all I have to do is figure out what to DO with them. New year, here I come!

Milestones and Mark-making

In the midst of December's chaos Brush and Baren quietly passed its sixth blogoversary. 764 posts, 200-plus subscribers, and many more lurkers after I first clicked the publish button I am gratified and humbled that so many readers have come along for the ride.

I've made some good friends here in the blogosphere... most of whom I haven't yet met in person. But how nice it is to imagine that wonderful "someday" when I will share a delighted laugh and a hug with the flesh-and-blood people behind posts that have made me smile, and ponder, and laugh, and appreciate, and most of all work harder at my craft.

One of the earliest connections I made was with the amazing work of Katherine Tyrrell over at Making a Mark. Katherine maintains some of the most extensive online resources for artists that I've ever found, and she's a darn good artist herself. I've never been able to figure out how she manages to do it all, but I'm very glad that she does.

For the past year Brush and Baren has been sporting the "Going Greener Gong," an honor bestowed through the annual Making a Mark Awards for art bloggers. I'm going to have to retire the badge in a few days, to make room for the next proud recipient. But gee whiz! Yesterday I learned that my little magpie linocut made the short list for this year's Making a Mark Prize for the Best Portrayal of Nature. Wow.

Other prize categories include portrait, still life, and place... and I urge you grab yourself a cuppa and take some time to explore the offerings.  There's some fine, fine work there, and I'm pleased to be included. You can view all the nominated work and participate in the voting on the Making a Mark page here.

Celebrations Everywhere!

Somehow, without fanfare and without any particular attention on my part, Brush and Baren made it to five years of publication (in December) and 700 posts (today!). A lot has happened since December 2006: I shifted house (twice), shifted my studio (twice with the house and recently out and back), added a Darling Man to the household, traveled to both US coasts and stumbled along local paths. My work and the blog have evolved and continue to do so. It's been, as they say, a great ride.

Right about the time Brush and Baren was quietly turning five, Katherine Tyrrell at Marking a Mark was quietly tallying votes for her annual Making a Mark Awards. Among her many insightful categories is "Getting Out of the Studio," honoring artists whose work involves, well, getting out of the studio!

Within this category is the Going Greener Gong, awarded to the art blog deemed "most stimulating in relation to getting us in touch with nature and the environment." Roll a drum and bang that gong, Brush and Baren took the prize! To show my delight and blushing appreciation, I get to sport this lovely little badge all year long. I thought about having it embroidered on the lapels of all my jackets, but in the blogosphere no one can see you dressed. I'll stick with the badge.

Thank you, Katherine! And if you haven't ever visited Making a Mark, I encourage you to do so. Long among the top-rated art blogs originating in the UK, Katherine provides myriad resources and inspiration for artists and art-lovers around the globe.

A blogoversary, an award, and a postiversary all in the first 5 weeks of the new year? It's the blog equivalent of the rockstar lifestyle. Look... I even have to deal with paparazzi!

Oh wait, that's just the sun glaring through my window. Nevermind.

It's customary to make speeches when one wins awards or achieves significant milestones, (I'd like to thank the Academy....) but my list of thank yous is so long that we'd be here until the next awards season. Top of the list, of course, are Brush and Baren's readers, commenters, lurkers, cheering sections, and obligatory-laughers-at-bad-jokes. Hey... that's YOU! Thank you.

Since February is the month for celebrating those we care about in addition to celebrating blog achievements, it seems like it's time for a giveaway! The first year we were together I made this little linocut as a valentine for David, and he has generously agreed to let me share it with the big, wide world.

It's not a new sentiment, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Naturally I didn't get things together in time to give us a big headstart on Valentine's Day (now just a week and a half away)... so here's the deal. Leave a comment on this post until midnight Thursday, February 9. I'll assign the comments a number in the order they are made and then use an online randomizer to pick a winner on Friday. If you're in the US, it might get to you by the 14th. But, hey... who wants to only celebrate the people they care about one day a year? After Valentine's Day is good, too.

I printed several of these in a variety of colors... you can see them in my Etsy store, Rio Salida Art. Where, as blog readers, you get the extra-special whammy of a coupon code good for 20% off anything in the shop through the end of the month! Just use the code THANKS20 at checkout. 'Cause you all are my valentines. Really. I've got a big, green gong to prove it.

UPDATE: It appears that Blogger might not be accepting comments in a timely manner today. We're also without cell service here in the Heart of the Rockies, so perhaps that solar flare is flaring. And the moon is almost full. Whatever. Don't despair if you can't comment. Try again later!

"50 Best Printmaking Blogs" at Interior Design Online

Yesterday I received a nice email from Tracy Myers at Interior Design Degree Online, who has compiled a list of the "50 Best Printmaking Blogs" and kindly included Brush and Baren in the cast. Thanks, Tracy!

Kreativ redirection

I find it curious, and somewhat appropriate, that every time I click to open my blog dashboard the browser title bar gives a little spin and says "redirecting." If only a click were all we ever needed to refocus our attention, eh?

My list of posts-to-do is looming large, but writer, colleague, and friend Susan Tweit tagged me WEEKS AGO with the Kreativ Blogger Award, so a little redirect seems to be in order.

The tasks for the award recipient are these:

1. List 7 things that I love
2. Link back to the blog that awarded it to me
3. Choose 7 blogs to award as ‘Kreativ Bloggers’
4. Comment at each blog to let them know they’ve been chosen

So here we go... my Seven Loved Things:

1. Ginger anything. Fresh ginger, pickled ginger, gingerbread, ginger tea, ginger beer. Ginger in dark chocolate. What's not to love?

2. A new sketchbook, second only to a filled sketchbook.

3. Going away, because it means I also get to come back.

4. Fresh lino blocks, second only to completed prints. (I'm cheating, aren't I?)

5. Our farm share from Weathervane, now over for the season and already sorely missed.

6. Discovery.

7. The Darling Man, aka David. This might seem obvious, but...

I lived as a single and solitary person for my entire adult life until David. After he came along I realized that at the ripe old age of 46 I knew how to live by myself (thank you very much), but I didn't know how to live with another person. It seemed as if it was time to give it a try.

The learning curve has been steeper than I expected-- the biggest surprise came when I realized how much of my self identity (and self worth) was tied to my independence. Had it not been for David's patience and sterling sense of humor I would have 86'd the whole idea of redirected status. But he's still here and I'm still here and we're still laughing... so when our second anniversary comes around this month we will definitely be celebrating.

Next, seven bloggers I want to recognize with the Kreativ Blogger Award because their work inspires and informs my days (in no particular order):

Robyn at Have Dogs, Will Travel. She keeps me on my toes, always posting something that makes me think, "Dang. I have to go work more."

Bronwyn at Snail's Eye View. B recently shifted house and life to far north Queensland, and every time she makes a post it's like peering through the looking glass to some mysterious Otherworld. What's not to love about THAT?

Debby at Drawing the Motmot. Just go look. See if you don't feel simultaneously shamed and inspired. I always do.

Amie at Printsy. Amie has her own blog and squidoo lens and a thousand other things, but at Printsy she posts fabulous interviews with printmakers from all over the world.

Annie at Woodblock Dreams. Mind. Boggling. Cage. Rattling. Woodcuts. 'Nuf said.

There are plenty of others, but as usual someone else tagged them before I got my act together.

We now redirect you to your day (or evening) already in progress.

The envelope, please....

Golly.

Katherine Tyrrell over at Making a Mark has gone to enormous and thoughtful effort to compile and create a lovely series of awards for art and artists in the blogosphere. I am quite touched and honored to have been mentioned in the "Going Greener" category.

Do stop over and see her collection of great ideas, links, and information. Quite honestly, I don't know how she keeps track of it all, but I'm glad she does!

Overdue thanks and kudos

A ridiculously, embarrassingly long time ago, Toni at A Spattering was kind enough to tag me with both the "Arte y Pico" and "Brillante Blog" awards.

Only now am I getting around to passing the torch... I have several excuses, so if you would like to hear them, let me know. Otherwise, we'll just skip it.

Here's how we play:

Arte y Pico

The following 5 rules are attached to this award:

1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award for their creativity, design, interesting material, and that also contribute to the blogging community, no matter what language.

2. Each award has to have the name of the author and also a link to his/her blog to be visited by everyone.

3. Each award winner has to show the award and put the name and link to the blog that has given her/him the award itself.

4. The Award winner and the one who has given the prize have to show the link of “Arte Y Pico” blog, so everyone will know the origin of this award.

5. To show these rules.

And.... the Brillante Weblog Premio!

Since this one is dated 2008, I'd REALLY better get the lead out. Not too many days left in the year!

The following rules are attached to this award:
* Put the logo on my blog.

* Add a link to the person who awarded me.

* Nominate at least 7 other blogs and add links to those blogs on mine.

* Leave a message for my nominees on their blogs.

Since I am inspired by a wide variety of blogs (unable to focus?), I'm tagging a pile of folks. They're fun, brilliant, inspiring, amusing, and passionate about all sorts of things. My kinda people.

My Arte y Pico nominees are: Colors Outside the Lines, Have Dogs Will Travel, Dr. T's Teaching Blog, Paintings, Prints and Stuff, Soulsong Art, and The Illustrated Garden. Oh. And John Steins' Art Journal. And let's give Brillante Awards to Rural Chatter, Community of the Land, Hurricane Art, Making a Mark, A Snail's Eye View, and Visualizing Evolution. Probably that's too many for one and not enough for the other, but surely that gives everyone enough to read for a while, eh?

Now I get to deliver all the good news! (And of course I'm hoping that everyone knows that they're not really obliged to play, AND they don't have to worry about taking longer to get around to it than I did!)