Can't go to Atlanta? You can still see the show!

Those clever folks at Art House Gallery in Atlanta are going to live broadcast the opening of the Sketchbook Project #3 tonight. Who'dathunk it? From the letter they just sent:

LIVE VIDEO BROADCAST from The Sketchbook Project in Atlanta, GA tonight!
Tonight marks the first exhibition on the Sketchbook Project tour. We will be broadcasting it live over the internet so that people who can't make it to the exhibition in person can have a chance to view the show and see how people interact with it. The show tonight also features the work of Emily Maxwell.

The show starts at 7:00pm EST and runs until 10:30pm. To view the broadcast, simply go to: http://arthousecoop.com/projects/sketchbookproject/broadcast.

Please note that because tonight's show is at our own gallery, this is unfortunately the only exhibition on the tour that we are able to broadcast. Also, the broadcast is limited to up to 50 viewers at a time, so if you aren't actively viewing it, please close the window to allow others a chance to!

Golly... now HOW am I going to see if my entry gets any vid time unless I sit here and watch for 3 1/2 hours? I'm good at slacking, but sadly have too much work to do today to be really good at it. You'll just have to let me know if you see any familiar pages go by. Perhaps this one, for instance.....

Steps toward recovery

The fifth color went down on the pine cone linocut this morning. I was awake at 6:00 again, so wandered bleary-eyed downstairs and got to work. I'm still uncertain about how things are going here, but intend to reserve judgment until the darker colors start going down.

You can see in the ink-up that I left one corner devoid of this orange-y color. None of it appears there, so it wasn't necessary to roll ink. I think things are still going to look rather nebulous for at least one more color pass, and then hopefully the image will begin to resolve. It's like a painfully slow movie with poorly translated subtitles, isn't it? Really difficult to follow.



In other news, this afternoon I'm off to the Salida Museum to do some research for an interp project for the Collegiate Peaks Byway. The museum is actually closed this time of year, but one of the volunteers offered to help me dig through the photo archives to see what we can find pertinent to our goals. It's too bad I have to focus on work today, because I'm intrigued by the possibility of getting in there to make some drawings. One thing at a time, I guess. Dangit.

Would you like some jam with that muff-up?

So I woke up shortly after 6:00am, grabbed my slippers and bathrobe and stumbled downstairs to the studio and the linocut block waiting quietly in the jig. I cheerfully set about mixing two different ink colors, and when that was accomplished I confidently picked up a brayer to begin placing the first color.

And then I set it down.

Oh, BOTHER.

I didn't think this through quite clearly enough.

Both colors define delicate, skinny little bits of dried grass and dry pine needles. Some of these interact with each other in close proximity. Huh. It didn't seem that critical yesterday, but this morning I can see that if I'm really going to ink up two colors at once, it's going to have to be handled with some precision.

I am SO not in to precision inking. Expletive. I have muffed this step. PLEASE don't let it be too serious.

So I abandoned the orange-y color for the pine needles and set about only pulling the yellow for the grasses. I tried to keep this to a minimum of ink application by rolling mostly in the places that needed yellow and rubbing most carefully in those areas to transfer ink. I rubbed the entire plate with the baren, pressing hardest in the areas I needed. I even used my fingers for some firm spot rubbing, too. (I put a piece of tracing paper between the print and the baren partly for this reason. No finger oils to transfer to the back of the print.)


The result is a bunch of prints that look very odd. I actually rather like the sort of fuzzy aspect.. hazy and incomplete. I might save one or two out at this stage and see what happens. Or not.

At any rate, once I cleaned up I went ahead and carved for the next pass. If these dry enough in the next 24 hours, I may try to print that tomorrow. The rest of the week is pretty densely scheduled, and I hate to think of leaving this for too long. Especially so I don't forget what it is that I think I figured out to make up for having not thought to remember in the first place. Or something like that.

The middle school weather station says it's 59 F (!). I think it's time for a walk.

What's cookin' for Sunday brunch?

Tomorrow morning I'm going to try to do two colors in one pass. Oooooooooooh.

Don't forget your jammies and slippers.

The weather is supposed to be ridiculously nice again tomorrow, so my plan* is to get up reasonably early and have this pass finished by mid-morning so we can get out and enjoy the sunshine. (You know how plans sometimes go.)

Yesterday was (probably) our last day to help with the bighorn sheep project this winter. No more hay in our pockets and apple mash in our shoe treads until next year. (sigh) Personally I think the DM looks relieved to be finished, but he assures me he enjoyed the adventure.

Remember the tiny linos?

They're still finding homes, but I think I should warn you: There's only one Snail left in the edition. It's hanging out at Etsy. Just in case.

Time out for inspiration

I don't know if you are familiar with TED... but I'm a bit of a groupie. TED started out as a conference bringing together people from Technology, Entertainment, and Design fields (get it?), but now the annual gathering brings together fascinating thinkers and doers in many disciplines, challenging them to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes). The ticket for admission is quite high, but TED is kind enough to post many of the great presentations on their website. Go poke around, you're sure to find something worthwhile!

TED also sponsors the TED Prize: a goodly grant to help three world visionaries fulfill grand wishes. One of this year's winners was Jose Abreu of Venezula, whose music program "La Sistema" has touched the lives of tens, if not hundreds of thousands of kids. Jose's acceptance speech is here, but I just had to put the kids of Teresa Carreño Youth Orchestra right here where you can find them easily. It's a long vid (17 minutes), but oh so worth watching and hearing. (The young man conducting, Gustavo Dudamel, is a former student of La Sistema and now the music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic!)




In other news... I made good carving progress this morning, and then spent the REST of the day working on (choke) tax stuff.

I think I'll go listen to the orchestra again.

Three down...

...and... hm... Five to go? We'll see. It looks like at least that right now.

The third color went down on the new linocut today. Yes, pajamas were involved. I'm not sure yet, but I think the next pass is going to handle two colors at once. That's the goal, anyway. We'll see if I can pull it off.

Time out for wildlife coolness

Bonus points for the person who can identify the bird species. :-)

More Sunday night miscellany

Prints are drying, carving is happening, roses are opening ever-so-slowly. Your Surrogate Cousin is practicing and I am trying to organize for the week ahead.

A few little tidbits that might be of interest:

1) That rush job of "whimsical cartoony images" went live online this past week. Take the Birds and Climate Change Quiz at Audubon.org and you can see the crazy little things for yourself.

2) Jala Pfaff tagged me a little while back with a "random things about me" meme... have I gotten to it? No. Susan Tweit also tagged me with the "Happy Meme." I haven't done that, either. They're both producing lovely, worthwhile reads, though... so pop on over and see what they are up to.

3) If you haven't gotten your printmaking fix this week, you can also go over to Printsy and see Who's Printsy This Week.

4) And, OOOOOOOOOOOOOH! Look at my fabulous find at, well, Fabulous Finds, an antique store a scant 2 blocks from the house. I haven't tried to print with them yet, but you KNOW I had to have them.

PJs and roses

Party animals that we are, the DM and I went out for music at the Salida Café last night. It was an eclectic evening featuring a fingerstyle guitarist, a celtic duo, and a honky tonk/blues pianist. Friends with separate careers, they thought it would be fun to tour together a bit, which meant we were treated to a three-concerts-in-one event. As a collection they call themselves Uncommon Bonds, but we were cautioned against trying to Google for them. (Apparently the hottest link by that name turns up an over-18 Australian fetish club. Yikes!)

A later-than-normal evening (we were still in bed by midnight, don't get any crazy ideas) meant a slightly later-than-normal morning, but I had already prepared the print setup and was ready to roll when I finally got vertical.



OOPH. There were a few struggles to overcome this morning, the greatest one being color mixing. The first print I pulled was alarmingly dark, so I stopped to tweak the color some more. And then some more. And then some more. Sheesh. So much for the "printing better in pajamas" theory.

While I was fumbling around with ink, the DM discovered a cupboard devoid of coffee. (Not a crisis for me, but for him.) Luckily we live a block and a half from the grocery store, so he trundled out for beans and came home with roses. Golly. My studio sports prints and flowers. Can't get much better than that. Ink struggles are already just a memory. Happy Valentine's Day!

Get your jammies ready

I know it doesn't look like much has changed, but trust me! Second carve is finished, and depending on how the day goes I'll either print this afternoon or first thing tomorrow. Slippers will be involved for certain. Jammies if I don't get it going until tomorrow.