A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mother

 

My favorite place to hang prints for drying - between my husband's and my guitars. Molly Chism's painting always improves whatever I put in front of it!

I took over the dining room table this weekend in order to print a linocut I've been working on the past week or so. My daughter is a little over two years old now (how the time flies) and I felt compelled to do a self portrait as a frazzled, sleep deprived mom. I don't enjoy doing self portraits, so to make it more bearable I decided to cut my face in half and really only focus on the hair and eyes. My goal was to experiment with some face shading and specifically highlight dark circles, splotches, and freckles. I don't often do the human figure, especially when it comes to relief carving, so I'm not surprised that I wasn't completely successful - but it was a great learning experience!

The result I call A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Mother and yes, that is a reference to to James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man. Also, I can't think of a more fitting way to end this "studio" day than with a toddler smearing one of my best prints while it was laying out drying. So what's to be done? Hand it over to her so she can complete her masterpiece, of course!

Central Florida Archivists at The Dalí

Today the Central Florida Archivists met at The Dalí museum in St. Petersburg. We chatted in their gorgeous conference room about what all of our institutions had going on. Then, our hosts gave us a behind the scenes tour of the archive. They even had some special items pulled out for us to enjoy. My favorite was this note from Salvador Dalí, handwritten on a wax paint palette.

After the meeting, we were all set free in the exhibits. The traveling exhibit they had on display during this visit was M.C. Escher - I was so excited. He's one of my favorite artists, and I spent the rest of the day in this gallery - never actually made it to the rest of the museum! So many prints - and original woodblocks were on display as well. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed in the gallery, so all you get is the title wall.

A look back at Custom Clamshells

Back in my Book Conservator days (at Special Collections & University Archives, UCF Library), one of my favorite responsibilities was making custom clamshells. Many books in the collection needed a protective clamshell and I'll admit that some days it would get a little monotonous: rectangle after rectangle after rectangle. But then, every once in a while, there would be an Artist Book with an unusual shape or a 3D artifact that would need a truly creative housing. I stumbled across my old portfolio of extra custom clamshells and thought I would share!

Preserving Visual Materials at the McKay Archives - Florida Southern College

In July I had the pleasure of attending the Society of American Archivists' two day workshop on Preservation and Identification of 20th Century Visual Materials. Not only was this a great workshop on a great topic, but it was also hosted by the impressive McKay Archives on the stunning campus of Florida Southern College.

The best part of the workshop was the instructor John Waggener's impressive teaching collection of photographs. It's so hard to tell, for example, if you're looking at an Albumen POP print or a Collodion POP print just by reading a description in a book. Having the opportunity to handle and compare all the different processes side by side was absolutely invaluable. We even had the opportunity to experiment with Impossible film- the Impossible Project's attempt to recreate Polaroid's lost formula for instant film.

The second best part of the workshop would have to be the people. We had an excellent crew with representation from Disney, The Ringling Museum, Stetson University, St. Petersburg College, the State Archives, several local libraries, and our gracious hosts at the Roux Library & McKay Archives. We even worked in a little tour of the McKay Archives led by Gerrianne Schaad, which included a processing area, gorgeous moveable shelving, and a small gallery.

The third best part of the trip was running around the Florida Southern campus and frolicking among all  of Frank Lloyd Wright's designs. I'm pretty sure I entered some buildings that I was not technically supposed to be in, but the campus was all but abandoned and I did not find a single locked door. For more photos of the Archives tour and my adventure through the Florida Southern campus, enjoy the Facebook album here.

Pretty sure I'm not supposed to be here.

The Wecheer Carving Tool Kit & the Dawn of Dillo Dangle

Join me on my journey into the future as I purchase an electric chisel! A while back I purchased one to aide in my plans for Participation 2014 at the Maitland Art Center. Okay, so this was a looooong time ago, but it's relevant now because I've made some recent progress on that print. Let's go back to the very beginning….

Designing my table for Participation 2014 finally gave me the impetus to create the triptych I had been planing for the three matching wooden shelves that were discarded from UCF Library's Special Collections & University Archives. I finally decided on a swinging armadillo for the subject matter.

These blocks were rather large, and my design would incorporate a lot of white space. This plus a deadline meant it was finally time to invest in some hardware. I should explain that the power chisel function of the "Wecheer Professional Rotary & Carving Tool Kit" is very different than a rotary tool. I mean, yes there is a rotary tool in there, but that's not why I bought it. I hate carving woodblocks with rotary tools (or "dremel tools" in the common tongue). I feel like I loose all control once the rotary bit hits the wood and inevitably goes skidding off across the surface. Alternatively, the power chisel works much more like a hand carving tool and slices through woodblocks like butter, while still leaving a hand worked texture. (Technically, the block is still handworked, just with more power!)

Photo by Douglas Nelson

After finishing the detail work (and carving out a safety buffer outline) with my hand tools, the power chisel made the rest a dream. No more hours, days even, of carving out white space by hand with my biggest gouge, ensuring the early onset of osteoarthritis!

The triptych is designed to connect to each neighboring panel in the round, meaning if each piece were connected at the edges to make a triangular prism, the ropes in the design would connect across each edge and spiral around the prints. So, that's exactly what I created for my table display, with the addition of luminance. Each panel was printed on thin mulberry paper and backed with a fly pattern cut from Arches Text Weave so the prism could function as a lantern with images displayed both in ink and in light. I was very pleased with how it turned out, and I'm hoping to eventually create a more permanent version of the lantern. However the next step was to combine the panels into one image….. stay tuned for the next installment!

Photo by Douglas Nelson

Photo by Douglas Nelson

Special thanks to Douglas Nelson for the fantastic photos.

Participation 2015: Dinner & Exhibit

Art & History Museums - Maitland's big artist dinner, Participation, came and went again this year, and I had the honor of hosting a table for the third time. I think this year was the best yet- housed in the newly renovated Germaine Marvel Building, food and art to die for, and amazing table guests! It was so much fun to spend the night with many of my favorite artists and friends, Nathalie Chikhi, Danielle DeGuglimo, Marla E, Kevin Haran, Martha Lent, Suzanne Oberholtzer, Dawn Rosendahl, Dawn Schreiner, and Butch Charlan as well as meet some new ones such as Scott Donald and Maxwell Hartley.

My table design was a 3-D version of a woodcut featuring an aquatic creature swinging in a tangle of ropes. I was especially excited for this year's dinner, because I finally succeeded in creating take aways for all of my table quests. I created little "pillow" animals and provided a length of rope for each guest to add them into the tangle framed in the middle of the table. At the end of the night, everyone could untie them and take their animals home.

This year also included an alumni exhibit after the dinner event - Participation: Classes of 2013-2015. This is the first time I've had the privilege of showing at the Maitland Art Center. I had hoped to showcase a brand new print, but unfortunately it was just too small for the space, and the Curator, Rebecca Sexton-Larson, asked if she could substitute one of the prints I donated to the Participation dinner auction. I was a bit bummed that my piece was going to be a repeat appearance, but that did little to dull my enthusiasm for such an exiting opportunity. Besides, the new snake print I started at ARTLANDO 2014 will be making a debut soon- wink, wink, nudge, nudge.


EDIT: I completely forgot to mention that this year's Participation Dinner won Orlando Weekly's Best Dinner With an Artist! As if you needed more proof of what a dynamic and unique evening it really is!

Participation 2015 Artists

Most of the beautiful photos were taken by TipsoPhoto

Long Way to the Top Will Melt Your Face Off

This weekend the latest exhibit opened at the Orange County Regional History Center. Be prepared to have your faces melted off by Long Way to the Top: Hard Rock in Orlando 1977-1985.

Mixing station? Check.
Wood paneling? Check.
Hand stamp at the door? Check.
Actual license plate on actual bumper? Check.
Epic members-only jacket? Check.
Local bands? Check.
Facts you never new about Rock in Orlando? Gazillion Checks.

Don't think Orlando was a hot bed for Rock & Roll music? Oh I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you over OUR GIANT WALL OF GOLD AND PLATINUM RECORDS!

Seriously, this may be one of the coolest exhibits I've ever seen and I can't take much credit for it. All I've done is handle the loan paperwork, help with condition reports, and do some framing (printmaking has made me a framing master). The big movers and shakers for this exhibit have been the Research Librarian, Adam Ware (that's Dr. Ware to you!) and the Exhibits Researcher, Emilie Arnold. They have built this exhibit from the ground up- back when we only had two photos, a poster, and a Zeta7 bumper sticker. They have put their hearts and souls into this exhibit, and it shows. It took a lot of sacrifice too. Poor Adam had to talk to some of his childhood idols for hours on end. Needless to say, it was begrudging work.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the impeccable designs of Ashley Wells: the sick logo, the posters, and even GUITAR PICKS!; and the creations of Paul Trembly: when I said mixing station I meant an actual working mixing board where YOU can mix original tracks from bands such as Molly Hatchet.

BUT WAIT, THERE'S MORE! This Friday (April 10th), Adam will be hosting a panel discussion full of staff from Bee Jay Recording Studio. It will be worth it just to see all of their faces when they step into the recreated Bee Jay control room, complete with view of the recording room. I'm predicting grown men crying. 

Looking Back at ARTLando (plus a Gridwall Review)

Photo by Don Richards

ARTLando seems forever ago, and in a lot of ways it was. So why write about it now? I never had a chance to give it the reflection that an event of this magnitude really deserves. ARTLando was September 27th, two days later I started my new job as Collections Manager at the Orange County Regional History Center, seven days later was my 28th birthday, and two days after that my mom passed away.

ARTLando just got lost in the shuffle.

This was my first foray into a legitimate art festival, and six months of reflection has left me with the feeling of "Yeah, I could do that again." A day of reflection, however, left me with the feeling of "NEVER! Never again should I ever put my body through this!" I was bruised and sore and a little bloody, but it really was worth it.

Some big thanks go out to Dawn Schreiner who lent me her big fancy white tent and saved me a huge amount of up-front investment. It took me way too long to figure out how to set that tent up, and really all the credit for that goes to Kelly Gaiser and Joey Young- my impromptu set-up and tear-down crew that I egregiously overworked. The manpower needed to pull off an art festival is something I'll be giving some serious thought to before participating in another one. I'm so used to my husband being my partner in crime for art events that the addition of my daughter (and therefore the subtraction of my husband) really threw me off my game.

One big investment I did make was the Gridwall panels for displaying my framed pieces. It took Joey and I working together to get them up, but I was able to take them down by myself (with several seriously smashed fingers) and, with practice, I think I could become self-sufficient with the whole process. Once up, I was pleased (and surprised) with how sturdy they were. They also store fairly painlessly at home - something I was worried about due to our teensy tinsey house.

One of the components that set ARTLando apart was the live art making and the judging to be done on said live art project. I thought to myself "Sure, I've carved and printed a piece in one day before, let's give it the good ol' Whitney Broadaway overachieving try!" Needless to say, that did not work. I might have been able to finish my snake linocut if I wasn't busy talking to guests, selling artwork, and just not being rude in general. Might. Well, it didn't hurt to try, and I made a lot of headway into a new print. I don't think I'll miss dragging the Richeson Baby Etching Press to the next art festival I do.

One last thing that has to be mentioned: the people. The people at ARTLando were fantastic! The staff was incredibly helpful and nice (one helped out with setting up the tent which brings the total up to four people who could NOT figure that thing out!), the artists were talented and a pleasure to be around (I met so many new friends and was able to enjoy so many old ones), and the guests brought so much genuine interest and excitement to the day (many of which I'm still in contact with). I truly hope this becomes an annual event!

Me, my husband, and my daughter meeting one of the many puppies visiting ARTLando. Photo by Thuyvi Gates. 

Collections Manager - Orange County Regional History Center

For the past six months I've had the pleasure to look out on this view as the new Collections Manager at the Orange County Regional History Center. It was sad leaving the UCF Library, but also very exciting to have a full time position doing something I love and working in a museum! One of the biggest perks of my new job is being so close to my own family's history. I am a fourth generation Central Floridian and my great-great-grandparents moved to Orlando in 1893. The Hanson family farm is now the site of Jones High School,  the Hanson Shoe Repair shop on Pine Street is now a speakeasy by the same name, and my Grandpa's packing house, Indian Lake Fruit Co., lives on in the citrus label collection. 

Here is a snippet from my newly updated CV to give an idea of what I'm up to over at the History Center, and no, I'm not calling people and collecting money:

"Responsible for the day-to-day management of the historical collection including completing and maintaining paperwork for donated items and loans and implementing basic conservation treatments. Monitor the environmental conditions and security of the museum’s permanent and traveling exhibits. Coordinate scheduling, delivery, and installation of museum traveling exhibits and complete condition reports. Maintain the museum collection management software database. Process and catalog collections with special emphasis on the 3-D artifacts and photograph collection. Assist in the creation and installation of exhibits. Assist in obtaining new donations and responsible for overseeing the collection management policy. Member of the Editorial Board for the quarterly publication of the Historical Society, Reflections Magazine."

View of the collection at our offsite storage facility

Star Book Binding Workshop

Last month I had the pleasure of teaching a workshop at Art & History Museums - Maitland on my favorite type of binding: the star book. I've been looking forward to this for so long and I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous about it. Luckily, I had a fantastic group of students that were full of creativity (as always)! Star books are so versatile so it was a joy to see everyone's ideas blossom and start to push the structure to its full potential.

A star book has multiple layers that almost turns each section into it's own tunnel book. For this reason it can be a little intimidating, but aside from it's unwieldy nature during binding it is actually very simple to make. Unlike my previous workshops, it's not a book that can really be bound blank. Well... I suppose you could make a blank star book, but it kind of defeats the purpose of the structure. So, this is the first time I've incorporated content production into my workshop and I definitely did not divvy out enough time for it! We all stayed about two hours after the workshop ended, but I think everyone had fun and I know everyone got to finish their books. Next time around, this will be an all day event! In the meantime, enjoy all of these star books made by the students:

Artists' Book Cornucopia V at the Abecedarian Gallery

Abecedarian Gallery in Denver, Colorado opens its fifth juried Artists' Book Cornucopia exhibit this Friday (April 18th), and I'm pleased to announce that "To Whom it May Concern" will be in it! This is especially exciting and validating since it was not accepted into Unfolding Images in September. This book really is stunning, and I can say that because it is owed heavily to Sandra Varry's photographs that make up the content. Finding a book cloth that matched so beautifully didn't hurt either.

If you are looking at these photos and thinking "Gosh darn those look nice, I don't think I've seen these before," that's because they are and you haven't! A big thanks to Jon Findell at UCF's Faculty Multi-Media Center who allowed me the use of his camera and photo studio as well as helped me set up and guide me through the photo shoot. I would not consider my self a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, but Sandra has moved away to bigger and better things so I had to stumble through it. These photos would look much worse if it weren't for Jon and for years of helping Sandra photograph our collection material.

Abecedarian Gallery already has the entries up in their online store. Click here to check it out and get a sneak peek at the other entries as well as first dibs on buying a copy!

 

Bonus fact nugget: Do you think Abecedarian Gallery sounds strangely like the beginning of the alphabet? It's no coincidence: Merriam-Webster defines the adjective form as "of or relating to the alphabet". Quite fitting for a gallery specializing in contemporary book arts.

Classes at Art & History Museums - Maitland

It's finally happening. Not Your Mama's Print Class, that Molly Chism and I envisioned in 2011, is finally running as a bonafide nine week class at Art & History Museums - Maitland. Unfortunately, Molly moved away to bigger and better things in California, so she is not here to see this momentous occasion. But her spirit lives on in our class!

We meet on Sunday's 2pm-4pm starting April 13th for nine weeks (with the exception of Easter). We will delve much further into relief printmaking than previous workshops would allow. I plan on getting into techniques such as registration with multiple colors, Chine-colle, and printing an edition. Students will also be given the freedom to choose the relief material they would like to work in. I can't wait to see what images will be created- and what kind of knarly dumpster wood people find to carve on! If you would like to be one of those students, you can sign up here.

I am also teaching The Book As Art as another nine week course. I can't make up my mind which class I am more excited about. This class will meet every Wednesday 7pm-9pm starting April 9th. We'll be discussing the history of Book Arts and taking a critical eye to the medium as a whole. The end of the nine weeks will culminate in the production of an Artists' Book inspired by the Artist's Book Ideation Cards by Barbara Tetenbaum and Julie Chen. These cards are not only terribly fun, but are also extremely helpful in building parameters for a book project and enabling creativity to spark. You are running out of time to sign up for this class, but you can register on the website here.

I can't wait to meet all my students and start posting more updates about their work!

UPDATE 4/13/14: Sadly, I may have jinxed the Not Your Mama's Print Class with my earlier enthusiasm. Several students had to drop out leaving us with not enough to run the class. However, it will return! By Grabthar's Hammer, you shall be avenged!

Twitter Art Exhibit: Orlando

The Twitter Art Exhibit comes to Orlando and the Grand Opening tonight, Thursday, March 20th, at 6:00pm at CityArts Factory. This international event was founded in 2010 by David Sandum in Norway and the proceeds from every year are given to a selected charity. This year the Twitter Art Exhibit is benefiting the Special Needs Classes at the Center for Contemporary Dance.

My entry will be hanging up there along with over 600 other postcard sized works of original art from around the world. All the artwork will be for sale at $35 a piece and that money is going straight into the hands of the charity because everyone who is making this event happen is volunteering- like me! Not only do I have art in the show, but I am also working like mad to create an exhibition catalog that will be available on blurb containing everyone's art. EVERYONE'S ART! That's over 600 images I'm plugging into InDesign! Another great philosophy behind this exhibit is that everyone is equal; no one is getting special treatment because they are famous, everyone's art is the same price, and brand new artists have a change to exhibit next to seasoned professionals.

I've been working with the fantastic Robin Maria Pedrero who is curating the exhibit, and I can't wait to see how she has handled the presentation of such a massive amount of art.

Art 31: Steamroller Prints and Upcycled Sculptures

Art 31 kept me busy this weekend to say the least. Friday was our big Steamroller Print event for Culture Pop: Roll Repeat. I had a ton (8 tons to be exact) of fun with fellow printers Cat Snapp and Chris Ware. I was on clean hand duty, so I spent the night laying paper and carpet padding, directing our awesome steamroller driver Rick, and pulling prints to be hung. At the end of the night we managed to print a medley of all our woodblocks in one three foot square, including a woodcut from Curator Rebecca Sexton-Larson. I can't think of a better way to have ended the night!

The next day it was back to Art & History Museums - Maitland to lead the Garden Sculpture activity for Family Days at the Museum. I helped the kids cut used water bottles into flowers (or fireworks as the boys preferred to call them) and spirals for them to paint. I was really impressed with how much some of the kids already knew about color mixing. They made some especially beautiful shades of orange and purple. When they were done, I tied them onto our hanging form with pipe cleaners. By the end of the day, we had a full and colorful sculpture that will live in the garden for the rest of Art 31. Or for as long as it can survive!