goodbye to what I don't use and won't miss, if I can figure out what those things are

I always forget to use Stumple Upon, which I have had loaded in the toolbar for quite a while. But I'm thinking I will try to use it more often, just to see what random interesting things I find... isn't that the purpose anyway?

Tonight I found this animation, I love how it's set up on the web page.

En Tus Brazos

I'm having a dilemma concerning screenprinting. Well, I have found that I am not using the materials very efficiently. That is, I mixed up a batch of emulsion a while back and told myself to use it before it went bad (like last time) but now again I have no empty screens and I bet it went bad already. Plus, the one screen I prepared I hid to dry in a closet and one day came home and the closet door was wide open, letting the light in (Yes, I blamed Patches). Now I have no idea if that screen is ruined or not. Then, I was going to try it anyway, but now when I try to print out a stencil on transparencies they keep smudging. I think it is the printer I'm using since my last printer broke.

I've been thinking a lot about streamlining my categories of "techniques" (not saying I'm not going to screenprint), but I have too many potential projects and the materials end up squandered or lost in the mess and then I buy more stuff I don't need or I waste time trying to mess with some new process ONLY because I bought something thinking "Oh maybe I'll use this - oh wait, now I have to spend all this time trying to use this."

So, I'm going to go through my supplies and try again to separate them into categories, and get rid of some things, too, probably by "destashing" on etsy. Just because I haven't done something in years (like watercolors for instance) doesn't mean I'm getting rid of all my supplies, because I know I'm likely to want them as soon as they're gone. The trick is identifying those things that I don't use and won't miss.

I'm presently trying to rustle up some things for this Saturday's Bizarre Market which is part of Art 180's Jonny Z Festival to be held on the 200 block of N. Shields (not outside Chop Suey Books this time). So... I'm currently in a muddle deciding what I should concentrate on getting ready now that my screenprinting plans keep getting ruined. I'm working on a few things, but I don't have much time. There'll be an update later this week.

P.s. I feel I should include a photo, since I usually do, so here's one of a bouquet of carrots I took a while back, with Patches lounging in the background.

bird skull, bug skin, potatoes with long eyes, milking a Bosnian cow and tarlatan

Reports from the backyard:


I'm not sure what the moral of the story is, but I found these two things outside today. And somehow they seemed to go together.



Seed potatoes. I know potatoes grow underground but I didn't realize "seed potatoes" existed and could be purchased by the pound out of wooden barrels. But now I got some and they are hopefully doing their thing out in the dirt. I did use legit yukon gold seed potatoes and also some red potatoes from the grocery store that grew eyes. We'll see if this potato experiment results in any clear conclusions on potato culture.

I got two old tires from my dad, to use as a potato-planting area. Thanks to T.K. and folks at the Y.L. for giving me the idea. I also used some plastic garden edging to create another area, because once I cut the potatoes I had too many to fit in the tire space. I'm trying really hard not to crowd plants, because I'm still having trouble coming to terms with the idea of thinning plants. I guess that's really the way you grow healthy plants, but I don't actually know how to do it. And it seems like a waste. But I'm just being sentimental, I guess.



On the topic of printing (with a hodgepodge of links)

In other news, this weekend I attended a dry point workshop at Gallery 5 put on by a local org called Art on Wheels. It was fun and the people were very nice. And I probably asked too many questions, but that seems to be my way.

I brought this photo as a reference from which to make the image.

This is one of my favorite photos from Bosnia. This lady was a neighbor of the people I was staying with and she was very excited to show me her milking station (located in a sort of stone room under a barn) and also a horse and a manure field. She was extremely enthusiastic.

So, what did I learn about dry point? Well, like all other printmaking techniques I've attempted so far, this one is also relatively complicated, messy and time consuming.

First we scratch our image (which will print in reverse) on a plate. Traditionally it would be metal, but we used plastic, which enabled tracing from a photo.


Then there's this whole long step where you apply and then rub off ink. You rub it off with a stiff cheesecloth called a tarlatan. I like that word. On a side note, I just read that tutus used to be made out of tarlatan until that was replaced with tulle.

Anyway, then place the rubbed off ink plate on the press, over which you place a dampened sheet of the paper, and then you run it through. Turning the press wheel took a lot more physical gusto than I was prepared for. At any rate, if you don't totally screw it up, your print will be ready on the other end of the press.


(paper isn't really that color, my camera is just pretending it is).

So, how do I feel about drypoint vs. screenprinting? Well, for one the way we did this there wasn't any talk of using more than black ink, and my great downfall in screen printing is failure to follow rules and register inks properly. So in that way, drypoint was less taxing on my brain. But then again, screen printing can be done without owning a press and overall it is less tiring as far as arms and wrists and hands go. (And that's always one of my issues).

So, I was just reading that drypoint is part of the intaglio family. I'm not quite sure I can remember the differences in each type of printing. But here's some discussion that explains the "dry" in drypoint referring to no acid being involved. In addition, I don't know how to get myself to pronounce things like intaglio (pronounced in-TAL-yo, IPA: [ɪn'tælɪəʊ] correctly. Lastly, does the twisted etching tool Whistler's Needle refer to James McNeill Whistler, son of Whistler's Mother? Apparently so.

So, I'm going to think this over and return to explore printing techniques at a later date.

Go away

The other weekend morning, like many weekend mornings, the doorbell rang.  And I didn't answer it.  But later when I went outside I found a mangled loaf of bread.  Based on the label, it was clearly meant to lure me to a church.  I can't understand why they would leave such a smashed up loaf.  I think I need to feed it to ducks. 



So, I made what I had been needing for a long time.  That is a sign to try and limit the morning doorbell ringing.  It's really been a problem.  Multiple religions have been represented, as well as questionable salespeople and other uninvited strangers.  I just hate the doorbell waking me up.  It's one of the worst ways to wake up.

Anyway, I searched on the internet to buy a "no solicitors" sign but all I could find was just that simple statement (which just doesn't cover my needs) or else you can get a sort of religious stick figures prohibited sign, but that also doesn't suffice and also I think it's slightly rude.  So, we'll see.  I have a second style in mind, but I'm not sure what else I'll be doing with this.  Maybe I'll mass produce the sign and finally all the people who need such a sign will find what they've been looking for.

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unregistered cats

I'm not totally sure what the next step will be.  But I have a bunch of fabric screenprinted with Patches as flip cat.  I'm not sure if I want to deal with the mess which has resulted from my crafting frenzy.
Next time I need to think ahead of time about registering colors. 

photo hosted by flickr

Bromine- Periodic Table Print Project

Bromine, element 35, BR, is my submission to the Periodic Table Print Project.

I can't even begin to recount the horrors I encountered in trying to get this screenprint done. Let's just say it involved the sun doing me wrong, my lack of skill in measuring water, and other errors that seemed to multiply without ceasing. But they did cease, and it's finally done. And I'm glad because I think the whole project is awesome to begin with. Great idea by azure grackle --look, you can go visit her etsy shop.

Also you can see some of the prints finished/in progress (including 2 more versions of bromine) on the project group photo pool. There are some really amazing ones.

Now that that's done... I absolutely have to start on my next project which is deadlining in July. I think I might start with a drill and hope for the best.
To be continued...


Image hosted by flickr