#1 - 30 Prints in 30 Days (Red Horse Marionette)

"Red Horse Marionette"

Woodcut (3 color reduction)

2.5" x 4"(image) 5.5" x 7.5" (paper)

Water-based inks on Rives BFK

Edition of 6

Available for purchase here.

In my quest to keep my artist's hand moving, I have been inspired by artists like Sean Starwars and his One Woodcut A Week (20" x 30" each for a total of 52 weeks!) , and Kimberly Kelly Santini's Painting A Dog A Day (for 5 years now - you go, girl!) And of course the many other committed artist/bloggers who have taken on similar ambitious endeavors.

My current life, work, and art-making practice are not conducive long-term commitments, so I came up with a short-term, yet intense project of my own. So here it is: June 2011, I will make 30 prints in 30 days. Oh yes, I can do it! And here I present #1.

I stared at this little horse marionette I've had for years and had wanted to make a print of it for a long time. I finally did it back in March, but I've been unsatisfied with the results. It sort of fell into the category of "pretty pictures." So I've gathered some references of other horse marionettes, and I hope during this month to do a few, more spontaneous images that will hopefully tap into whatever it is that intrigues me about little wooden horses hanging on strings. This first attempt is okay. I like how the white in the eye and strings stand out. But the drawing just isn't expressive enough, and the colors just don't pop the way I think, in retrospect, they should. Ah art-making, so often it feels like just groping around in the dark without even knowing for sure what I'm looking for. But damn it, it's there. I just need to find it.