Highlights from [Baren] Exchange #74 (Part 1 of 2)

I returned from visiting family for the holidays to my package of prints from Baren Forum Exchange #74. What a happy surprise and fine start to the new year! This is an stunning collection of 7" x 7" prints. I really love the whole collection so much, but have limited myself to highlighting 4 on this blog.

The technique challenge was white woodcuts (after the Provincetown style), which is a very difficult and time consuming technique to attempt, let alone master. Most of the participants at least made a go at creating a print partially or fully in the traditional white line style, and the results are full of many subtle and lovely effects. I could go on, but I don't really write about technique on this art blog. And so...

This first featured print, Espresso in Sienna, is by Alexandra Morris. Initially I was grabbed by the colors, but ultimately what charms me is the interaction between the pottery and that doily. Positioned asymmetrically, the lace loops and swerves round and round, echoing the curves of the cup, it's handle, saucer, and surface designs.

Monica Bright's print Fixated features a similar interplay, this time between an imaginative and abstracted school of fish that spiral around a watchful bird. This image is more singular in the direction of its composition; with the background completely carved away to eliminate any distractions, emphasis is on the overall hypnotic spiral and a darkened, hungry eye.

I'll post again tomorrow with the other 2 prints from this exchange that I've decided to write about.

Highlights from Baren Exchange #71 (Two Critters)

I've been involved with the Baren Forum for Wood Block Printmaking for a few years now and participating in the quarterly exchanges since #62 (Fall of 2014.) This was my first time volunteering to be the coordinator. It was a lot of work, but such fun getting to see all the participants' work first. There were so many great prints in this exchange, I had been at a loss deciding which to highlight on my blog.

I've settled on these two images of critters with narrative titles, "Caught in the Act" by Kristine Alder and "Requiem of a Jailbird" by Monica Bright. At first glance they might appear simply as adorable illustrations, but there is some melancholy mixed in with the humor. Indeed, all of the humor stems from the creatures' cute factor. These are small and humble beings, moderately low on the food chain, always nervously scrounging for sustenance while keeping an eye out for predators.

Though one is a rodent and the other a small bird, they have a similar relationship with humans. They are our wild neighbors, and might delight or annoy us. They might end up in traps or mounted for scientific study. Both of these species are also common to our everyday experience, opposed to rare and endangered animals. But ultimately and easily, should any individual cross our paths, they are then at our mercy. It is this vulnerability that is emphasized not only by the titles' suggestions, but by the close cropping against walls or bars.

And while both of these depictions are rather cute, they are not excessively so. They hold the animal at a distance that more honestly reflects our relationship to them. These prints allow us to pause and take a moment to see these critters through a window where we can not only admire and sympathize, but also feel our own role in the scene and our profound separation from their experiences.