Naked Selfies No. 13-20

 These are the latest "Naked Selfies", numbers 13-20. They are all white line woodcuts printed from blocks that are approximately 3 x 4 inches in size. Read the post that has my artist statement regarding this ongoing series here.

Malachy Award for 2017 NINH

I won the Malachy Award for originality in this year's Naked In New Hope exhibition at Sidetracks Gallery for this white line woodcut: "Asleep In the Chair." One of the Gallery owners though it was very Matisse. Small cash award and a nice line for the resume.

Naked In New Hope 2017

September 9 through October 28 six of my white line woodcuts of nudes (including three from the Naked Selfies series) will be exhibited at Sidetracks Gallery in the group exhibition Naked in New Hope. This will be the 11th year of an annual special exhibition, and my 4th year as a participating artist. The opening reception is September 9 from 6-9PM, always well-attended, and lots of diverse work from mostly local artists will be featured. I encourage anyone who can to attend!

"Naked Selfie No. 6"

This is the sixth and final new print for a series based on nude selfies I've found while surfing the Web. Read more about the series in this initial post.

"Self Portrait With Sasquatch" Revisited

My last day at Soaring Gardens I had a little time to play around with drawing and watercolor paintings, and one thing I did was revisit Self Portrait With Sasquatch, a woodcut I carved in 2011. The original print was a 4 layer reduction that I made in a single day. It was in fact the big finish of my 30 Prints in 30 Days project. It turned out better than expected, but because the print had to be completed in a single day, I only had time to make 2, and being a reduction, I could not make any more.

The last layer was rather interesting in-of-itself, and I recently thought to print some in black, oil-based ink and then add some hand-coloring. I'm rather pleased with these two finished works.

"Cloud Dream"

The image is 11" x 8". It is a white line woodcut printed with watercolors on 140 lb watercolor paper. 

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time. -John Lubbock

"Bath"

9" x 5.5" (image) 11" x 7.5" (paper)
White line woodcut
Watercolors on 120 lb. watercolor paper

First Proof of "Asleep in the Chair"

Last year I did a series of simple, small eight male nudes in white line woodcut, and this is the first print building off that work. I'd like to eventually have a series of larger nudes where the background is more elaborate and interacting with the figure.

I love the drawing in this print, but the colors in this first proof doesn't work. Sometimes with white line woodcuts I just need to print a couple before I really figure out what colors work.

Even though the image is only 12" x 15" it took over 4 hours just to print once. (My hand is killing me.) So I think I'm going to spent some really contemplating the next set of color choices before I go forward printing a second.

"Stretching"

Woodcut reduction in 4 layers

Oil based ink on Rives BFK

7" x 12" (image) 10" x 15" (paper)

Edition of 17 

Five years ago I made a print titled Self Portrait With Sasquatch. It was also a nude of myself with one of my pet cats. I loved how that print turned out and always wanted to make a similar reduction woodcuts on the same subject of the naked figure in domestic settings. I did some nice ones of my husband (Rubber Duck and New Hat) and daughters (In the Tent With Bunny, Life Preserver and Climbing Into the Crib), but hadn't managed to make another nude of myself that I'm happy with until now. Another title for this could be Self Portrait with Aubrey. Aubrey recently turned 18, so he's been featured in many of my works of art over the years. Not sure how many more he'll make it into before he passes on (Sasquatch is now gone) so I'm happy to immortalize him a few more time in art as he exists today. 

This print was also created for the Baren Forum for Woodblock Printmaker's Print Exchange #69. It is the 8th exchange I've participated in through the Baren Forum. I have collected so many wonderful prints through these exchanges. As a woodcut printmaker I'm so grateful for this professional community of artists. 

Untitled Reclining Male Nude White Line Woodcut - first proof

The image is 11" x 8". It is a white line woodcut printed with watercolors on 140 lb watercolor paper.

This is a first proof. I love the drawing, but I think I still need to work out the colors. Right now it's very circus when I was going more for equatorial. Maybe neither is a good idea. I can't seem to find the landing pad. *sigh* 

"Sunset"

Four color reduction linocut, 4" x 6" (image). the tired sunsets and the tired people - it takes a lifetime to die and no time at all. -Charles Bukowski

"Superposition"

Four color reduction linocut, 4" x 6" (image).

A rock or stone is not a subject that, of itself, may interest a philosopher to study; but, when he comes to see the necessity of those hard bodies, in the constitution of this earth, or for the permanency of the land on which we dwell, and when he finds that there are means wisely provided for the renovation of this necessary decaying part, as well as that of every other, he then, with pleasure, contemplates this manifestation of design, and thus connects the mineral system of this earth with that by which the heavenly bodies are made to move perpetually in their orbits.

-James Hutton, the Father of Modern Geology

Cock and Balls

This was based on a sketch I made about 15 years ago. It's okay. I might like it better hand colored.

Erotic Ex Libris by Jerzy Druzrycki

And when we get down to it, isn't this just what's on our minds most of the time anyway?

Highlights from [Baren] Exchange #68 (Part 4 of 4)

This the last of four posts highlighting prints from  Baren Forum's #68 Exchange. The theme was "Nudes", and the paper size was 8" x 8". The first post can be found here and the second can be found here. 

Fourth: simple lines 
Featuring Study by Joseph Taylor (above) and  mons Veneris by Andrew Stone  (below.) 

In both of these prints I greatly appreciate the economy with which the artists describe parts of the human figure. Both border on the abstract, and yet convincingly capture the curved, organic contours of human bodies. 

The first describes a man's torso in stark, bold, almost uniform white lines. Black squares counterbalance the figure's weight. In the colophon Taylor describes it almost apologetically as a "quick study," but often it is the work done most swiftly and spontaneously that is also the most free and natural.

The second print describes a woman's pubic hair, labia, and thighs. There is a subtle sensitivity of line that achieves balance without perfect symmetry. Stone offers some noteworthy thoughts about this print and subject on his own blog both here and here. 

Highlights from [Baren] Exchange #68 (Part 1 of 4)

The theme for this exchange from Baren Forum was "Nudes", and the paper size was 8" x 8". I submitted #8 from my series of male nude white line woodcuts from last year. Certain themes and similar approaches to this challenge were employed by the artists who participated in this exchange, four of which I'll highlight in my posts about this exchange.

First: the fetal position 
Featuring Heat by Theresa Martin (above) and NUDE (squared) by Preston Lawing (below.)

These were not the only two prints in this exchange that featured a curled up naked body. But I was particularly struck by the similarities and differences between these two.

Both are reductions in warm hues depicting women, their eyes closed, arms wrapped around themselves, knees pressed close together. And yet, the woman lying on the ground visibly radiates heat outward, while the woman seated on a hard floor appears to contain her warmth. The one above appears relaxed, perhaps merely curled up while sleeping. The other, upright, seems posed or contemplative. One is connected to the space she occupies, the other is detached.

"Floating/Drifting" by Joseph Vorgity

What a joy to discover the work of Joseph Vorgity! He's originally from Philadelphia but now resides in LA. Vorgity has a number of white line woodcuts (including a whole series of male nudes) and other works of fine art for viewing and sale on his website.





A day will come when
He can shed his clothes, step in 
And freely drift off  

Eight Male Nudes

This is a set of 8 white line woodcuts (Provincetown prints) I made depicting a male figure. Each image is approximately 4" x 4" printed on 120 lb. watercolor paper using watercolor paints. I'll probably print a lot more of them trying out different color combinations. 

Highlights from [Baren] Exchange #62

 These are three prints by other artists who also participated in  [Baren] Exchange #62. I wrote about the print I made for this exchange back in October. It was my first trade through [Baren], an international forum for woodblock printmakers. The prints I received were all wonderful (featured here are just my three absolute favorites) and many are destined to end up framed and on the walls of my house. I am eager to receive my prints from exchange #63 and to participate in future exchanges. 

This first linocut is Lake Lookalike by Achim Nicklis. Many more of Nicklis's wonderful prints can be found in the [Baren] exchange archives. 

Light rakes down, and yet
The image resides inside 
The seer's stilled mind 



The second is a Japanese-style woodblock print titled Texting by George Jarvis. In addition to being beautifully executed, the reference to both modern technology in our everyday lives and the moku hanga tradition of depicting "beautiful women", often nude and in a domestic scene, made me smile. A friend of mine suggested it should have been titled Sexting. 

Mind and fingers race 
Words on a screen, and
It is as if you are here 

This third print, a 2 block linocut, is Backyard by Clive Lewis, who you can learn all about on his website here. 

Jumble heaves a sigh, while
Structures settle and sink 
A white shirt dangles 

"In the Tent With Bunny"

I made this for a print exchange: [Baren] Exchange #63. The image is 4.5" x 7.5" and the paper is 7.5" x 10". It is printed in oil-based ink on Sulphite block printing paper. I made an edition of 22 for the exchange and 2 artist's proofs, although I can make more since this is a 2 block print, rather than a reduction.

The theme for this exchange was Moku-hanga (in the spirit of Japanese printmaking.) I spent some time way over-thinking that theme and starting two other sketches and plans for prints before I settled on this one. In my frustration and indecision, I finally just spent some time looking at Moku-hanga print, both from Japanese and International artists, and then followed my intuition. The result is this image of my three-year-old daughter playing with her toy bunny in a tent after a bath.

Admittedly, this is not Moku-hanga in terms of technique and materials because the ink I used is oil-based instead of water-based, and it was rolled on with a brayer instead of painted on. (It simply was not in my budget this holiday season to purchase a whole new set of printmaking inks.) But I think it fits the spirit of Japanese printmaking through the use of vivid colors and translucency, and the subject which makes modern reference to the ukiyo-e (scenes from the floating world) style of wood block printing, with a girl depicted in a domestic scene.