"Pigling Bland and Pig-Wig"

 

"Pigling Bland and Pig-Wig" 
12" x 12" 
4 color reduction woodcut 

This was going to be the first woodcut for my "Some Pigs" project, an AiRM - a project that will culminate in a solo exhibition at 1040 Creative in November of this year. 

However, while I like this print, I decided to go in another direction for the series of 12 pig prints for the project and calendar, and this is thus a one-off. 

This print illustrates the final scene in Beatrix Potter's The Tale of Pigling Bland, where the title character and his soulmate Pig-Wig manage to escape from their wretched circumstances into freedom in the wilderness, where Pigling has plans to settle down and become a potato farmer. The text in the print is from a traditional British song, excerpts of which are included in Potter's story.  

"Colette"

 

"Colette" Woodcut Gamblin ink on white Stonehenge 8" x 12" (block), 10" x 15" (paper) This is yet another print of a friend's dog. In this case a miniature poodle. I got a little obsessed with competing patterns in this one. The metal dog sculpture in the foreground is easier to see and has more personality than the living dog sitting on the chair. Even though I made this for a friend, I think how I feel about life right now seeped into how I put this image together. Chaos and competing interests reign supreme.

101 Artists Video Contribution

 I have a woodcut in the exhibition 101 Artists, selections from the Fred Danziger Collection. This was recently exhibited at Gallery222 in Malvern and now from July 9-October 9 it will also be shown at Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art, Altoona, PA. Incidentally, Fred Danziger's work can be seen on his website.

Participating artists were invited to make short video contributions about our work for the show, and this is mine: 

"Musk Ox" (2021 Year of the Ox)

 

My Year of the Ox print for a card exchange with Baren Forum. This is a 2 layer reduction on Kraft card stock. It depicts an arctic musk ox.

Given that these are hard times (pandemic, global warming, worsening economic and other disparities) the musk ox seemed a good species to celebrate 2021. They are wild animals that live in the harshest conditions. They live in herds and the strongest among them protect the weakest. We could take some inspiration from these noble beasts. 

This is my 4th year participating in  New Year's Exchanges with the Baren Forum for Woodblock Printmaking. Here are my prints from previous years' trades: 

Year of the Rat, 2020
Year of the Pig, 2019 
Year of the Dog. 2018 

"The Wedding" Re-created

 

I re-created "The Wedding" print from my book "Owl and Cat In Love" recently. Click here to see the original. This new version is a 5 layer reduction and only an edition of 2. It was special made for a collector. It's also the mirror image of the original because I drew the image directly on the block.

It was definitely an interesting experience to re-create a print I first made 7 years ago. When I started, I really didn't want to do it. It felt like forcing myself to do something that I'd long moved on from. But about halfway through I kind of got into it. It felt a bit like visiting a place from my past that I don't go to anymore and that has changed, but of which I had very fond memories. 

Not that I want to do this again. It took a long time, and I am generally way more interested in finding time for my current projects, especially since my studio time is so limited. But yeah, glad I did this once just for the experience. 

My puzzle piece for "100 Acts of Kindness" Monumental Collaborative Woodcut

I finished carving and proofing my piece of the puzzle in 100 Acts of Kindness, a monumental collaborative woodcut organized by Maria Arango-Diener. 

When I participated in Maria's last monumental collaboration the Peace Puzzle, I drew and carved a picture of a peaceful routine from my personal life - reading to my daughters. It was a personal little slice from my life. Click here to see that print. 

This time I went in a completely different direction. At first I contemplated make an image to represent some kindness I'd either shown others or that others have shown me, but nothing jumped out as particularly satisfying.

I've also been doing mostly text-based art for the SUBMIT project, and began to consider how I might do something text-based. This led me to considering the verbal exchange people engage in after an act of kindness has been committed. Typically the person on the receiving end says "Thank you." So that phrase was a possibility. By itself it seemed  too blasé. 

What is more interesting to me is how people respond to a "Thank you." This is often a point of mild contention. Sometimes people feel uncomfortable about being thanked, particularly if they feel it wasn't a big deal and they don't want the receiver of kindness to feel indebted to them. Other times people very much want to be recognized for their efforts with a thank you. There's also contention over the most common phrase in English offered in response to gratitude, which is "You're welcome." In Why Don't We Say 'Your Welcome' Anymore, Caroline Bologna says, "Over the years, American etiquette experts, baby boomers and writers have lamented the apparent decline in the use of the phrase “you’re welcome” in everyday conversation." This rang true to me since I've heard one of my friends who is a retired librarian in her 90's complain about how people now say "No problem" instead of "You're welcome." To my friend, the sentiment reduces the weight of the act of kindness, and therefore also negates the gratitude expressed by the recipient. But in her article, Bologna notes that for many younger people the phrase "You're welcome" has come to be associated with bragging or sarcasm, and that alternatives such as "No problem" are a solution to that linguistic shift. Indeed, the idea of making a print that featured simply the phrase "You're Welcome!" outside of any context did make the sentiment seem comical and insincere to me. 

After considering all the alternatives to "You're Welcome", I landed on "Happy To Help!" It struck me as sounding sincere, acknowledging the weight of the kindness or "help", while also noting one of the most important aspects of genuine kindness, which is that being kind, while involving effort and maybe sacrifice, can also bring us joy. And the best way to encourage kindness from everyone is to celebrate the joyful aspects of being kind. 

"Chessie"

"Chessie"
4" x 4" (block)
Woodcut

A long, metal Goliath sliced through the flat stillness of the horizon. The zooming barrier suddenly separated the cloudless blue sky and the dull green field. The children watched with ears perked to the growing, rumbling hum. He thought of waking her up to see the train speed by, but noticing how she slept with a gentle smile on her face, decided against it. Being irretrievable, good dreams are too precious to waste. 

Chessie the Railroad Kitten was a highly popular corporate mascot for the Chesapeake and Ohio (C&O) Railroad. Art depicting Chessie debuted in 1933 and was most popular throughout the 30's, eventually expanding to include a whole family of cute cats. The original image of Chessie came from an etching by Guido Grunewald. It was in an ad for a passenger train and showed Chessie sleeping peacefully juxtaposed with the slogan "Sleep like a kitten and arrive fresh as a daisy!" While Chessie hasn't appeared in advertising in recent decades, she is technically still the mascot of what is now the CSX Corporation.

This print of Chessie with her mate "Peake" and their two kittens is a sort of addendum to the series of woodcuts I made for Cats A-Z back in 2013, and published as part of the launch of Words On Woodcuts Press in 2015. This print was a request from a collector who is fond of my cat prints. Reading about and looking art artwork of Chessie was a delight, and I was happy to learn about the character and create this image.

"Audubon and the Rat" (New Year's Exchange)

 

My Year of the Rat print for a card exchange with Baren Forum.

The inspiration for this image came initially from the great illustrator and naturalist John James Audubon. When looking for visual references to rats, I found myself pouring over his detailed works. Teaching at the Wagner, I walked past copies of Audubon's etchings of North American flora and fauna at work, and have referred to them many times while teaching my students. 

While surfing on line to look at more illustrations of rats by Audubon, I stumbled across this story about him discovering that a box of his watercolor paintings had been destroyed by a rat that had used the paintings to make its nest. The story was beautifully illustrated in a woodcut  (featured below) by an unidentified Japanese Meiji artist. 

This is my 3rd year participating in  New Year's Exchanges with the Baren Forum for Woodblock Printmaking. Here are my prints from previous years' trades: 

Year of the Pig, 2019 
Year of the Dog. 2018 

Deadline Passed for "Submission Fee No. 38", "No. 29", "No. 40", and "No. 41

November 15 was the deadline for four prints from the SUBMIT project:
"Submission Fee No. 38"
"Submission Fee No. 39"
"Submission Fee No. 40"
"Submission Fee No. 41" 

This is documentation of the unsold prints (burned) and the discontinued blocks (gouged).

NOTES:
6 copies of "No 38" were created. One artist's proof was archived. Two from the edition were sold with revenue less than $40 so no submission was made. The last 4 were destroyed as documented here.

4 copies of "No 39" were created. One artist's proof was archived. Two from the edition were sold with revenue less than $35 no submission was made. The last one was destroyed as documented here.

6 copies of "No 40" were created. One artist's proof was archived. Three from the edition were sold with revenue less than $30 so no submission was made. The last 2 were destroyed as documented here.

5 copies of "No 41" were created. One artist's proof was archived. Two from the edition were sold with revenue less than $30 so no submission was made. The last 2 were destroyed as documented here.

"Submission Fee No. 34"

"Submission Fee No. 34"
8" x 8"
Linocut
Edition of 5
Pay what you want by Nov. 8.

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:
Institution: Valdosta State University Dedo Maranville Fine Arts Gallery

Opportunity: Valdosta National 2020
Venue Location: 

Eligibility: 18 and up, work made within the last 5 years
Potential benefits to artists:
Notes: Gallery takes no commission on sales 

Fee: $35 for 1-3 artworks 

Deadline: Nov. 8

"Submission Fee No. 28"

Submission Fee No. 28 Woodcut 5" x 7"

Edition of 3

Price: Pay what you want by October 31, 2019

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:

Institution: SlowArt Productions, Limner Gallery 

Opportunity: Emerging Artists juried exhibition
Venue Location: Hudson, NY
Eligibility: 18 and up
Potential benefits to artists: Publication award
Notes: 35% commission
Fee: $35 for up to 4 pieces
Deadline: Oct. 31 

"Submission Fee No. 27"

Submission Fee No. 27 Woodcut 8" x 8"

Edition of 2

Price: Pay what you want by October 27, 2019

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT: Institution: Light, Space & Time Online Art Gallery
Opportunity: 9th Annual  “SeaScapes” Art Competition
Venue Location: Online
Eligibility: 2D and 3D artwork
Potential benefits to artists: online exposure
Notes:
Fee: $14 for 1-2 entries, $24 for 3-5 entries, and also an early submission fee of $12/$22 by October. 1, and $10/$20 for students
Deadline: Oct. 27

"Submission Fee No. 25"

Submission Fee No. 25

7 x 5 inches

Woodcut  

Edition of 5

Price: Pay what you want by October 24, 2019

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:

Institution:  National Association of Women Artists Gallery

Opportunity: Printmaking and Encaustic Painting National Juried Exhibition
Venue Location:  New York, NY Fee: $35 (members), $45 (nonmembers) for up to 2 images, $5 extra for 1 additional image

Deadline: Oct. 24

"Submission Fee No. 24"

Submission Fee No. 24

4 x 4 inches

Woodcut on handmade paper 

Edition of 5

Price: Pay what you want by October 22, 2019

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:

Institution:  Brooklyn Gallery

Opportunity: Juried show: “Green”
Venue Location:  Brooklyn, New York, NY Fee: $35 for up to 3 images, $10 for each additional image

Deadline: Oct. 22 

Pollinators 2020 Calendar Art

This is all 12 of the hand-colored woodcuts for my Pollinators 2020 Calendar. I made the work in the spring of this year. Each is 12" x 12", although they are each made from a 6" x 6" block that is rotated around the square four times. The presale campaign for the calendars and associated artwork is live through Nov. 14, 2019. Check it out!

"Submission Fee No. 23"

Submission Fee No. 23

6 x 8 inches

Woodcut  

Edition of 5

Price: Pay what you want by October 15, 2019

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:

Institution: Monmouth Museum
Opportunity: Juried Exhibition: “Petopia”
Venue Location: Lincroft, NJ
Fee: $20 per image up to 4/$80

"Submission Fee No. 16"

Submission Fee No. 16

7.5 x 11 inches  (unfolded) 

Woodcut 

Edition of 3

Price: Pay what you want by October 1

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:
Institution: Manifest Creative Research Gallery
Opportunity: Solo Show: "One 10" contest
Venue Location: Cincinnati, Ohio
Fee: $60 for 5 images Deadline: October 1

"Submission Fee No. 15"

Submission Fee No. 15

9 x 12 inches  

Woodcut (reduction) 

Edition of 3

Price: Pay what you want by September 26

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:
Institution: Marin MOCA
Opportunity: Juried Exhibition: "Winter Solstice"
Venue Location: Novato, CA
Fee: $35 for 3 images, $40 for 4-5 images Deadline: September 26

"Submission Fee No. 14"

Submission Fee No. 14

8.5 x 11 inches (unfolded) 

Woodcut 

Edition of 3

Price: Pay what you want by September 25

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:
Institution: Maryland Federation of Art
Opportunity: Juried Exhibition: "17th Annual Small Wonders"
Venue Location: Annapolis, MD
Fee: $40 (or $25 for members) for 1-2 images, $5 for each addition image up to 6 total Deadline: September 25

"Submission Fee No. 13"

Submission Fee No. 13

5.5 x 11 inches

Woodcut 

Edition of 3

Price: Pay what you want by Oct. 1, 2019 SOLD OUT 

This print is part of a time-based conceptual art project. Read more about it here.

INFO PARTICULAR FOR THIS PRINT:
Institution: Fusion Art
Opportunity: Juried Exhibition: "Fifth Annual Figures and Faces"
Venue Location: Online
Fee: $20 for 1 image, $35 for up to 5 images Deadline: October 1