finally finished, on toward more

Fleet Leader Flapping Onward to March
monoprint & silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

play chain paper trail

As I said, I've been doing a lot of monoprinting, and now I finally have some photos to share. The smaller photos are details of the preceding prints. These are all works in progress, and each will get many more layers of silk screen. The past three days have been very productive with starting projects, now we'll see if I can use the next three days to finish them. All the monoprints shown here are selectively rolled colors on top of matte medium for texture. They are all part of a bigger series I am working on for my senior project. I hope to finish with about 15. The idea for this series comes from a few different sources, the biggest influence being my three trips to Norway over my 22 years of existence.



During my first trip to Norway I was about 10, the second I was around 14 or 15 and the most recent trip was the summer of 2007 when I was 20. After the last trip I found it very strange the way my perception changed with age, and how distorted my memories were of the places I visited every time. Familiar rooms grew smaller as I grew taller, the same long drives seemed lifetimes shorter as my attention span developed, and the language barrier thickened as my age hardened the cement foundation of my native tongue. The only common thread of my memory between all three visits to my grandparent's little cabin were the breathtaking landscapes. Even on a cloudy, rainy day, everything seemed so monumental or too-beautiful-to-be-true. This is why each print has, or will have Norwegian mountains in the background.



Distortion and memories are major themes in this series and that is why most of the figures are children, like the solo puddle stomper in this photo. It is actually just the preliminary mylar drawing photographed over top of the monoprint, to get a better idea of the direction I am heading with this project.





I know these all look very similar right now but, do not worry. Soon they will get the silk screening they need and will be individuals.

spring in my step in time

First Friday went pretty well. Hallucinogarden was hung up salon style with a bunch of other work by a few friends and classmates. bS Shirts is a really awesome place. Schell and Chris are very friendly, sweet guys and are willing to tell you lots of stories about their shirts. In addition to their shirts they also have some of their own artwork for sale. The show will be up for the next month, so if you're in the area stop by! Please keep in mind that I'm no photographer, but here are some pictures...

my friend Sarah (the curator) playing Foosball

Schell and Chris (the owners) in front of their lovely mural


there's mine!

some of Schell and Chris' paintings

I got some more monoprinting done this weekend. I'm getting very excited about the textures, and can not wait to lay some silk screens on top. Although it was a bit of a slow start, it seems this semester is really coming together for me. My newest idea is a continuation of the hallucinogarden. I want to try either cutting up the block or selectively inking with layers of monoprints and silk screens in between, maybe even adding some figures in the garden. At the moment, I've got about 7 projects in progress and about 10 on the way. This week is going to be very fun and very productive, with lots of pictures to share!

frangipani, frangipani

Woo hoo! I finally got to do some silk screening today! The hanging datura layers have been added to the hallucinogarden, and now it is complete. If all goes according to plan, Hallucinogarden will be in a show tomorrow night for a First Friday event at bS Shirts in Old City. Unfortunately, their website is under construction right now, but you can check out their blog.

Spring break is about to begin, and I'm so excited to have an open studio, with no other commitments for a whole week! I'm setting some pretty high goals for myself, and hopefully I'll be able to accomplish them all. I've been doing more monoprints over the matte medium (which I will have pictures of soon) and they are working out very nicely. I'd like to aim for a series of about 15 by the end of the semester.

Now that my midterm exams are over there will be a lot more studio time, and many more updates of works in progress. Here are a couple details of Hallucinogarden ...

in like a lion?

It sounds like everything in the studio is finally going to come together before spring break. Which means, I'll be spending my spring break sleeping on the press beds, under the pushing blankets.

They, those all-knowing weather experts, are calling for 5 to 9 inches of snow tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see about that. I just hope, if it does happen, it is actually snow and not slush or ice. I also hope if it happens, that March will hold true to the "in like a lion and, out like a lamb" expression. I'm ready for Spring.

I've been working on a lot of mylar drawings at home, in preparation for the silk screen exposure unit's grand opening this week. I don't have photos of those now, but I will later in the week.

While inside the studio, I've been working on some monoprints on textured surfaces that will eventually get silk screened over. The print shown in this photo is for the background of the bird and mountain mylar drawings I shared in an earlier post. I spread straight matte medium on the surface of my paper like icing on a cake, building up some areas more than others. The monoprint was carefully rolled through the press four times, without waiting for the previous layers to dry. I'm very happy with the way the texture turned out, and I can't wait to see the final silk screen images on top.

Here are some details of the texture. Click 'em ...



I helped Dawn, the studio monitor and technician, with some installation of silk screen equipment. She said she would be running some tests this weekend to make sure everything is working properly, and that we should be up and running Monday afternoon. Sweet!