once a shiny morning puddle.

Ettie Ogle

2009-12-07T22:23:00.001-05:00

Check out my new blog ... Ettie Ogle ... I'm starting up an Etsy shop and this is my my new fun alias and business name. The shop is not quite set up yet, but will be soon. In the mean time keep tabs on Ettie on the blog. Hope everyone is having a great December so far!

i just had to ...

2009-11-30T01:52:00.001-05:00

nataliedee.com

fly me to the moon, let me dance among the stars, let me see what spring is like on jupiter and mars ...

2009-10-31T14:36:00.003-04:00

... in other words, hold my hand.

It has been a very long time. I've been experiencing a new location and learning a lot. Although I have not been putting as much focus into my artwork as I should, I do have a few small projects going on. It is a nice fresh feeling to not have to worry about due dates and grades, but it also weakens my discipline an motivation a little. I'm sure a much more interesting and worth while post will be coming soon but this is what I have to share now ...

I've been working on a book that will be gifted when complete. It is about memories, rekindling friendships and instigation. I'm hoping for it to create some inspiration for the recipient and to have that person send me back a reaction or addition to the piece. This person is also working on a project for me to react and build upon. This whole (for lack of a better description) "pen pal" project is really exciting to me, and I'm hoping it won't be something fleeting. Here are a couple photos of spreads from the book ...

P.S. to my "pen pal": if you happen to stumble upon these images I'm sorry for ruining the surprise. But do not worry these are only 3 spreads of many, so the rest of the book will be a surprise.

it's tomorrow!

2009-06-12T12:52:00.004-04:00

just showing off some publicity ...

come see my show!

2009-06-09T20:31:00.000-04:00

sometimes I wish I was Elizabeth Fraser

2009-05-21T21:16:00.007-04:00

So, I'm finally a college graduate ... and let me tell you, it's tough! It's so hard sleeping in, watching TV and eating home cooked meals! I sure hope I don't have to do this forever ... just kidding.

I've found a bit of free time in my very busy schedule to post some more of the work from these past few months. This is a series that spun off of the first lino cut I did in the beginning of the semester. For these pieces I was interested in creating a lot of depth through layering of the same hallucinogarden block. A sort of imaginative/dream world came out of it. My conceptual idea was to create a hallucinogarden that you actually could get lost in, visually or figuratively. The veils or curtains are a way to emphasize the separation of the created dream world in the print, and the world in which the print exists as an object. I had a lot of fun creating these prints, and I wish I could share the thick, shiney characteristics of the ink with everyone, but its hard to get the feeling of touch over the internet.

Garden Grabs After A Leaked Peek
monoprint, block print, and silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

Going, Going, Gone
monoprint, block print, and silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

Gazer Grieves After A Lost Dream
monoprint, block print and silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

As a reaction to this mini series I decided to do ghost prints to get the opposite effect. These three are not about a world you can get lost in, but about a void that you can fill with your own thoughts and dreams.

Ghost Grabbed
silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

Grieving Ghost
silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

Ghost Gone
silk screen on paper
18" x 24"

There are many more prints to share on the way. Also, if anyone in the area is interested in seeing my artwork in person, I will be having a solo show in June in the lovely small town of Bryn Athyn (just north of Philadelphia). Dates will be set very soon, and you can bet every single person I see or hear will know about it! I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful weather these past couple days as much as I am!

the end is getting nearer and dearer

2009-04-27T19:39:00.002-04:00

Finally, I had some time to upload and share some new finished pieces. The original series of fifteen has been cut down to seven due to a sudden and impatient burst of interest in a new series. So, instead of one series of fifteen for my senior thesis, I'll have two smaller collections.
Here are four to go ...

Silent Slopes

monoprint & silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

Sow Your Lights, Grow Mights
monoprint & silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

Play Chain Lightning Trail
monoprint & silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

One Jump Won
monoprint & silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

This is my last week of classes, and all final critiques are next week, so there will be many, many more to share soon ...

two of infinity

2009-04-06T20:11:00.007-04:00

The end of the semester is on its way, only about a month to go. I really need to hammer down! Here is my newest finished piece ...

Airs Gathered to Scatter Scares
monoprint & silkscreen on paper
18" x 24"

Also, since I neglected to show any details from the last post here they are ...

Spring is creeping in slowly, and it is lovely!

finally finished, on toward more

2009-03-25T08:47:00.003-04:00

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

play chain paper trail

2009-03-11T16:23:00.013-04:00

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

2009-03-09T19:09:00.007-04:00

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

2009-03-05T18:39:00.007-05:00

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?

2009-03-01T13:28:00.007-05:00

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!

with all ten fingers still attached

2009-02-18T21:12:00.003-05:00

I finally finished cutting and pulled some prints! Just a little silk screening and the hallucinogarden will be complete!

one day i will make it to germany

2009-02-15T19:44:00.008-05:00

I was fortunate enough to see an Anselm Kiefer at the PMA last year. Not the one shown here, but one of a field with dirt and straw worked into the surface. It literally took my breath away. Kiefer's art work has definitely influenced me. It is an artistic goal of mine to reach the same level of simplicity versus complexity that he has. I'm not sure exactly why I am so mesmerised by his images, but it is a feeling that I hope some one else will find in my art work some day.

The color palette, chunkiness, and open space of this particular painting is influencing an in-progress body of work that I've started developing in my head and sketch book this past week. There is something about a blue and gray color palette that is very serene and sometimes depressing but also monumental.

Here are the first mylar drawings I've put together for my senior project series. They will eventually be silk screens over top of some mono-printing and collage. Obviously, my dinky mylar drawing can never compare to a massive, beautiful Kiefer, but I can dream, right?

The bird figure (which there are a couple of, they are overlapping right now) will be printed in a transparent white so that the overlapping areas will be more opaque. The mountain-range-esque background will be mostly neutrals, grays, and blues.

I was sketching and jotting down some ideas for images the other day and I realized a lot of them, almost all of them, involved an action. So, I've decided a goal for this senior project is to suggest movement of a specific action. Hopefully my line drawings and layered transparencies will work out on paper they way I see them in my head. Here. In my head.

my rorschach heart

2009-02-11T15:49:00.013-05:00

Now that things are slowly coming together I can start sharing ideas and progress more frequently. My main focus right now is a hallucinogarden. It is meant to reflect the feeling of being lost and confused in an unknown place (in this case it is a garden) without fear or anxieties. Like remaining calm and content through out a situation of unknown origin. Ignorance is bliss, right? If so, I think bliss is pretty sleepy, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

To create this sleepy, blissful garden, I thought it should be full of hallucinogenic plants and flowers. In my research I discovered that some types of datura hang their trumpet shaped blossoms from the branches of trees! How weird?!

Today I did some monoprinting to establish some base color in the garden. Here are a couple photos.

When I finish the lino cut I'll layer that print over this color, and once the silkscreen studio is finally finished I'll be pulling some figures and hanging datura on top. I'm pretty excited about the way my lino cut is turning out, although it has caused many minor flesh wounds around my left hand and fingers. Maybe I should invest in a protective glove ...

in the meantime

2009-02-03T19:20:00.018-05:00

It has been a little slow starting this semester because of the big Tyler move downtown, which means I don't have any new work to show yet. So, I thought I would share the work that I left with last semester.

All of these are around nine by twelve inches in size. The first was the beginning of a new style of artwork for me; using monoprint to stain the paper and add color to the etching. It is called Across Sectioned Pool Revealed.

The other four became a series that unfolded from the first etching. I used the same paper staining technique, though less intense, and used polymer intaglio plates that develop in water (instead of the so-quickly-rising-in-price copper etching plates).

This semester I plan to use these pieces as a spring board to continue to create layered narratives in mixed print media. I'm looking forward to silk screen, block print, collage, and perhaps a little litho. I just can't wait until the studios are finally up and running 100%!

Blue Jean Soak Sight

Stainage, No Drainage

Head Scratch, Don't Catch, Stranded

Refracted Reflection Inked

click 'em!

false beginning

2009-02-01T15:55:00.000-05:00

You'd think Spring was around the corner the way today's melt is taking over. But this is Pennsylvania ... so obviously its a fib, or an attempt at a joke. I predict a nice three to four inch thick layer of ice by the time next weekend rolls in. At least its pretty today.

This is my attempt to keep my self actively thinking (rather than thinking without follow-up action) and to share my current artwork with friends or strangers. I do not intend for this to be a fib, and I hope, if this does turn out to be a joke, my sense of humor is not as terrible as the weather's.