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Step by step
June 30th, 2014
Workin’ on a new batch of little somethings…can’t wait to show you the finished product!
Blog
Ink This!
June 26th, 2014
One exhibit might be ending this week, but another is just getting started. On Tuesday night I went to the opening for Ink This!, a new exhibit of contemporary Northwest print arts at the Tacoma Art Museum.
The place was completely packed—both in the lecture space and in the common areas.
I spent so much time catching up with friends and colleagues from all over the region (which is the best part about this show!) that I barely made it upstairs to see the artwork itself.
And then when I got there, I had a pleasant surprise: my piece in the show is prominently displayed, right by the entrance.
It’s such an honor to have my book in a room with so many incredible prints, sculptures, artist books and other work by the people I admire the most.
Most of all, I can’t tell you how gratifying it was to see so many people come up and spend time with my book. That’s the highest compliment anyone could ever pay me.
Many, many thanks to the Tacoma Art Museum for putting this show together; to Margaret Bullock for her amazing work curating the exhibit; to Ann and Peter Darling who lent the book from their private collection for the exhibit; to everyone who has seen the show so far; to the artists themselves; and to the lovely man monitoring the gallery that night, who so kindly gave me permission to take some hip shots with my phone camera. (I couldn’t hide how excited I was to have my work in a museum for the first time—thanks for not laughing at my dorkiness!)
Ink This! will be on display through November 9 October 19 (update: show is closing early to accommodate the opening of a new museum wing), at the Tacoma Art Museum, 1701 Pacific Avenue in downtown Tacoma.
Last call
June 23rd, 2014
If you’re local, this is the last week to catch my You’ll Like Tacoma Show on display. So head on downtown to Brooks Dental before the lights turn out!
Midsummer glow
June 21st, 2014
I just love how evening light filters into the studio at this time of year. Happy solstice!
Summer sampler
June 19th, 2014
I stopped by the Collins Memorial Library this week to see the new Puget Sound Book Artists exhibition, and look what’s in the show! If you haven’t had a chance to see my Mnemonic Sampler abecedary in person yet, the PSBA folks have it beautifully displayed in one of the wall cases. (The display is definitely better than my low-light cell phone photo of it…sigh.)
And they were even kind enough to include a snippet of it in the exhibition poster—can you spot it?
Catch the show now through July 31!
The miracle worker
June 16th, 2014
This is my friend Carl.
He’s a wood engraver extraordinaire—
—and his West Seattle letterpress studio is a thing of beauty.
He does lovely, painstaking work (those are his engravings on the wall there), and he runs a tight ship at that studio of his.
Which is why my friend Mary-Alice called on Carl when she picked up a vintage Adana flatbed press, and wanted help whipping it into shape. She and her husband were planning to bring the press to West Seattle yesterday. I’d never seen an Adana in action before (I’m more of a Vandercook gal myself), so I asked to tag along.
Carl was more than ready for us.
He gave the press a quick once-over. “I think you’re getting off too easy, Mary-Alice,” he said. “There aren’t even any spiders under here!”
A few drops of oil,
some careful adjustments,
one of Carl’s own engravings to use as a test,
and a little text M-A set from his massive collection of type—and all of a sudden the Adana was print-ready.
Carl even broke out the fancy handmade paper—”This is an important occasion!” he said.
Pretty darn good results, if you ask me. Carl made us all sign the finished broadside. (Mariners pencil for the win!)
“How come I get to sign?” I asked, confused.
Carl chuckled and said, “You documented the occasion. Sign it!”
Aye, aye, Captain!
Before and after
June 12th, 2014
Well, I’ve eked out just about as much pigment as it’s possible to get from some of these half pans, so I think it’s time to break out a brand-new paintbox. Somehow it feels like I’ve refreshed the whole studio.
Nearsighted Narwhal
June 9th, 2014
This week I added a new stockist to my list when I dropped off a pile of cards at Tacoma’s newest shop, The Nearsighted Narwhal.
The shop fills a specific niche that book artists will love: the art of self-publishing. The store is chock-a-block with zines, comics, self-published and small-press publications, and artwork by a whole array of independent artists.
It’s the sort of place you might normally have to travel to Portland, or San Francisco, or Brooklyn to find. But I can tell you that from the perspective of someone who’s been self-publishing for over a decade, the Nearsighted Narwhal going to be a very welcome resource. I can’t wait to dive in and start reading!
Just a snippet
June 5th, 2014
I’ve been drawing a lot of Adirondack chairs lately—which, since I adore them, is just fine with me. I’m working on illustrating another book with Quarto Publishing Group, that will be released in late fall of this year. I can’t share any salient details yet, but I thought I’d show just a wee slice. As soon as the book comes out, I’ll let you know!
Delicious distraction
June 2nd, 2014
I know I should be in the studio right now, but the first strawberries of the year deserve something like a holiday.