Let's Draw

I am honored to be part of Let's Draw, an upcoming art exhibition at James Watrous Gallery based on a long-running radio show by the same name. From the gallery's website:

"Let’s Draw" was developed by Wisconsin’s own WHA (now Wisconsin Public Radio) as part of the station’s School of the Air program. These weekly broadcasts wove together stories, dramatic readings, music, and instruction into lively half-hour programs that brought art lessons to rural and underserved communities around the state. The driving force behind Let’s Draw, James Schwalbach, emphasized originality and free expression. Schwalbach’s mantras were "We do not copy" and “Art is fun,” and he urged students to “Sit up straight, hold the crayon loosely, and swing your whole arm with a great big grin on your face.” After introducing each’s week’s theme, Schwalbach would say “There’s that big sheet of paper, and you’re just full of ideas, so let’s draw!”

Every time I read about the "Let's Draw" radio program my heart starts to beat a little faster. What an amazing thing: the gospel of everyone drawing-- on the radio! The show will be up from February 10th - April 9th with an opening reception Saturday, February 18th from 1-3 PM.

Sustainable Fashion

Last night was Knights on the Catwalk, an inaugural sustainable fashion show at St. Norbert College. It was one of many events under the umbrella of Fashion This, an exhibition and lecture series looking at sustainable and ethical fashion through the lens of art and design. It's a collaboration between myself and two outstanding colleagues, Shan Bryan-Hanson and April Beiswenger. The fashion show included wearable cardboard sculptures from my ART 131 students as well as outfits put together with less than $20 spent at area thrift stores and a couple of pieces by our colleague April Beiswenger. We've passed the half-way point with Fashion This and it's been exciting to see the work and ideas take root on our campus.

As a quick aside: you can check out #fashionthisSNC on social media like Twitter and Instagram.

Final bow at Knights on the Catwalk

In addition to the fashion show last night Shan curated an outstanding exhibit that included the clothing of Alabama Chanin and the on-site installation of and scheduled tours through a tiny house built by a local pastor Rebecca Rutter. At the same time April's 1000 T-shirt Project was on display in the Godschalx Gallery. April turned her skills as a prolific maker and thinker to the issues of fashion production, waste, and consumption to turn out a gallery-full of sculptural pieces made from t-shirts.

Detail from April Beiswenger's 1000 T-Shirt Project. Photo by Shan Bryan-Hanson.

One of the more energizing and interactive elements on display in our art building was the swap pile. We began with a stash of clothing April curated from faculty and staff donations and thrift store selections. Signs on the display invited passersby to take a piece (or several) from the pile and to leave pieces behind. Students and campus visitors got a kick out of riffling through the pile and finding new-to-them clothes to take home. I found a stunning sequined skirt and a cool t-shirt for my youngest brother. Although that swap pile has been dismantled and returned to the second-hand clothing stream, I'll be recreating the abundant swap ethos later this month as part of my exhibition WERKBOOTS at Silver Lake College.

The Fashion This swap pile at the Bush Art Center at St. Norbert College

Which brings me to WERKBOOTS, an exhibition of my work on display at the Donald P. Taylor Gallery at Silver Lake College through October 28th. The show is a current take on my ongoing pursuit of "sustainable fashion boots." Included in the show are drawings about the process of trying to make my own fashion boots, a display of past and possible future materials, boot drafts made to date, and a work table where gallery visitors are invited to design their own boots and to trade that drawing for a screen print (shown below). Special thanks to Maria Deau who contributed both screen prints and major installation help to the show.

Gallery visitors at Silver Lake College draw boot designs to trade for prints.

I'll be hosting a public boot-making workshop (with an emphasis on low-resolution prototypes) and a clothing swap on October 6th at 8:15 AM and October 8th from 9 AM - 12 PM, respectively. If you're in the area, stop in to join us, see the work, and consider how you might take steps towards a more sustainable style.

ReallyBIGPRINTS wrap

ReallyBIGPRINTS!! is done. Now we get to bask in the glow of the project completed. It was a tremendous four days. We got to see so many wonderful printmakers pull large prints off their really big blocks. In addition to the thrill of the prints themselves, I loved getting to know the printmakers from all over the country. Special shout out to our esteemed print helpers and Lawrence University students: Cael and Molly. You all were great!

Some photos below. I'm sorry not to have photographed every team and print, but more photos will likely show up on the ReallyBIGPRINTS facebook page over the next couple weeks. You can also see some short videos of the process here. 

If you're reading about this project and feeling inspired: mark your calendars for summer 2018 when we're planning to host the third (and final?) ReallyBIGPRINTS!! That should give you enough time to carve a block, ask off work, and plan your road trip to lovely NE Wisconsin. 

Lastly, if you're in Wisconsin now and missed the printing you can still see the prints! They'll be on display at the Rahr-West Museum July 31 - August 28. After that they'll head to the Hamilton Wood Type and Printing Museum and be on display in time for Wayzgoose 2016.  And then on to Lawrence University. Three chances to see the full collection of Really Big Prints.

My block, finally carved and ready to proof.

Hannah and Rose were our lone undergrad printers on Wednesday. I am so proud of them...to the point that I had to stop myself from telling them that every hour.  But seriously, look at that print! 

The all female team from Redline Milwaukee. Their collaborative block read like a narrative biblical painting...all about the state of things in Wisconsin. 

Our two story drying rack. We pulled prints as they dried to make room for the next day's prints. If you're planning a big print event, this part is key. 

Michael Connor's lovely fishermen print showing through on thin paper. 

Lemonade cup/glove holder added to the roller. 

First color run of Ben Rinehart's pressure print. 

Billy Wenner's block before being inked. Staining a block red before drawing helps with tracking your carving.

Mr. Wenner with his inked block.

Printmakers resting on Thursday. It was hot and windy. 

At the Printers' Party on Friday. 

Included in this photo is UW-Manitowoc Chancellor Cathy Sandeen who made her own print!

The UW Manitowoc campus sits right on Lake Michigan. 

Really Big Dandelions

Continued work on my block for ReallyBIGPRINTS!! The block on the right shown below is by two great SNC art students.  It's crunch time for all of us.

Costumes to Save Your Life at Jabberwock Gallery

I'm delighted to get to show my Costumes to Save Your Life at the nascent Jabberwock Gallery in Algoma, WI. If you're in the area, please plan to join us for the opening Friday, July 1st, 5-9 PM. Here's the gallery address for your navigation: 219 Steele St. Algoma, WI 54201

Below are some of the initial sketches and prints that led to the final work. Versions of some of these and other prints will be for sale at the gallery. You can read more about the project and its genesis here.

Work in Progress

I've been slowly chipping away at this drawing of a dandelion for ReallyBIGPRINTS!! this summer. Next I'll add in the gradated lines of the sky. Then: sand my wood, raise the grain, sand again, transfer the image, seal it, and carve, carve, carve. All in time to print in July.

Plywood by Post

I now live in a place that is somewhat lacking in visual arts culture. It exists and some of it is excellent, but it's harder to find and geographically scattered relative to my previous homes. As an extrovert and artist this means I have to work harder to make and maintain the connections that feed my spirit and sustain my work. This need for creative connection is compounded by the recent birth of my son. Though he is a delight, caring for him makes getting to galleries and museums, to say nothing of events after 8 PM, more of a challenge.

All of this led me to stew on how I could cultivate and experience the kind of creative community I seek. Number One on the list: be better about showing up for what's going on in my area. There's the wonderful John Michael Kohler Art Center, the Lakeshore Artists Guild, and the Hamilton Wood Type & Printing Museum to name a few. Number Two on my list is Plywood by Post (#plywoodbypost for the digital savvy), a recently launched collaborative drawing project in which participants will draw on and pass along by mail small pieces of birch plywood. The boards went out earlier this month to 14 artists all over the country-- listed and linked at the end of this post-- and I'm excited to see what happens. 

Wood going out in the world thanks to the USPS. 

I modeled the project after Global Drawing Circles, a project by Thinking Through Drawing, an "interdisciplinary education and research network." In those circles each artist started and then worked in a a sketchbook which we passed on monthly. I don't know if it was the chemistry of my group or the large amount of real estate afforded by a whole book, but my drawing circle did not draw on or into the previous drawings. My expectation here is that the limited space of the plywood will force us to respond to what others have done. These are the participating artists: Alex Cline, Brian Hitselberger, Bud Ries, Chatham Monk, Don Krumpos, Genevieve Lowe, Holly Briggs, Justin Rice, Katie Ries, Rachel Clark, Rachel Schattman, Sara Marie Miller, Susie Ries, Tanyssa Behnke, and Veronica Siehl. (Update! Just added to this mix: Steph Untz.)

I look forward to seeing the project unfold and to the artistic communion of shared drawings (and occasional emails about the project). Need to get my board started soon. 

Birch plywood, 11.75" x 9"

Wisconsin Biennial

Alex Hopkins, The Fifer, Archival pigment print, 2015

The Wisconsin Biennial is coming up. I'm honored to have a piece in it and to be in such good company as Alex Hopkins of Green Bay (above). The exhibition is sponsored by Wisconsin Visual Artists (WVA), the oldest artist organization in the state, and will be put on at the Museum of Wisconsin Arts in West Bend, WI.

The exhibition features work by around fifty WI artists and will be up February 6th - March 27th. If you can, please join me for the opening reception on Saturday, February 6th from 2 - 5 PM. More information about the show is available here.

SNC Magazine

Thanks to Susan Allen, editor at the St. Norbert College magazine, for suggesting a feature on the Land Scouts. Thanks also to writer Paul Nicolaus for a generous interview and thoughtful article.

You can read the full piece here. 

Wisconsin Winter

Three years ago when we knew we were moving to Wisconsin we got lots of advice (some of it solicited) on how to handle winter. I made a drawing about it...and then lost the drawing in a stack of sketches. In cleaning out my studio recently I found the drawing and cleaned it up a little in Photoshop. Here it is. So far, we've been able to do everything except the Packers game. And sometimes, privately, in late winter, we complain about the weather.

Summer Thighs

This screen print is bound for the Hardy Gallery where it will be assembled with bodily segments from other Wisconsin printmakers into an Exquisite Corpse. Green Bay printmaker and UWGB Professor Chris Style organized the show and I can't wait to see the bodies assembled. The opening reception is Friday, September 4th from 5:30 - 7 PM.

The Exquisite Corpse as we're practicing here dates back to the Surrealists who, according to Wikipedia, put their spin on an existing parlor game. It's one of my favorites. I used it in bars when I first moved to Knoxville, TN and didn't know anyone. The lack of control over the entire figure as well as the absurdity built in to the final result make it a great teaching tool and a nice thing to do with people who "can't draw."

For the exhibit at the Hardy the figure was divided into four sections. Each artist was assigned one of the four and given a template that indicated where the "figure" should pick up and end. My image is very literal; some of the best exquisite corpses I've seen or made depart more radically from the recognizable figure. Again, it will be great to see the prints assembled. I'm especially looking forward to seeing the portions created by Don Krumpos, Johanna Winters, Berel Lutsky, and Ben Rinehart, all area printmakers who I know and whose work I admire.

most this amazing day

For a week or so recently, I woke to the first stantza of this poem by e.e. cummings in my head. 


i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun's birthday; this is the birth
day of life and of love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any—lifted from the no
of all nothing—human merely being
doubt unimaginable You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

The tone and mystical grammar of cummings mirrors how I feel about our summer in Wisconsin now. It is a beautiful, sweet, and fleeting time. The garden is in, boats are out on the lake, it's as warm as it's getting here, and I get to work in the studio on prints and drawings without interruption. Not to mention the sweet "human merely being" we anticipate meeting in the fall. 

i thank You God for most this amazing day

Hungry Turtle Weekend

Coming up in the middle of this month, a sweet weekend of art, food, people, and music courtesy of Hungry Turtle Farm and Learning Center. I have the distinct pleasure of showing my work there with that of Kate Casanova. Casanova is an interdisciplinary sculptor based out of the Twin Cities. She is what the Ancient Romans called a bad-ass and her beautiful and minimalist work makes me swoon. I especially love this video piece, Ornament, in which hermit crabs traverse the landscape of Casanova's plaited dome.

You can see our work Saturday, November 15th from 7 - 10 PM and you can sign up for the many interesting workshops of the weekend here.

Paper Fox Printmaking Workshop

This past Thursday I got to work with Ben Reinhart and art students at Lawrence University as part of their Paper Fox Printmaking Workshop. Ben was an attentive host and the students a great help. The Lawrence printshop is full of light, well-stocked, and organized. We pulled 50 impressions of a two-color screen print on blue paper. Later I'll edit the edition down to 30 prints. The image is a drawing of small objects found walking our neighborhood. It will be part of the forthcoming Land Scout Guide Book.

Screen printing is especially fast relative to other analog print media, and it was exciting to arrive, get to work, and crank out the run. I came home with the prints neatly wrapped in a box and waiting to be sorted, trimmed, and editioned (i.e. signed with title, number, and signature). One of the things I love about printmaking is the excitement of having more than one art-object to distribute. Here is the thing I produce: this stack of objects. Let's trade.

First color in the drying rack

One half of the prints will return to Ben and the Paper Fox Printmaking Workshop. I plan to sell ten of the remaining prints to cover the costs of attending the Southern Graphics Council International conference this spring. You can see a detail below. Each print is 17" x 11" and is $75 plus shipping. If you are interested in purchasing one please be in touch. If $75 doesn't fit in your budget, please make me your best barter offer.

A detail of the print

Many thanks to Ben and students for the opportunity and generous hospitality.

Ben and some of the experimental fun prints left over. Fluorescent paper! 

On the Lake

Our new rental house looks out at Lake Michigan. It is a big big body of water and I'm enjoying seeing the differences here: what's growing now, finding new plants, new colors, shapes, textures, and smells.

Really Big Prints

On Friday my print collaborators (Johanna Winters & Don Krumpos) finally printed our big wood block. We started carving earlier this summer and drove down to UW Manitowoc to ink it up and print on big sheets of paper and fabric with a steamroller.

We met a great group of fellow printmakers and lucked out with very little rain.

Beaucoup des process photos below.

Johanna and Don stand on the jig to keep it from slipping out.

Candice rolls up her beautiful block.

Katherine's block at rest.

Annica the steamrolling queen with Katherine and Candice of Missouri. 

In front, Chicken Pot Pie, by S.V. Medaris, printmaker and poultry farmer.

Berel Lutsky, one of the hosts of Really Big Prints

Our crew: Don, Dayna, and Johanna.  

The lovely Victoria of Austin, TX was a great help with our printing.

Final print on Kitakata with women for scale. 

We pose in the gestures of our saints.