Start Anew

2015! Blistering winds and sub-zero temperatures. Hark, the new year arrives full of potential, promise, and (today) a threatening chill. Behold, the days grow longer. Or so we are told. The lake freezes and thaws and the ice clanks together and freezes again.

New sketchbook freshly sprung from the binding press that sits behind it. 

And in the spirit of new beginnings here is a sketchbook I bound for my Global Drawing Circle, an international collaborative sketchbook conversation facilitated by the fine folks of International Drawing & Cognition Research, "an interdisciplinary research network" who "host drawing symposia, foster collaboration, publish on drawing and cognition, and run educational courses and workshops."

Each member of our circle has started a sketchbook and we will dutifully mail them to one another each month. The idea is to be in conversation with one another through the drawing. It is a different feel than inhabiting one's own personal sketchbook. Here's to welcoming others into our process and the serendipity of collaboration.

drawing bell hooks

A recently completed card and illustration of bell hooks to promote her upcoming residency at the Cassandra Voss Center at St. Norbert College. The clients, Karlyn Crowley and Anna Czarnik-Neimeyer who run the Cassandra Voss Center, wanted the image to tie into the theme of this year's programming which focuses on "heroes, power, comics, and identity." They asked for a loose drawing of hooks: cartoony, but recognizable.

I drew hooks several times and struggled to be faithful to her likeness without getting too fussy in the drawing. I also kept exaggerating her cheekbones to the point of making her seem gaunt.

It's been nice to do illustration work lately. The parameters of a commissioned drawing are like a puzzle with several possible solutions. In this case Karlyn and Anna had a strong vision and gave great (read: very specific) feedback. In sussing out different visual options I also drew hooks as Yoda, but worried that the image wasn't flattering enough. Karlyn and Anna took a print out of that image to the National Women's Studies Association annual conference to show hooks and reported back that she liked it. Woo-hoo!

Art at Amery Food Hub

Photos from our trip to install Who Shares Wins: Kate Casanova + Katie Ries at the Amery Food Hub. We got to stay the night in Hungry Turtle's warm farm house and woke to more thin snow on the fields and roads.

Inside the Amery Food Hub's center space

Land Scout sash, Guide Book, and field books

Bobby Maher carefully installing seed balls for What You've Got

Economy of the Amateur Ink desk and drawings

What You've Got 

from the Hungry Turtle farm house porch

Finish Strong

Now is the time in the semester when I start thinking to myself and saying out loud to my students: finish strong.  By which I mean ground yourself, take a deep breath, and do the work. Do not burn out, but sustain yourself with rest, food, good people, and a disciplined practice. Amen.

Poetic GIFs by Daniel Maw

Daniel Maw is an artist, teacher, and cartoonist. I first saw his work when we were in grad school together, but stumbled back across it recently and was struck by his GIFs. Linked here is one I liked from the Red's Barbershop series. They are brief and poetic.

 Below, a self-portrait of the artist at the gym:

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!