Busier Than I thought I'd Be - RHGA Artist in residence Mill Pond Gallery

As a member of the RHGA (Richmond Hill Group of Artists) I have been an artist in residence at the Mill Pond Gallery this past week.

Sharon Kirsch, cold wax artist, hard at work during our shared residency at Mill Pond Gallery this week

My intention was to blog daily on my week's exploits but it's already Wednesday and my residency, with Sharon Kirsch, ends tomorrow. We will be played out by an ABBA cover group as the feature concert in Mill Pond Park tomorrow night. So this is a summary of what I did and what I hope to do tomorrow for the finale.

I wanted to focus on woodcut and woodblock prints for my residency.

5 days in residence, 5 prints. Day 6 tomorrow. Last day for week#1.

One of my goals was to create a print a day. I succeeded, so far, even though I had to fudge it a little on Tuesday night because I didn't have my brayer (what kind of a printmaker forgets their brayer??) and instead settled for a conte crayon rubbing of block.

My other goal was to wrestle the third block of my suburbia series down to the ground finally and print the thing. I started that block in residency at Mill Pond last year. That image has fought me all the way, all year long. Yesterday I had it. I could feel it. Today I hoped to finish the carving and do a proof. I succeeded.

                    Angela's not home. Her car's not there.   woodcut (proof) on japanese paper, handprinted                          

I know what I need to tweak and will get to that tomorrow and it is minor. I am satisfied and ready to begin large block number four in my - surprise - extended residency at Mill Pond Gallery! Dan Marlatt, who begins on Friday (actually Saturday, I'll be there solo on Friday) is moving out of town and the move is happening this week so he asked if I would share the space and time with him. Sharing is good as we can cover each other if we need that. Dan is so generous I was happy to help him out. It's good for me as well because now that I am in a printmaking groove I can keep pushing it.

Primarily I want to do more colour reductions and make some decisions about a large piece of lino I have. And also, continue with my print a day. By the end of my residency next week, I want to have the final versions of these blocks/prints made so I have a bunch of new work as I move forward.

Artist in Residence Pt 1 - Day 6 - Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill

Today was the last full workday of my week long residency.

another day another beginning

Since I am on my own and not sharing the residency with another artist, as most of the resident artists are, it means if I have a drop-in visitor or two I talk with them. 

nice carving day.

And that means the work gets put on hold.

painting sketched out by end of the day today

I'm not someone who can ignore or just say HI and get back to the task at hand. So this kind of gallery show/sitting and working does work, I have created work, but not as much as I could have.

getting bigger

That being said, the past two days have brought people into the space who are looking for prints. Mostly it has been word of mouth recommendation. 

Great!

completed skyline, one house, one car - this block will definitely need several proofs

They have heard that prints were being shown and they have made the effort to drop by and look. Many visitors want to make prints but have no access locally to a press of any size. One person has been specifically looking for a local printmaker for 6 YEARS. Others had no idea how prints were really made and once they see the big block and the carving tools and the finished prints they appreciate the work even more. It's about the most an artist can hope for when showing their work I think.

So.

Once I got home I saw that my PRINT FROG arrived from Texas! Yay! I have to try it tomorrow. I have some small blocks to print and we'll see how it works, but really, this is a tool for printing large blocks by hand without a press.

Print Frog - like a printmaking crystal ball

It has serious weight and the grip is good. Kind of wide and loose. Very excited to see what this may add to my printmaking process. It'll definitely need a post or two of its own.

Bonus! Stickers!!

 Gallery Open/Artist in Residence
July 31-Aug 6
HOURS in attendance:
Fri July 31: 1pm-8pm
Sat Aug 1: 12pm-5pm
Sun Aug 2: 12pm-5pm
Mon Aug 3: 1pm-8pm
Tues Aug 4: Gallery Open 1pm.
NOTE: I'm in attendance: 5:30pm-8pm
Wed Aug 5: 1pm-8pm
Thurs Aug 6: 1pm-10pm

Artist in Residence Pt 1 Wk 1 Day 5 - short day - Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill

heading downtown early

Due to an appointment I could not reschedule,

Toronto

I spent only a few hours at the Gallery today. In my absence fellow RHGA members, Andrea and Michelle gallery sat for me making sure the gallery would be open.

Thanks!

I did make big progress creating a pile of wood shavings as I began carving my woodcut.

I am going to hunker down and see how far I can get tomorrow, my last full working day.

Last because with the Mill Pond Concert across the street on Thursday night, I am told the crowd often finds its way over to the gallery so it just isn't a day to make art but a day to talk about art. So be it.

Residency Info and Hours:

Mill Pond Gallery
314 Mill Street
Richmond Hill, ON

Gallery Open/Artist in Residence
July 31-Aug 6
HOURS in attendance:
Fri July 31: 1pm-8pm
Sat Aug 1: 12pm-5pm
Sun Aug 2: 12pm-5pm
Mon Aug 3: 1pm-8pm
Tues Aug 4: Gallery Open 1pm.
NOTE: I'm in attendance: 5:30pm-8pm
Wed Aug 5: 1pm-8pm
Thurs Aug 6: 1pm-10pm

Artist in Residence Pt 1 Day 4 - Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill

Yesterday I chose my image for my next woodcut.

My panel is Russian Birch meauring 24" x 36". I am carving by hand but I may use the Dremel tool in spots. We'll see if that's what's called for.

Today I spent the day transferring the drawing to the woodblock.

charcoal and compressed charcoal

This first step begins the process that makes this image my own which is slightly different from reality as it passes through my brain and into my carving hand.

FYI:  EZcut lino makes for a good eraser.

As an unexpected bonus I decided on an image to paint for one of my reclaimed canvases but not the big one.

I am going to put most of my energy into the woodcut since it is harder for me to find the space to carve than it is to paint on an easel. I want to use my time in residence in the best way I can for me.

I think my work table's surface is fascinating.

this one too.

Residency Info and Hours:

Mill Pond Gallery
314 Mill Street
Richmond Hill, ON

Gallery Open/Artist in Residence
July 31-Aug 6
HOURS in attendance:
Fri July 31: 1pm-8pm
Sat Aug 1: 12pm-5pm
Sun Aug 2: 12pm-5pm
Mon Aug 3: 1pm-8pm
Tues Aug 4: Gallery Open 1pm.
NOTE: I'm in attendance: 5:30pm-8pm
Wed Aug 5: 1pm-8pm
Thurs Aug 6: 1pm-10pm

Artist in Residence-Pt 1 - Day 3 - Mill Pond Gallery, Richmond Hill

 Quiet Sunday at the Gallery. I met Roya today. She was the perfect person to drop in.  (Hi Roya!) Dan came by and we had a good artist talk and a couple pretty much ran through the whole exhibit without saying a word, though I heard them laughing upstairs, which is good cause my funny things are up there.

I made coffee and have been leaving my keys everywhere. Just like home.

I made big progress today. After viewing image after image on the computer I've chosen my next subject for a large scale woodcut in my suburbs series.  Ironically it came from an image I took this morning, and wasn't even on the hard drive, though what I will paint was, but I took that image a day ago. So, very fresh work. Love that.

garden with deer

I started transferring the image to the block but have another hour or so before I complete it. I placed the grid onto my canvas but left it at that. No idea what will go on my extra large canvas. In every way it is a blank to me. Long workday today. Hope to make great progress!

Residency Info and Hours:

Mill Pond Gallery
314 Mill Street
Richmond Hill, ON

Gallery Open/Artist in Residence
July 31-Aug 6
HOURS in attendance:
Fri July 31: 1pm-8pm
Sat Aug 1: 12pm-5pm
Sun Aug 2: 12pm-5pm
Mon Aug 3: 1pm-8pm
Tues Aug 4: Gallery Open 1pm.
NOTE: I'm in attendance: 5:30pm-8pm
Wed Aug 5: 1pm-8pm
Thurs Aug 6: 1pm-10pm

Steamroller Print - Block Carving Pt. 3 something new this way comes

Every once in a while you get a gift. You make a breakthrough and you know it's going to change how you work. My brother gave me a dremel knock-off tool probably 10 years ago. I just never had the need for it but I always wanted it. He used it often as he worked in wood, but I was happy with my hand tools and the marks I got from them. In printmaking class I saw my teacher use the dremel making intaglio plates with the dremel on sheets of acrylic. I tried it. It didn't catch me. But I woke up with a nagging feeling that I should get it out and try it. It turns out it was exactly what I needed to give this block that little push over the edge that is so exciting.

I had to move my work into the studio due to a week-long forecast of rain. I got myself set up for the duration.

Having never used the dremel tool before I just picked it up and tried it. Risky but whatever. It worked. I knew I could just carve it away somehow if it went wrong.

So the first thing I got were these delicious circles! Wow! I hope they are deep enough to print but we'll cross that bridge later. I used the dremel to texturize the shoulders of the road as well.

And then I knew it would make or break the only text in this image. It is a key part of the piece and if I carve it wrong, by hand or with the dremel, I am really in for a hard time to get this print looking right. So, very slowly and very very carefully bit by bit I carved away the wood to reveal the sign at the side of the road. Text must be carved as its mirror-image so it will print properly.

The sign is complete and intact. 

I added some lines to the trees behind and around the sign and left it for the day. Next will be bringing out some details in the farmland, adding some shading to the housing development and then the rest of the block, over half of it, is the sky. A lot of work ahead.

Woodcut Progress for Steamroller Event: Pt. 2 - 5 hrs later.

Here's what I started with before I carved anything.

I began by tackling the hydro pole in the center of the block. It's an easy shape and I can get used to the wood and how it feels. The wood is soft and my tools are working great.

I cleaned out the areas of the center as far as I am willing to go for now. 

 

I decided to move onto the right hand side next. First beginning with the housing outlines.

Carefully adding in the details. I often do all the upstrokes and cross strokes at the same time as I have to turn the board to accommodate the tool/my hand.

I worked on the lawn,

and the roadside grasses.

This is where I was after two days of work.

14 days to Printing with a Steamroller at Quest Art in Midland: Pt.1 Image transfer

I'm involved in a printmaking event using a steamroller as my press. This is happening August 23rd, 2014 from 10am to 3pm at Quest Art. Quest Art is in Midland, Ontario. This is their link to the event CLICK HERE My general topic for prints these days is Suburbia. I live in the deep suburbs north of Toronto now and I am really interested in the goings-on here, though what's happening seems so invisible and so bland that it has now grown into a personal challenge to capture.

The first step is to find/create an image worthy of the work involved in creating a woodblock carving. I need something that speaks to me personally. Once chosen I re-sized and re-printed it, using the Paint program that came with Windows* which enabled me to print it onto several sheets of paper so it would cover my woodblock which is 18" x 40".

 

I taped the pages together like a giant puzzle and then flipped them over to coat the back with black conte crayon so I could transfer the basic outline to the block.

I placed the image with the conte on it conte side down onto my block then I followed the basic outlines with a pencil, pressing down so the conte would mark the block beneath it. Even at this first stage I am editing the image, already it is beginning to change from the source material as I leave this and that out or adjust the placement or size of something to make a better print.

Once this was done I went over the transfer lines with a green marker to solidify the image for myself and to see just what I have set myself up to do. 

And the answer to that is, as usual, something complicated.

*you can scale your images larger using Windows paint by clicking FILE >print, then PAGE SET-UP, then SCALING>fit to: and choose how many pages you think you need. This turned out to be, for me, the easiest way to do this at home.