What I found at the end of the road - my opening tonight

in the lobby

my show poster

the threshold

After all the worry and all the working I have to say it is a great feeling to see your name in vinyl lettering with a light shining on it. This is my first experience of that. Today is the culmination of a lot of work, a lot of energy, and a lot of hopes and dreams for me, but only a short working time period: 16 days.

Whatever I was looking for here, I found it and more.

all my daily prints above with the blocks on the ledge,
all my tools and inks on the table

Cumulative print showing the first 16 days of my residency on the top half,
with the rest yet to come

I can't tell you how it went. I can only say I was completely engaged and I was non-stop talking and laughing. It was, as is usual here, easy to talk to people about art, to have their full attention and their interest. Like, they really really care. They care to look. They care to stop and take it in. They care to want to know about you and your process and how you do what you do and why you do what you do and, wow, it's easy to see how people come here for a few days, come back for a few weeks, and then it's 20 years later.

looking to the right from the doorway

double woodblock reduction print on wall;
block that made it on pedestal in front to show
both sides of the block used to print both birds

other side of block

I met many people from Canada. We all had the "big big eyes wow what a place" look. I met someone Hungarian and we had the longest Hungarian conversation I have had in years. That I could follow him and converse as well is amazing and a testament to how relaxed I was in the midst of the show activity.



I completely missed the Karmic Circus performance: yoga, fire eaters, dancers and all which was downstairs. I had too many people to talk to and some I wanted to talk to and then they were gone.

All my tools and my clothesline and my inks are all over at the exhibit right now. I'll need them back tomorrow. Guess I could leave the clothesline up. We'll see.

Tomorrow I am going to the water. I have yet to go to the water and there is water EVERYWHERE. I need to let everything wash over me. It was some fun tonight.
I wish all my artist friends a Key West experience.



For another review of my opening please visit Bunny Island Key West

Feb 15 - readying for my exhibition

empty exhibition space waiting for me

My exhibition opens tomorrow night.

The Studios of Key West van, parked on the street as I
made my way to discuss my exhibit tomorrow

Martha Barnes, the director of the studios, keeps reminding me that I am showing works in progress ie. they don't need to be finished works, just works in progress. And for me to remember that downstairs, in the main gallery, they have been working for 6 months to get ready for the opening tomorrow and I, she reminded me, have been working for 16 days.

I have a lot of stuff for 16 days.

I was taking full advantage because I was well aware that I have no work space back home. That I was just starting to organize my dining room, and even with that I'd still have little room and would have to wait until it warms up to go outside and work. That's around April if I am lucky.

And then an amazing thing happened. Last week as I was pondering my lack of studio space at home, I checked online to discover that a brand new artist's studio collective in Toronto North was starting. Long story short, I have a studio to go home too. On top of that, I have a clear focus of what I want to work on. It's incredible how 15 days ago that was all foggy and now, it's like a clear path has unfolded at my feet.

After our talk I saw this bike. I thought it was "just spotted" until I really looked and saw the stenciled numbers

I am in one of those time periods of my life which don't come often but when they do, look out. Things just go click-click-click and it all just makes sense and it all just falls into place and it's all just very clear. I remember thinking last year about the last time I had one of these experiences and despairing I would ever get that again in my life. In spite of all the good changes, many other things sure felt bleak. Thank goodness that's gone and thank goodness for Key West.

But let's get back to the nitty gritty. Today was the completion of my daily blocks bringing me up to the day of the show. I just, yes just, finished printing the large print.

February 1st - 16th, 2012 Key West, Florida, U.S.A.
55" x 27" 16 blocks
double xuan rice paper printed by hand all at once

Boy, I love making these cumulative prints. I really do. Of course there were challenges, the paper I used I only have 2 sheets. So one for these first 2 weeks and one for the last 2. What this also means is I have no experience printing on it so some of my blocks could have used more ink but, actually, whether I knew that or not, I am having a really tough time judging what is inky enough on any print I am making. I don't know what it is. The ink is also new to me, of course, so it could be that, it could be the humidity, it could be the paper being very absorbent or not absorbent enough, or not using enough pressure when I am using the barren, so many factors involved in pulling a good print. Perhaps by the 29th of February I will have a handle on it, only to be faced with brand new conditions Up North.

All part of the fun.

So my exhibit is all planned out but it has yet to be hung. And I, dear reader, have a very early morning as I have to finish my double rooster print. The double sided rooster block is part of my exhibit so I need to get up super early and tackle that before I am thinking. A 5 part colour reduction woodblock print to be done by 10am.

I am a crazy nut.