owt snoom

owt snoom
acrylic and chalk on paper, 24x18", 2014

The desert, the hint of dawn

Deep ink blue, dark earth

And diamonds

A great silence.

where the true self roams free

*

Sometimes you have to shrink in size to really see a painting. To see the vastness of the space and feel the work. When you inhabit the painting, you can roam its high peaks and look out for miles. The horizon is far away. The light shimmers on that edge, while the dark pool draws you into its secrets. A shape is longer just a shape, but a being that stands with certainty.

*sketchbook entry, watersoluble graphite on paper

betwixt and between

betwixt and between
charcoal and chalk on paper, 24x18", 2015

The train blurs

The line between

What is real and imagined

What is present and past

All an irresistible mirage.

PAAC week 4 and 5, and INK IT UP!

My work at Pyramid Atlantic is on in full swing. Everyone at PAAC, including myself, has been gearing up for this year's big event - the 2nd Biennial Printmaking Symposium Ink It Up!

Ink It Up!, scheduled for November 14th, is going to be a one-day event filled with demonstrations, presentations, panel discussions, open portfolios. Some of the demonstrations include 'Negative Space and Mezzotint' with Shawn Smith, Hydrographic Immersion Printing' with Justin Strom, Glass Powder Screenprinting with Gretchen Schermerhorn and John Lickerman, 'Building a Table-top Press' with Franc Rosario. The panel discussion 'The Enveloping Experience of Printstallation' will look at print based installation art. Open Portfolio is going to be another exciting part of the print symposium - a showcase of prints from colleges, universities and printshops in the DC metro area. At the end of the day, there will be a coaster printing party accompanied by locally brewed beer.

Ink It Up! also has special exhibitions. 'The 45 Record Project, Revisited', is an exhibition of prints by artists from Pyramid Atlantic, AS220, BYO Printshop and Second State Press. The 45 Record Project is a print exchange and I am one of the six Pyramid Atlantic participating artists. 'Sphere' is the second exhibition. The show, to be hosted at Vigilante Coffee, is a collection of prints by Pyramid Atlantic artists. Ink It Up! is going to be a fantastic event. For more information and the full schedule visit the website.

In addition to the print symposium, I've been learning a lot of new things. I attended a soft-ground etching and drypoint workshop taught by Jake Muirhead. And then there is the ongoing lithography workshop. As part of my internship I am awarded one free workshop of my choice, and I signed up for a lithography class taught by Melissa Ezelle. I have been curious about this artform for a long time and I am thrilled to be finally learning it. I also did some book binding under the tutelage of book artist Linda Rollins. Great fun.

Some photographs from PAAC follow. Enjoy!

soft ground etching and dry point

polishing the stone for lithography

drawing on the litho stone

book binding

PAAC internship weeks 2 and 3

It's been three weeks since I began my internship at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center (PAAC). My orientation to the different studios is still on, and I've been busy helping out in prepping for workshops, making pulp for paper making, putting up artworks for an exhibition etc.  I just made my first batch of paper using fabric (I will post photos soon.) I have also started some screen printing and etching experiments. It’s good to be back in the print room.

making paper with a mould and deckle 

the paper press and drying rack

working on the plate

first proofs 

screen printing