monk meditates

I write this post from Columbia, Maryland where Sandeep and I have relocated. After the desert of Arizona, we are now experiencing a different landscape. Here we see green grass everywhere and tall lush trees. Butterflies, fireflies and the occasional deer grazing. Very beautiful.

Now for the real subject of this post. Before we left for Columbia I was working on a couple of things at The Drawing Studio print lab. One was a project that Sandeep commissioned. He wanted a print made of Thelonious Monk. 'Round Midnight? Straight, No Chaser?

I thought it over and decided that using the solar plate technique would be the best approach. The first stage was sketching. I found a photograph of Monk, sketched it, adding piano keys and accentuated smoke. Once the sketch was ready, I had to transfer the sketch to a solar plate. This was accomplished by transferring the drawing on to a transparency using a copying machine. The transparency was then placed on a solar plate, and together they went into a light box. The solarplate was exposed to UV light and in a short while the plate was then ready for inking. For this piece I used an oil based ink, India red with black. I then used a traditional press to create the print. I was very happy with the outcome and so was Sandeep.

monk meditates, A/P solar plate, 8x10", ©2013 priya vadhyar

Here are images of the sketch and the solar plate post UV exposure.

monk, the sketch

solar plate, post UV exposur

impressions - printmaking exhibit at TDS

I have been learning printmaking at The Drawing Studio for a few months now. Printmaking is something I've wanted to learn for a long long time, but I didn't have access to a print lab till recently. Now that I had access, I signed up real quick. In the non-toxic intaglio class taught by Jennifer Clarke and Thomas Lindell (and a couple of sessions by Rebecca Bushner) I tried my hand at hard ground and soft ground etching, solarplate, image-on and cyanotype. In the intaglio open lab, I have been learning from Jennifer Clarke the art of making a mezzotint (a more detailed post on mezzotints coming up soon). And in a lino-cut work group I have been learning to make linoleum prints with Lynn Fleischman. 

It's been fascinating to learn processes so different from painting. Printmaking requires a different way of thinking - in terms of stages and processes, in negative and positive. The processes require one to be methodical and disciplined. The tools are many and different; the ferric chloride for etching, the copper plates, the UV light boxes, the 'rocker', the brayers, the 'blankets', the inks, the floor wax, the soy sauce (I'm not kidding) and the press with it's big wheel and heavy roller are just some of the things that make up a print lab. But more importantly, what makes a printlab is the community of printmakers. There is a wonderful energy in the lab, all the printmakers doing their thing and solving printmaking problems together. I've had a great time learning from them all, seeing the work they do. I will post more about the print lab soon - there's just so much to say! In the meantime, here are are two prints - both in a printmaking exhibition at The Drawing Studio that opens May 4th (6-8pm). The first print titled 'First Light' is a mezzotint. The second called  'Desert Song' was made with a solarplate. The show aims to educate the public about printmaking and will also include demonstrations. The exhibition features fantastic works by very talented artists, and includes a wide array of printmaking techniques. Here is the link to more information about the exhibition.

first light, A/P mezzotint, 5x6" ©2013 priya vadhyar

desert song, A/P solarplate, 4x5" ©2013 priya vadhyar

inner city in juried show

My painting Inner City has been accepted for a juried show titled 'Sanctuary through Partnership: A Collaboration Featuring Flight', which has been organised in association with the International Rescue Committee (IRC), the Tucson Jewish Community Center, the Tucson Museum of Art and The Drawing Studio.

As the IRC mentions on its website: The group show is the result of a year long conversation about the meaning of sanctuary for the world's most vulnerable. The theme stems from the IRC's Flight exhibit, a special portfolio of works by twelve 20th century masters like Alexander Calder, Marc Chagall, Joan Miró and Robert Motherwell, representing their interpretation of the struggle of those who flee from their homes in search of freedom. The collection was organised by Varian Fry, an IRC representative in France during World War II, who rescued over 2000 writers, artists, intellectuals and other refugees who were being targeted by the Nazis.*

The exhibition will be held at the Tucson Jewish Community Center Fine Art Gallery, starting March 15th until April 16th, and will be placed alongside the Flight exhibit. The opening is on March 17th. Also part of the schedule is a panel discussion with artists and Jeffrey Cornish, Executive Director of the IRC on March 24th.

inner city, acrylic on canvas, 30x40" ©2013 priya vadhyar

*source: The International Rescue Committee

abstraction and the virtue of letting go

inner city, acrylics on canvas, 30x40" ©2013 priya vadhyar

For the last few months I have been taking classes at The Drawing Studio. The one that began late in October was called Xtreme Painting: Looking for Dragon Smoke, an abstracts-in-acrylics class taught by Josh Goldberg. Taught against the backdrop of Eastern philosophy, Xtreme Painting looks at the act of painting and the expression of a non-representational language.

On the first day of class, Josh asked us to stand in front of our fresh canvases without a plan and empty of thought. As we began, he asked us to be spontaneous, and let go of the idea of control. Over the weeks, we were encouraged to be unattached and non-judgmental. We were to look at the marks objectively and act according to what the painting required. Looking critically at the composition, the colour and the direction of brush strokes, while keeping the painting fresh were just some of the lessons we learned with each session. We were to be alert to accidents/ opportunities that arise, and look for clues that might suggest the next move. Over the next eight weeks, we learned to trust ourselves, see our work and let our inner abstraction find expression.

What was interesting was learning to be completely present in the act of painting without the distractions of the ego, judgement and past/future considerations. Complete involvement in any process can be a tough hill to climb if we are too eager to reach. And yet that's exactly what's required for true expression.

To learn more about this way of painting I'm now taking the second part of this class (Xtreme Painting: Riding the Dragon). Inner City is one of the paintings I've completed.

home from the gala exhibition - david andrés etching

The Drawing Studio (TDS) gala on Friday night was such fun. There was music and wine and hors d'oeuvres, people mingled, sat around the many tables in the studios, looked at the gala exhibition and made their lists. And then when numbers were being called out, people waited eagerly and then hurriedly (but politely) made their way hoping to get the artwork that spoke to them the most. By the end of the evening, everywhere were happy faces, holding the artwork they chose.

And I was one of them. The Drawing Studio generously gave me a ticket to the event (as a volunteer) and therefore the opportunity to take home an artwork. When my number was called, I went to the piece that I wanted the most - a print by David Andrés. The artwork is a solar polymer etching of a star fish titled 'Estrella Maris - Bahia San Pedro Mexico'. And here is the image of this beautiful piece full of texture and mystery - the star of the sea.

estrella maris - bahia san pedro mexico, solar polymer etching, 8x10", 2008 david andrés

(detail) estrella maris - bahia san pedro mexico, solar polymer etching, 8x10", 2008 david andrés

My artworks in the gala (see earlier post) found happy homes too. 'In the Moonlight' was selected by TDS faculty Sherry Bryant and 'On a Grey Note' was the choice of Lori Ryder, who is an artist and also the Director of Volunteers and Membership at TDS. I am glad that these two lovely ladies have my work. Thank you Sherry and Lori!