Reduction Cut - her name is december

The Holland Project, a local non-profit organization in Reno, Nevada that promotes artistic and musical events for young people, began the Holland Editions project about two years ago. This will be their third year producing the Holland Edition; a collection of prints by 12 artists in the Reno area each one featured in it's own month. Megan Berner, a printmaker and the organizer of this project as well as a board member of the Holland Project, was kind enough to invite me to participate in this years print portfolio.

As often happens I came up with a beautiful concept very soon but wasn't sure exactly how I would create it. There are so many options with printmaking and each method has pros and cons. The original idea called for creating a copper plate etching and then doing a drypoint and monotype on top to get some extra color and detail. Instead I ended up at the Black Rock Press with one mounted linoleum board and a solution - reduction cut block printing.

"her name is december" by Rachel Kaiser

Thanks to Megan Berner for the photo.

Relief is very direct. There is less process than with most intaglio techniques when creating wood or linoleum blocks. A reduction cut, sometimes called a "suicide cut", was a technique used by Pablo Picasso among other artists to achieve multiple colors from the same block instead of multiple blocks. Beginning with the first, lightest color, make the entire edition of prints. Then cut into the block a second time and print the entire edition again, rinse and repeat for the number of colors the image contains. For myself there is usually a  10-15% loss when creating multiple color prints, and that was true this time as well. The only way to get a copy of this print is to purchase the Holland Editions Portfolio. I must say I like it very much and hope to continue creating work like this in the future.

Inexpert photo by Rachel, see a few more details in this one.

Free Swag!

Come early to the Indie Reno Holiday Craft Fair and get a free bag of goodies from all our vendors! Only the first 25 will get this sweet reward so don't delay - mark your calendar for NEXT SUNDAY!

Only a few days from now the Indie Reno Holiday Craft Fair will take place!  Many local artists will be selling their items from mosaics, jewelry and children's clothing to books, tote bags, and henna designs. This is a great opportunity to give back to the community and support local artists.

It's the happiest season of all - the Holiday Season! My family and friends are busy people and though we all make time to get together throughout the year there is something special about keeping the spirit with the ones you love. No matter what faith you hold dear the holidays are a good excuse to make merry, lavish your friends with goodies, and bake that extra pie.

Paper Cutting

Came across the lovely work of Annie Vought at Design*Sponge  last week and was thoroughly impressed. Her letters are an intense combination of imagery, display and word power. The lights from above showcase both the precise paper cutting and the thin nature of her material. Though she has shifted to letters I'm also a fan of her older work, the heart in particular which graphically delineates the organ without making it seem fleshy or raw.

Heart by Annie Vought 2005

Not everyone has former students of their father come up to them and ask "So was he, like, a spy or something?" when they realize who, exactly, your father is. To me this is not uncommon. No, my father has never been involved in espionage. He did speak Russian, and he did work for the government during the late 1980's and 1990's writing about communist countries like the U.S.S.R. and China for congress.

Phillip Kaiser, amazing educator/my dad

But what's more important is that now he uses that knowledge to teach young people about their own potential to influence their country through government. He is a high school teacher. I was very proud to find my dad's picture and an article about his experiences working for the U.S. Government in the local Reno News & Review today. He, Phillip, and my mother, Susan, have always held education in the highest esteem and passed their love of it to me. If all I can do to repay them, for how they have helped me throughout this life, is say "thank you" then here it is - thanks for being wonderful, ethical, passionate people and raising me to be the same. I am very lucky to have such supportive and intelligent people for parents. Their stories give me the inspiration to follow my dreams and the conviction to believe in my own mind and opinions.

Calacas Update!

It's so refreshing to see your art in new locations. I am so glad I participated in Las Calacas International Print Exchange, the print was beautiful and now my image is traveling to Nicaragua! So many amazing artists participated, including Wendy Willis who I was lucky to meet in person at the Rocky Mountain Printmaking Alliance this past April. My portfolio of prints from this exchange is still winging it's way to me across the country through the United States Postal Service, but there have been many amazing updates from different locations across America and Central America as the exhibition prints go up for display. 

Las Calacas Submission

My image is a copper plate etching and aquatint. A framed proof of this print is for sale at L'gallery in the 720 Tahoe Street studios. Head down soon to see my art in person. All purchases support student travel!
Under the dancing Diablo's trident you can see my print peeking out from the wall. How cool, my art is in another country!

Dia de los Muertos Festival

Also just received my International Print Exchange portfolio from Green Door Press. My collection is lovely, though I admit being partial to a lovely intaglio and cine colle piece with beautiful line work illustrating a man slowly losing his head. It's pinned up on my makeshift cork board!

Ember

Want to see my art in person? Prints of mine are on display at L'gallery at 720 Tahoe Street in Reno, Nevada until the end of November as part of the Haunted show put on by the Inkheads printmaking group. There are some breathtaking prints at very reasonable prices for sale at this gallery, most of the proceeds will fund a student's trip to the Southern Graphics Conference in March of 2012.

November is underway and I have had so much on my plate I haven't been updating as much as I like. I am the newly minted captain of my local Etsy team which has been re-named the Indie Reno team! Our lovely website www.indiereno.org has all kinds of information about our team, the next craft fair, and what we do both online and in Reno, Nevada. Thanks to David for being our bril webmaster!

FREE SWAG for the first 25 shoppers!

The Indie Reno Holiday Craft Fair isn't my next show, but it will be the first show I have a large hand in organizing. With the help of the indefatigable Shelly of Zizzies and Izzies, Heather of Chickadee Shop, and Erin of Erin Donnelley-Ellis I am taking leadership of my team as much as I can and bringing together our second independent holiday-themed craft fair. Our event will feature beautiful handmade art, clothing, prints, cards, tote bags, stuffed animals, embroidery, knit accessories, purses, feather adornments, geek items, and more. Vendors will have items in a variety of price ranges. Please visit the Indie Reno website to look at some of the fantastic shops that will be joining us for this fair. Last year we had almost 50 people waiting in line before our opening to get free swag and first pick of the many items inside. We even got a wonderful write up in the local Reno News & Review!

The High Desert Montessorri School will be hosting the Friends of HDMS Craft Fair on Saturday, November 12th. This wonderful school is an alternative educational environment with small class sizes and a different approach to learning environments and ideas for all ages. The Friends of HDMS Craft Fair will be held in their school at 2005 Silverada Boulevard in Reno, Nevada and will be open from 10am until 4pm. If you enjoy intimate craft shows with focused and well informed vendors and volunteers, like the Indie Reno Craft Fairs, then I hope to see you on the 12th.

A new art studio is opening down on Dickerson Road! The Wedge Ceramics Studio will be taking applications for members and resident artists as well as workshops. The proprietors are local, very knowledgeable and live close by. The Wedge is a great place to relax, work on your pottery, and partake in a community of other artists
.

drawing with a nib pen can be beautiful

Your bottle caps await!

Fall workshops at the Nevada Museum of Art are beginning to fill - please be sure to contact them as soon as possible to secure your place in Bottle Cap Creations (Saturday, November 12th), Beginning Book Binding (Saturday, December 3rd), and Pen and Ink Drawing

(Saturday, December 10th)!

In addition to all of this I am in the middle of creating my edition for the Holland Editions printing project, the cities of the world print exchange, and I am now employed full time. Please bear with me as I organize all of these changes and keep watching for more frequent updates as I accomplish these goals.

Words as Art

Fall is going to be one fun season this year! Chock full of workshops, classes, craft fairs and more I will also be continuing to develop my portfolio. Thankfully my work seems to be developing fairly naturally. One of the things I'm working on is calligraphy. After studying typesetting in college, and reading up on typography and design my abecedarian fascination continues in the world of handwriting.

There is an intimate je ne se quois about hand written letters, addresses and notes. An amalgam of ourselves, our families and our instructors the way we write tells a story. Who we are, how we communicate and how we educate ourselves are all made clear in a simple scribble. Working in an office and having friends who live far away means that I am lucky enough to be in the path of a lot of mail. Only occasionally do I find hand addressed envelopes or letters in my work but at home they are touchingly constant. I have saved almost every piece of correspondence I have received meaning one of my two desks is half full of empty envelopes and half full of words reminding me of graduations, birthdays, and occasions long past.

Calligraphy is not handwriting. Calligraphy is conforming the hand to reflect a certain style then adding a bit of yourself for flavor.

typesetting at Black Rock Press

 Typesetting is even more obedient in it's visual vocabulary. Yet type is so regular the organizer cannot help but add themselves to the equation even if it is through exactitude. Both of these art forms involve the power of declaration and literacy. A viewer is given no choice when exposed to calligraphic or type set art, they are as compelled to read into the piece literally as they are to reading stop signs and billboards. Literate people are subconsciously cued to understand or at least try to understand what they recognize as language. Even when printed in a mirror image or upside down people will tilt their heads or murmur to themselves as they try to read what is printed on the page. 

Denis Brown's A Thousand Wishes Series- calligraphy engraved in glass

 It takes talent and ingenuity to use words without literal expression. The amazing Denis Brown has developed many different styles of calligraphy full of energy. His website, Quill Skill, shows his traditional training and conventional hands next to some beautiful experimental work such as his big scale, performance and glass calligraphy. How can an art form so different from your own influence your work? What tools or materials do you "traditionally" and why?