Book Winter

I made all these books in Decebmer!

Often during the winter I have a difficult time responding creatively to the things affecting me. This can lead to the calm part of my artistic cycle that continues through the year. If ever there were a sign that I am a creature of warmth and daylight it is that my love of summer is sincere. As weather turns warmer and daylight hours extend I am more energized and productive.

Orange, grey and blue? Oh yes, it's lovely.

At the start of the New Year I was struck by this beautiful schedule by Julia Kostreva. This color theme was one I hadn't seen before and I decided I liked it so much I would make a journal to match it!

Because I've pretty hard on the books I actually use I decided to use a library-grade linen book cloth and some beautiful acrylic paste-papers I decorated years ago with Katy Govan while she was still at the Black Rock Press. I believe Megan Berner, a teacher of photography at UNR, lead the group that time and Katy showed us how to use the paper as book cover. I don't have much of this paper left but I like it a lot! To stay frugal with such powerful paper is hard for me, but this journal deserved the punch up some orange and gold glittered blue would give it! I decided to do most of the spine reinforcement with cloth and the paper just on the front cover. Though the colors don't match my schedule perfectly they are pretty close and make a lovely pair.

Upcoming Show - Foxy Olive April 2013

As always, keep on keepin' on with my Currents tab to find out what I have coming up next.

This month I'll be showing a collection of skull related prints at the Foxy Olive in downtown Reno just off Lake St. Thanks go out to the lovely Katie Berdan, art coordinator for the Foxy Olive.

Calavera from Las Calacas II in 2012

The show will feature work I've produced over the last several years including my submission (pictured) to the beloved La Calacas Print Exchange curated by Carlos Barbarena, viscosity prints from my time at the now closed Oxbow Press, and relief prints from the incredibly successful Belt and Braces show coordinated by Alana Berglund. Though this show will not have new work it will be an exciting chance to see all the work I've done for the last several years all in the same room!

Please be aware that the Foxy Olive, excellent example of Reno bar culture that it is, is a smoking location. If you are sensitive to smoke please be aware.

More Time Wasting?!

Perhaps, perhaps not! I've been doing a thing or two and have a show coming up in April, check Current for more information, in the interim I'm working with some new imagery. As much as I love anatomy and skulls they've only ever felt like a space to stop and think for awhile. They're a great jumping-off point and will probably continue to feature in my work for the foreseeable future.

For now here is a block I carved. Yes it's SafetyKut, don't judge me it's all I had on hand. This design is rather appealing to me for purely aesthetic reasons, but also because I feel continuity and flow.
It's a small block but has potential. Maybe I'll continue to work with this for the next body of work I'm completing.

 

*Only recently (3/18/13) has it come to my attention that my images were not loading. My apologies. Have some pretty pictures and expect a few more soon. -R

Projects New and Old!

Sometimes, let's be honest - most of the time - what I need to get my inspiration up and running is a simple drawing, request, or project. When I come up with these ideas on my own I tend not to follow through as faithfully as I should. Friends and family created plans get more devotion which, as they can attest, could use improvement but are still fulfilled!

Deadlines are a necessity for me if I intend to accomplish any serious work.

If you enjoy video gaming check out my friend Naz's latest project: The Pink Orangutang channel on Youtube. I am doing my best to assist with what I can as it is requested from logos, to images and possibly basic animation in the future. I'm less than perfect but he's creating some neat things and has begun updating videos on Mondays. This is where some of my creative time has gone in the last couple months, so keep checking as new things are posted and more of my work is apparent.

Shocking, Just Shocking

It's been far too long since I updated, that being said not much has happened during that time. Happily I taught a couple of classes at the Nevada Museum of Art and assisted with the Nevada Chamber Music Festival put on by the folks at Reno Chamber Orchestra.  Please check my Workshops tab to find out about upcoming classes at the Museum and elsewhere. I also have an opening scheduled in April. Come back for updates regarding that event soon.

Skeleton sketch from last fall

As I explain to those with enough time to sit down and enough tolerance to listen to my ranting, art production seems to be connected to a cycle of loathing what work I have recently created, deciding I should probably destroy all of it, and then starting over. That being said I frequently come back to the same themes over and over again.
Printmaking is so much fun. Every time I get a chance to do it I remember how much I love the process, the materials, and watching my work come to fruition (whether I like it or not.) Thanks, again and again, to the Inklings group, the Inkheads printmakers, and those wonderful teachers who gave me the tools I have today.

SafetyKut Relief print from the class I taught.

There are wheels turning and projects in place but few of them are well defined. For now, enjoy this picture from my sketchbook and my most recent print from the Valentines Relief class I taught this past weekend and come back soon to learn about more Adventures in Racheland!

Ghost Hard

Bat Lady loves the darkness!

Were you able to see my work at the Inkhead's Ghost Hard group show at Sierra Tap House this October? They were kind enough to hold the Inkhead's last annual Halloween show. Yes, sad news indeed, the Inkheads are no longer going to show together - at least for the forseeable future. This doesn't mean that we won't meet up to poke fun, and other things, at each other, discuss our work, or our laziness, and generally promote better art in the city of Reno. We'll just do it for fun.

My little Skelly in the gold frame!

There's another one!

And another one!

Aww, there's the last guy right there!

Here are a couple shots of my work, sorry for the poor lighting - the Sierra Tap House is, in fact, a bar. They did a nice job with the work, however, and I'd be pleased to recommend them yet again.

All of my framed Skellytons will be available for purchase at the Indie Reno Holiday Show. Bat Lady prints will also be available for very reasonable prices! I will also be showing some of the work that was part of Belt and Braces. 

Book Workshop

This past October I was lucky enough to take a course from Lisa Cheney-Jorgensen, a very talented and friendly book artist currently residing in Idaho. She bravely journeyed south to Reno to hold a two day intensive on completing a multiple-signature artist book sewn on tapes and with headband technique. For those of you to whom that was a bunch of mumbo-jumbo take a look at the pictures below. 

Alphonse inspecting the new addition to our library and providing scale.

First off we bound our book with lovely Stonehenge watercolor paper, a nice solid 180lb which is thick but not quite as pillowy as a 220lb. This is a versatile paper great for inking, drawing, painting, watercolor, guache, and many other mixed media. I myself am not much of a mixed media artist but I do love ink and that's a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to machine milled paper. Stonehenge is a cotton fiber blend which gives it both longer fibers, therefore more durability, and more cushion to absorb the liquids I'll be inflicting upon her pages.

Fantastic pattern, very large, great for a big book like this.

The paper I chose for the cover is a multi-color block print gift wrap on a lokta-like substance. It's label claimed it was acid-free but even if that was untrue the color and pattern were so appealing I'd've used it anyway. I'm a particular fan of the floral motif interspersed with gold accents. Bling isn't really my style but gild, apparently, is. Since purchasing this paper I've neglected to use it because it was so pretty and I felt it deserved more than to be used as a disposable cover-up for someone else.

Love that lokta, and the thread!

Each signature's spine is strengthened by the addition of decorative paper. I used a Thai lokta marbled green and gold. I had brought a fantastic orange one as well but ended up selecting only the green. I felt that paper worked with the colors of the cover paper and the orange competed. In the shot above we can get a fair view of the headband - the waxed linen thread bridging the head of the cover in a lovely burgundy and supplying a little extra support and visual interest for the signatures and binding. This sewing technique was very difficult to understand but once mastered quite efficient. As much as I love the look of the headbands I don't think they'll be a regularly appearing technique. They take more time than the binding of the book itself and twice the thread. That being said I may keep it in my toolbox for special commissions or friend and family gifts instead of trying to sell them for profit.

Nice shot of the binding threads.

This is the best shot of the binding. The yellow ribbon are the "tapes" beneath the blue waxed linen thread and the beads with which we embellished the binding. Sewing on a "tape" lends further stability to a multiple signature binding than just the binding threads themselves.  What makes this an "artist book"? Well, for one it was created by an artist. Being bound, folded, and cased in by hand makes a difference, but the purpose is also to become a piece of art. My intention is to fill those pages with images, inspiration, and even finished work. Who knows if I'll ever do that, it's a very nice piece and during class we all discussed that we appreciated the books so much we didn't want to sully our newly pressed pages with art like ours.

In total it took over fifteen hours to bind the paper, complete the covers, attach the tapes, secure the beads, and strengthen and fold the signatures. It took another five hours to complete the head bands, and a few more to add finishing touches. Worthy of pride and praise, this book may be used only as an example for future projects but I'm glad to have completed it. I intend to complete several more for the holiday season, should time allow, but not for sale. A huge thanks to Lisa for making the trip down and bringing extra patience with her, to Candace Nicol for hosting the class, to my friends Penny and Carol for giving me a great deal on their beautiful hand made glass beads, and the lovely group of people who made up this weekend class.

You can buy books similar to this one as well as cards, prints, and framed art at the Indie Reno Holiday Show in just a couple of weeks! Free swag for the first 25 shoppers continues with the Indie Reno tradition, and we'll be full of cheer and beautiful locally hand made goods this year. I'd love to see you there! Don't forget to like Indie Reno on Facebook to keep up to date on our events.