after a very long hiatus, i am beginning to create wonderful things again... or at least i think they are wonderful. silkscreens and woodcuts and preparing to go to SGC (southern graphics council) this year. new scanner, new epson printer, new paints, new friends, new inspirations.

Note this user pic.
its a gum print. a photographic image using watercolor as a light sensitve material...

don't think this is a depart from printmaking, but i might be veering away slightly for awhile. my love for gum printing was rekindled when i recieved a question about it at work.

i think i am going to go into a buisness adventure with alternative process portraiture. i am crazy, yes...

need to move out of my studio this next week, i'm going to wait until ben comes home so he can help me however. we move into our new house around the first of july. i am going to save up to buy a mini press from D.S., since all my prints are quite small, anyway. i don't know. maybe i wont. eeiieeiioo.

i haven't written in here for awhile. art has been on hold. i got my wisdom teeth out and that has been taking up most of my time, i've been on pain medication and i've also been knitting a lot.

Astrid left the studio because she needed one closer to her house, so now she and Caley share one. i haven't been to mine in a while. the last time was last week, Jodie and i went there for a few hours and had a lovely time. i think i am going to move out of there mid summer however. my reasons are:
a) the whole point of getting a studio was that i like to work around people. i always made plans to go with Astrid and we would work together, which was really nice. now that shes gone...
b) i am SO not into the first thursday scene. AT ALL. i don't like the people and i don't like the work that is up. realize that this is a big generalization.
c) parking in pioneer square is expensive
d) i'm moving to a house with room for me to have a space to work.
e) i'm trying to do more printmaking right now and i would rather save my money to buy a good 14" rubber roller. yes please. this is a 300 dollar investment. yikes.

so next first thursday was supposed to be Dave's turn at showing, but he doesn't think he is going to have enough work.
so i am embarking on a crazy project.
i am going to do as many little pencil drawings as possible and pin them all to one wall. some will have a little bit of watercolor, most will just be insanity times 3.

Also, last week i finished the two encaustic paintings i've been working on for awhile: the self portrait and the bear sounds. i am pretty excited about them. i think its funny how different people react to them. Astrid LOVES them because she says she never knew i knew how to use color in that way, and that they are going to go farther than my prints. The other response i got was "yeah its alright i guess." ha ha funny how completly different everybody's opinions are.

last night (Tuesday April 11) was the first in the tuesday night lecture series that Francine is starting to have at the gallery. Olivia Britt (who is showing in the upstairs gallery until April 30th) makes oil paintings that are very sculptural, many many thick layers of paint which are then carved into, painted again, cut out, moved around, usually an inch or more of paint off of the canvas. Her use of colors and shapes is beautifully organic and very though invoking, or so i thought.
But yesterday, there was an informal talk about her work in the upstairs gallery. I was absolutly amazed at how articulate and eloquent she was when talking about her work, yet funny at the same time. its funny how when somebody talks about their work it can either make you love it or hate it. her talking about it made me notice some things about it that i hadn't seen, and i definatly like it more now.
anyway. go see the show if you havent already. Caryn Friedlander is showing downstairs and her work is absolutly breathtaking, also. Francine Seders Gallery, 6701 Greenwood Ave N, Seattle.

we had our first first thursday in our new studio last thursday. we lucked out; on our floor there was this crazy erotic art/burlesque show, so we got a TON of traffic, so i hear, more than usual. there were a lot of people dressed up in latex and leather and whips and stuff... but anyway. Astrid and i had work up, Dave is going to have work up next first thursday. Something i realized while showing with Astrid, is that the people who like to look at her work are the type of people that like to talk talk talk about work, and the people who like to look at mine are the people who like to call in their friends and giggle. so, a very diversified crowd. (also, lets take into consideration that Astrid and i produce COMPLETLY different work, both in materials and concept.)
Basically, it was an awesome time. We both had people who were very interested, and almost all my buisness cards are gone, which is a good sign... except now i have to make more, eep!
i didn't get a chance to look around at the other work too much, was trying to stay in the studio as much as possible. the one time i went downstairs to take a break (and talk shop with Travis) i missed somebody who was VERY interested in my polaroid resin pieces. note to self: DONT LEAVE!
anyway, the next first thursday is May 4th, we'll all be there again, Dave will be taking the walls, i'll probably have stuff on my desk again. Please come and support us! i'm hoping to have all our information posted on the door if you stop by when we're not there. 619 Western in Pioneer Square, we are called tricycle studio. on the fourth floor, behind the green door!

so we moved into our new studio space! we are going to have things up for this first thursday, even though the space might still be a little discombobulated. and i am hanging old framed prints from my bfa show. oh well, new audience. the space itself is really inspiring. i don't like working by myself AT ALL and so i think this environment will be very beneficial for me. also, then i have my completly seperate workspace and also my place to escape from home, if need be.
so, come visit us! this thursday, 619 Western, 4th floor. we are called tricycle studio. Dave, Astrid, and i. look for the bright green door.

i finally gave Dianne the piece that she bought from me at the Bemis show. She sounded a little irritated on the phone but was fine with it when i got there. She is doing the coolest thing: her daughter is 2 years old. Every year for her birthday she is going to buy her a piece of artwork, so that when shes old enough to appreciate it, she will have amassed a huge collection. i think that is quite possibly the coolest thing ever. She chose my piece because it was childlike, yet would reveal itself later on. She also loves printmaking, so i'm going to keep her updated on whenever i get prints done.
Studio in pioneer square is definatly happening, i'm really excited about that. Unfortunatly i have to find a second job in order to afford it. meaning i wont have very much time to use it. i'm sure it will work itself out. :)

and so, in the past month, i have:
worked on 2 etching plates
started dating someone who really inspires me
decided to join dave (with astrid) in a studio in pioneer square, with first thursday traffic!
almost filled a sketchbook
almost finished a website for my pops
almost perfected my encaustic technique.

so the art life is going well! pictures later. love.

this past saturday was the show at the Bemis building. it was such an amazingly awesome success, i think. on Thursday Astrid and i went over to hang our pieces. i was not too excited about my spot at first... it was in the corner, and the thermostat had as much priority as my tags did. but, when everything was up, it looked pretty good, if i do say so myself.
so, on Saturday, we headed over (we being Astrid, Caley, Phil (who was visiting for the weekend,) and myself) around 8.30, and there were already a lot of people there. but goodness gracious, by the time we left (which was around, oh, 11?) THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE THERE. it was AMAZING. and all my best friends showed up, even in their various degrees of uncomfortableness and sickness. what sweethearts.
and then, i sold a piece! a little square resin painting for 135 bucks. i like selling stuff for cheap. now i can afford copper and wood to make more prints.
i am going to work towards having a show.
this show will be all prints. because i don't do enough prints.
i really need my own press. Sev Shoon is great and all, i really like Dionne and the way the studio is set up. but its not... comfortable. to work in. i guess i just miss the shop at school.
i have also decided that i am going to apply to grad school for fall 2007. for printmaking. i need to get my ass in gear and produce some work. i am lazy. it is true.
i also need to start applying for scholarships NOW.

i havent been doing much art the past couple of days. i worked a little bit on my encaustic piece this weekend. i am going to go and try to print that woodblock again today, or else, i am just going to hang the wood!. i've mostly been working on my website because my trial version of Adobe Golive expires, um, today. so. i need to finish that.
i made a horrible mistake on one of my paintings, i covered it with a gel that i thought would dry clear, but i guess i mixed it in with white, because IT AINT CLEAR. so i've been ruining my nails attempting to peel it off. have to do one more resin pour before thursday when we hang for the bemis show.


astrid put her piece on the card because it had wrestlers on it before.

i prepared 4 more tags for the painting yesterday afternoon. i used a heavy gel with a little bit of color . since the tags are made of cardboard i didn't make them opaque, i want the brown to show through. i also got upwards of a hundred little sticks of matboard, i think i will acrylic or encaustic over them, should be awesome, yes. i love free stuff.

i found this website, boygirlparty.com, i really like the way she uses the curvy shapes in the clouds and in the bird wings, i did a couple sketches like that, they failed at life. hers are good too. and she also paints on tags! WAY TO GO PAINTING ON TAGS!
in other news
the octopus encaustic is going AMAZING. Astrid says "it looks fucking awesome, but its not done yet!" okay. i like what she is doing too.

Casey is in a show this weekend (saturday the 11th) at COCA, you should go see it.
and also, the bemis show is on February 18th!!!! come at 8pm 3rd floor!

i went to Sev Shoon to print a woodblock the other day. what a failure. of course, i was interrupted by an important phone call and also a class was coming in at 6. so. i pulled about 5 proofs, 3 on kraft and 2 on Rives BFK. no matter what. not enough ink and not enough pressure is what it looked like, but i had SO much ink and SO much pressure on there. so. that wasn't it. i think i need to shellac the wood one more time. if that doesnt solve the problem then WHATEVER WOODBLOCK, you are becoming a substrate for encaustics.
i am really happy with my newest encaustic piece. its funny. Astrid and i are working on our artwork together, but to see them side by side... well, they are so different. did we really get our educations at the same place? she is so wonderful at depicting a figure or person in an abstract, but very... figurative way? i'm not sure how to describe it. OH WELL COME TO THE SHOW AT THE BEMIS and you can see how different our works are side by side.
anyway. Encaustics have brought new inspirations for both of us. i need to perfect my pouring of the wax however. i want a perfectly even, clean, clear layer inbetween. easy to get with resin. not so easy with BOILING HOT WAX AHHHHH
anyway i'll post new sketches and pieces later tonight :)

my dreams have been full of wax. i didn't want to go to sleep last night because i wanted to keep on painting. i am quite excited about my newest piece, its two octopus's (octopi?) one is squirting hearts and the other is squirting ink and its called "you don't seem to love me as much as you used to," the wax is the perfect medium for it.

my first encaustic, as modeled by Astrid.
okay, so its not amazing, but it i think its pretty fucking good for a first try.



i still need to buff it down. but HEY AWESOME!

i already own a heat gun! and a temperature controlled griddle! is life good or what?

by the way, if you don't have a livejournal and are commenting, i would love it if you would leave your name, unless you want it to be anonymous... thanks nathan for adding to your note, i was racking my brain trying to think of who that was. now i have about 4 people commenting on a regular basis without lj's on both my journals, so, it would be appreciated, thank you kindly!

i went to my first first thursday last night, weird how i have lived in Seattle almost my entire life and have been immersed in the art culture, yet have never done anything more than 1 Ballard art walk. so what changed things? my dear friend Casey had 2 paintings hung in a student show in the D'Adamo-Woltz gallery. hey fancy gallery. i felt appropriate wearing high heels, lets put it that way. Jodie and i went down to Pioneer Square around 6.30. apparently, because of the cold and rain, it was deserted, but it seemed like there were plenty of people there to me, except the square was devoid of the usual vendors and crazies, so i am told. i'll have to go again on a not rainy awful night.
Casey's paintings were beautiful, as they always are. He explained his whole concept to me in a 3 hour marathon of coffee and soup at Minnies a few months ago, you should ask him about them, it is very interesting.
We also went next door to the Grover-Thurston gallery, where the main show was Anne Siems. i can say with almost full conviction that i liked those paintings. Jodie pointed out that she must have gotten bored painting almost the same thing over and over again, i thought it was appropriate however. the texture of the mixed media (was encaustic involved?) was beautiful, and all the little girl/doll/face/things had freckles, which made me like them even more, for some reason.
Unfortunatly, while standing in that gallery, i suddenly became very very sick. i didn't throw up thank goodness, but i felt like i was about to faint, and i got that weird icky feeling in my jaw. so i didn't get to inspect the rest of the show very carefully. in fact, we left after that, and didn't get a chance to go to any of the other buildings. we were both going to go up to the Pretty Parlor on Capitol Hill, because a friend of Amy's was having a fashion trunk show, but i just dropped Jodie off and headed home.
but anyway, just that little taste of downtown was enough to make me want to go every month. or more often. Astrid and i, as soon as she is employed again, and i have my finances figured out, we are going to try to rent a studio down there. We decided this because Caley is currently doing some work in the Tashiro Kaplan building and found a couple spaces for a small expense, relativly.
oh art. you are pretty and make me faint.

i am so inspired by my little prize. my R&F encaustic set is so great, thank you Daniel Smith for having morale-boosting contests, even if its not actually money... well, yes, i won 30 dollars in gift certificates too, with those i bought blotters and linoleum, and the book "The Art of Encaustic Painting" by Joanne Mattera. next paycheck. going to kmart and getting a griddle and a muffin tin. buying beeswax and damar crystals. buying brushes and wood. and i am going to make the most beautiful encaustic paintings you have ever seen. hells yes. i am full of ideas. we know how much i love layers and transluscence and the smell of beeswax...

wow! okay! compare these two pieces:
to

first one is before resin, second one after 2 layers of resin and paint.
i am so glad i am going this route.

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so this is what i do instead of working when i am at work. because i should be of course learning the product when i am not working. yay daniel smith watercolors.

i went to sev shoon yesterday and met with Dionne, she is the cutest woman ever. Nothing much has changed since i last went there, except they have the litho press set up (!!!) for plate litho, BUT she still has 3 stones just hanging out, that i am welcome to go to the UW to grain and use! AWESOME. so, maybe you'll see a stone litho from me sometime soon!
other news in the art world of emily,
i have been drawing a lot of sea animals. we all know that i LOVE squids. but this has moved to jellyfish, octopus, starfish, seahorses, etc... usually hanging out with my characters or being on their heads. what is wrong with me. latest drawing is titled "say yes to octopus hat" where a lady has a huge blue ringed octopus on her head. yes i know they are usually very small, but maybe my lady is just very small. did you know that blue ringed octopus light up when they are agitated? that is so cool.

i did quit the letterpress class. i will get 90% of what i paid back, and thats good. the class just wasn't for me and if i had stayed in it, it would have been a waste of my time and money. so.
BUT i talked to Dionne at Sev Shoon, and i'm going to go over there this afternoon and get my print on. i hope she doesnt mind if i have to defer my payment until i get my return check from the letterpress class... hmm oh well.
i put resin on a little tag watercolor. i like it. the general concensus is that it is good. what do you think? i think that resin + anything = good, usually.