quick n' dirty silk screen, done old-school style, for the Olympic Medical Center Bike to Work Month.

Cycle on!

Talk about your Spring glories!

Yesterday, Dad, Dog and I took a trip to Port Townsend, where I had a workshop scheduled at Corvidae Press for collagraph printmaking. The class was delightful, with a great mix of people. The two D's and I had a picnic lunch on the green grounds of Fort Worden overlooking the Strait, and when the class finished around 4pm, we took a refreshing bike ride along the waterfront in the warm afternoon light. Spring smells abounded, Madronas glowed, and sailboats zoomed about on the salty breeze. For dinner, we had unspeakably delicious Thai food at The Best Thai Place Ever SRSLY--aka Khu Larb Thai. OMG the fresh rice basil noodles and mango/asparagus/tofu/curry thingy is to DIE for.

The Dog, aka Otter, had several invigorating adventures on the beach and in the woods. Port Townsend folks are always so nice, and Otter got many an admiring ear scratch from passers-by. Dad got in a good nap, lots of biking, and enough food for not one tiny man but two tiny men.

I got a heavenly mix of art, artistic collaboration, Learning New Things, fresh air, and Thai food. Can you say best day ever??

For those interested, Collagraphs are prints made from a plate that's a collage of everything you thought was useless, glued to a piece of cardboard. Seems too simple, right? IT IS! Just glue your materials onto the plate--leaves, string, washers, wire, lace, whatever--cover with varnish or tin foil, ink that baby up, and print.

I did just two plates during the workshop. I like the one above best, and the one below I inked several different ways because I was having trouble getting the defenition I wanted. Can't wait to make about a hundred more!

Materials used:
cut cardboard
dried hydrangea
broom straw
string
lace
tin foil
glue
ink--oil and water based

Recent sketches for the band Little Sur...
Check them out: Little Sur

Not finished yet, but this will eventually be the door to a medicine cabinet. Surprised? My Dad is on a wood-working binge, and he wants me to paint a few of his projects. This will actually be the inside of the door...Not sure what to put on the outside. I was thinking birds, but after the Portlandia episode of "Put A Bird On It" I'm not so sure. Is it wrong to cover things in birds?? Answer: probably.

Bunny come, bunny gone...
When stressed, I generally take on labor-intensive, obsessive-compulsive, and anal-retentive tasks. The week preceding Easter, I decided that whipping up some Ukrainian Egg Art (pysanky) was just the ticket!

Two days and several cartons later, I realized that there's a reason why most people just dunk their eggs in one color, forgoing the wax complexities. It's super hard! And frustrating. And ultimately, beautiful, but it turns out you need beaucoup patience to master this skill. Sadly I only had the patience for one reasonably decent egg...see the blue/green attempt below.

Amazingly, I think this has been my first Spring without an Easter Egg hunt. Mom was always on top of her game! But apparently me starting work at 7am is a bit too early for stashing eggs around the house. I did wake up to Jelly Bellies and chocolate. I'll let it go Mom....this time.

Some folks know that I've recently joined a printmaking studio in Port Townsend. It's a cooperative of artists who pay a fee to share printing presses, space, and some materials...so dreamy for such a small town operation!

 

I've worked there a few times now, and I thought I'd share the monotypes that I was able to complete during those visits:

 

oops that last one is an intaglio! It's not nearly finished, but it's had one nice acid bath. This particular studio is limited to "non-toxic" techniques, which means that the building doesn't have ventilation, which basically means that all of the traditional intaglio materials might kill you. Slowly, yes, but eventually you'll die.

So I'm experimenting with all different kinds of non-toxic methods, and cripes is it challenging! I can't get nearly as fine a line with the new materials, but I'm happy to experiment and tweak for as long as it takes. Meanwhile, I'll be producing a lot of monotypes...they're still as easy as pie.

Martha.....MARTHA ARE YOU THERE??

I resent that every home-craft improvement project should conjure up references of Martha Stewart, but the woman did make a good load of dough doing what she does best. The difference between her and me, besides a few federal crimes and an estate, is that she'd tire of these paper stars and would've replaced them long since with something new. They've been hanging in our windows since December, and I ain't tired of 'em yet!

Back when I was desperately searching for jobs, my neuroses and general unhappiness drove me to all sorts of handicrafts I'd never before considered. For example, origami box-folding:

These are only the nicest examples of the 15 or so boxes I churned out after getting an instruction book from the library. When I tired of boxes, I went on to tougher fare: the Japanese Kusudama.

ok they're not actually more difficult to make than boxes, they just take forever. But I was willing to try anything to take my mind off the job hunt!

After finding employment, I haven't picked up a single sheet of paper to fold. Mostly, this is because I no longer have any free time...but also, I'm really not a paper-folding gal. Only in times of crisis...