Ocean Grove Business

 

Today involved some things around Ocean Grove, even though I never set foot in the town, or left my own.  I was being treated to lunch by East Coast and West Coast Marys, the former a woodcut student of mine, the latter one of her oldest friends, as well as her collaborator in the East vs West print show we had a few years ago.  The lunch was a belated thank you for my help with that show.  And I did provide a lot of help.  I set up the original show at the Boatworks, making the original connection with then director Rebecca.  I helped East Coast Mary create the written proposal and helped with hanging suggestions.  When the BAC turned over their staff and the show proposers were looking for a new venue, I hooked them up with Nichole at the Jersey Shore Arts Center, where I have had a Studio for more than a decade, and the director was looking for shows.  I was part of meetings, and assisted with the hanging of the show.  Plus I had a few prints in it, helping to fill wall space.  Lots of other things as well.   I hadn't heard from my student for a long time, and wasn't sure if she was even still around, so I was glad to hear from her last week. 

Eventually they settled on a plan to pick me up where I'm living now and take me out to my local choice of place for lunch.  As part of it we would be discussing some print related projects they were interested in.  Creating potential conflict was that West Coast Mary was heading back to Portland in less than a week.  They pulled up to the house as expected, I got in the car, and gave them some options, from which they chose Squan Tavern, a local Italian place that has decent food.   Was there a few times with family during my convalescence in their house, and had some take out, so it's the restaurant I know best these days.  They both went for full pasta dishes and very much enjoyed them.  I had a nice sausage and peppers sandwich, which I knew would be large and tasty, plus not too expensive.

East Coast Mary had mentioned in emails that she was interested in water based color inks and using them.  I have almost no experience in this area, but I can figure it out.  The question is whether she should take my upcoming class at Ocean Grove, or hire me as independent teacher to work with her on it.  West Coast Mary has two blocks that need to be printed, but at 87 and not as physically fit as she was in the past, was looking to get small editions made. That much I knew before today. I've done the print for hire thing in the past, but it's been a while.  I tried looking up my old email communications related to that time, but I don't seem to have access to that account these days. 

However, there was a lot more to be learned.  The blocks turned out to be linoleum, not a problem. And she is willing to leave them for her friend to ship to her later, so we don't have an immediate deadline, which is a big help.  She has paper, a Japanese style, which can tear easily if hand printed, but I didn't know if I would have a press available.  (Molly has a large roller press that we used for the last such job back in 2012, but I would have to excavate a lot of Molly's stuff just to get to the press and she would expect a big cut of the money made, so that's not my preferred option.)  Ink may already be available, and that and paper are big expenses, so that will bring the cost down.  There is no BAT, but she showed me some images of what she wants and discussed it with me, so I can probably do without them. 

East Coast Mary lives locally, so there is no immediate deadline on her color project.  Whether she would take my class or want to work with me independently was still up in air, and is partly dependent on if the class even runs.  What I learned today is that she is considering donating a lot of her printmaking equipment to the JSAC, in exchange for her (and me) being able to use it when needed.  Putting it in my individual space can't happen- Molly fills just about every square foot with things she doesn't want to get rid of. (see above photo as an example)  When visitors to the space comment on how messy and cluttered the place is, she just claims it is part of her working method, while finding other places in the building to actually work.  Another thing I learned is that she and Mary have a meeting with Nichole tomorrow, where they can discuss if there is such a place in the building, or to at least put the idea into her head. Another thing I learned today is that the Mary's are planning another show, and are looking for a space.  I don't know what space is available for either a print studio or a gallery show, but Nichole would know better than anyone, so the meeting tomorrow may be productive.  West Coast Mary may also want to donate some tools and equipment, which may help the deal.   I'll find out in the near future.  

I will have to give a lot of thought to all these things, and do some calculations.  In the short term, I was able to provide some ink information to East Coast Mary by email.  Turns out I know a lot about relief ink, having used it so much the past 30 years or so.  I have a bunch of print friends who have made deals in recent years to have special ink made to their standards, but also sold to the general public.  Some of these could figure into these projects.