Mystery Day

 As the day began, I had no idea exactly what I'd be doing.  I planned to go to the Studio, but did not know exactly what I would do when I got there.  I had two possibilities: try another proof of my "Love in Vain" print, or do some more cutting of my Terraplane Blues block.  My preference would be to do the printing and get that out of the way, but whether I would do that or not would depend on the condition of the block.    It is much easier to ink a block if the surface is drier, meaning the new ink would show up as dark and glossy, as opposed to the flat black of the older ink.  Yet I had just printed yesterday, not nearly enough time for the ink to completely dry.  I did blot the block before I left, and I hoped that would be enough.  But not taking any chances, I also brought the current block with me, as well as a set of cutting tools.  All I could do was wait and see.  Already in my bag was my jazz/blues set of discs, a smaller book than the rock/pop set, so much lighter, with a couple of the other discs inserted in a few blank pages.  

My first thing upon arriving at the Studio building is to use the men's room in the basement, so as to not interrupt myself while working.  No paper towels there, nor in the women's room either.  (good thing I snagged some clean paper towels from the first floor bathroom before heading downstairs) I stopped by the office to let them know this, but there was a meeting going on the the other room.  So I got to work.  Turned out the block was dry enough.  Not completely dry (touching it would have stained my fingers with some serious black), but dry enough that I could see my new ink, so that is what I did.  Had the paper already torn from yesterday, so I taped, prepared ink, and started rolling it out. When the block seemed fully inked, I added paper and took a proof.  Below is the results:

I decided that this one is acceptable.  There is a smudge or two in the margin, but I think I can deal with those by tearing and/or removal after it is completely dry.  I put it in the rack for now to make that drying happen.  Meanwhile I started the day's music with a home burned copy of the self titled debut from David Poe.  When that ended, I put on Marc Ribot and Los Cubanos Postizos, which I think was their self titled debut.  Why these two together?  Because Marc Ribot played on both of them, plus other things I have here, and in storage.  Ribot is a very busy guitarist.  (both bands/albums are written about in a blog posting from July of 2020)  Then I blotted the block. I don't know if I ever wrote about that, so here we go.  I don't know if I was ever taught to do this, but I find it useful and have been doing it for decades.  After a day's session, or if the ink is building up too thick during an edition, I will take a ghost proof of the block on some scrap newsprint.  (in school, we always had remnant rolls of the stuff, picked up cheap from the school newspaper, and since then I either use sheets used in packing art supplies or old newspapers)  What this does is remove a little ink from the block, which speeds up the drying of the inked block considerably. It's a process I do share with students these days. Below is a photo showing what I call a "blotter proof" from today:

 After blotting the block, I typically use the newsprint to clean my ink knife and brayer.  Waste not, want not.

Assuming I am done with this for now, next time I go in, I will do more cutting on the current block.  Still no deadline there, but I just want to see what it looks like when it's done. But for today I was done, so I cleaned up and packed up.  Checked the bathroom and there were still no paper towels to be found.  I stopped back at the office, but this time there was no one there.  I won't need any for a while, so this will be their problem to deal with when someone complains.

More Vain Printing

 I had a bunch of things I was hoping to do today.  Some worked out better than others.  That is life.

One of today's plans was to talk to the director about exhibiting work in a cabinet upstairs.  I don't know how many people take those stairs, but I figure any showing of work outside my Studio is a good thing, and this is something she has been pushing for- sending me emails and talking about it in person.  Problem has been finding her.  I was in four times last week and was unable to talk to her.  Saw her in the office this morning, asked her about it, and she agreed to the idea of me picking something out and bringing it to her. I figured one of the recent framed pieces I had, still in the Studio and ready to show.  Problem is that three times I tried to bring her work today, and three times she wasn't where I expected her to be, if she was in the building at all.  This was her idea, so I can wait.

Another thing I wanted to do today was to print another copy of the Love In Vain print, as I have orders for three copies right now.  If nothing else, a print this many people like may be worth submitting to another show.  I had a piece of paper the same size as last week's printing, so another successful proof and I have the two I have been asked to send to Virginia.  So today I set up to print again.  Had the paper, ink, and tape I needed.  Even brought a set of tools so I could cut away a few bits that were picking up ink unintentionally.  Taped it up so I could ink it, as you see below:

Paper on top, then hand rubbing, the way I do it.  Early on the right side of the block (left side of the print) was looking good- very little re-inking and special rubbing needed.  Unfortunately, while doing the other side I saw that the paper had slipped a little bit.  A little bit of a double exposure effect of black.  Nothing at that point I could do to save it- this print was done and no good- time, paper, and ink wasted.  I suppose I can use the proof as a reference for what most of it should look like, but I didn't bother to even finish printing all of it.  No point.  I cleaned up, and tore a new piece of paper for the next time, whenever that is.  Made a stop on the way home, but there I got what I wanted.

Terraplane Blues part 8

 I assumed I'd be asked to accompany my parents shopping today, but they decided to go on their own, freeing me up.  I figured I shouldn't waste the day, so went back to the Studio once more.  I brought the good tools and one disc from my Studio rock/pop book, Californication by the Red Hot Chili Peppers. a copy burned from an official label release.  I wrote about this band and album on the blog back in June of 2020 if you want to know more.  No particular reason- I just felt like listening to it, and it seemed like the kind of thing these characters would like.  

After dropping off a few things, I went to the office. Jeanne was there, but was in a meeting with someone.    If she wanted to find me, she knows where my space is.  So instead, I got back to work on the latest block.    I picked up where I left off yesterday, with the car.  Some of the veneer started to peel off, so I had to use some glue here and there and let it dry before going back to those areas.  Made me wish I had an x-acto knife, but while I had blades with me, the handles are all with my class tools.  Should move one of those to my good set.  Meanwhile, a little white glue and care got it done.

Got a lot done, but one thing I wasn't sure of was the small section of the body just to the right of the bumper, on the corner.  Was it black or a gray?  Not being sure, I left it alone for now, and will check my source photo to see what it is.  Further looking at the interior of the engine compartment at home, I may have been able to do a little more cutting in there.  I'll decide about all that before my next studio visit.  Results can be seen below:

As with yesterday, when the music ended, I decided to clean up, pack up, and head home.  At first my camera said my memory card was locked, which did not allow me to take any photos.  However, that happened to me once before, and so I had looked it up.  I learned how to fix it then, and remembered that today, thus the above photo.  Never did see Jeanne, but it can wait until next time.  

Terraplane Blues part 7

 Another sunny day, a little breezy, but not rainy. Took care of some errands on the way there, then got to the studio building a little past 11:00.  Almost empty parking lot. Doesn't make a difference to me, just time to get to work.  I had spent a bit of time the past few days looking at my block, so I knew what I wanted to do.  I brought that block, my good tools, and one disc, my Arctic Monkeys CD, which has been written about on this blog back on October of 2023.  This disc is longer than a standard album, so I figured it was about right for what I planned today.

What I decided to do today was the female figure, on the left side of the block in the foreground.  Some shadows on the figure, but a lot of light (or white), so for now a lot of stuff was cut away.  When I finished her, I moved on to some adjacent sections of the car- bumper, engine compartment, and open hood.  At that point the music ended, so I packed up, documented the day's work, and went home. That still leaves me the male figure, the rest of the car, and the lyric from the song.  Results can be seen below:

So far, so good.  The inside of the engine compartment has a lot of shapes, but I don't think it will be that hard to cut, and the male figure won't be more difficult than the female figure was.  I'm estimating two or three more cutting sessions (probably three) until this thing is done and ready to proof for the first time.  I'm hoping at that time the balance of black and white will be what I think it is, and I'll be done with the cutting.

Terraplane Blues part 6

 Another sunny day today, but I knew that I might have to drive my father to an appointment, so I had to be home by noon.  No problem, just left a little earlier than usual to get to the Studio.  I got up there around 10:00 am.  There were cars in the lot, and I saw Andrew taking things out of his car to bring in, so I knew the building was open.  I had all the appropriate keys and ID, and I had brought one of my home burned Pixies discs, the one featuring the earliest CD I had, which was something not made for the American market.  Though a Boston based band, when they were signed to record deal, it was with a British label, so the first discs were all imported.  This one contains the first two releases actually, the first true album (Surfer Rosa), and a mini album (Come on Pilgrim) that had come from a demo tape they did earlier.  Now they also have an American label and the two releases appear on two discs, but back then when I bought it, it was just the one.   Partly I selected this music because I knew the combination of releases would about equal the time I had to spend their today.  

No Open Studio today, and no printing today, just cutting.  Also with me was my good tools, so I got that roll out, along with my current block.  Today I was continuing my cutting of background areas, starting with the back driveway.  I had decided in the drawing phase that this was a cement driveway, so all white. This meant cutting more around the female figure, whatever could be seen through the closed metal gate, whatever could be seen through the chain link fence, and then the gate and fence posts themselves.  For the closer driveway, the one that contains the car, I had decided on a darker driveway, but whether it is asphalt or gravel, I leave up to the viewers.  Either way, it is dark and textured, which will be more apparent once the block is inked.  (I have done similar textures for other blocks, so I know what will result)  The chain link fence isn't perfect, but I am counting on the tendency of the human eye and brain to see a pattern as a single shape, and if that doesn't work, the kind of people that live in a house with a boarded up window probably have a less than perfect chain link fence.  The music ended, and it was near time for me to leave, so I put everything away and took a few reference photos of todays work.  Results can be seen below:

I checked the office for Jeanne when I first arrived, and just before leaving, but she wasn't in, so I guess the exhibiting of my work upstairs will have to wait until the next time I am there.

Still More Printing

 Yesterday was the Open Studio event at the JSAC, and as I mentioned, I had good attendance in my basement space.  One of those who came was Ann, who I remembered from when she invited me to be part of a group show at Ocean County College, where I showed several of my Boardwalk prints, a show that was eventually extended a bit, probably because the gallery didn't have anything else to show.  (at the time I think I was still working at the school, so getting there, having a place to park, and familiarity with the exhibition space and routes to it was not a problem)  In fact, I think that invitation started at an earlier open studio event at this same place.  She liked my work enough that she is considering owning some, and mentioned two more prints that she is interested in, prints that I don't keep in stock these days.  If this happens, that will make 6 prints that people have ordered.  Yikes!  I better get to work.  Last week I had printed two and had two remaining, but now it looks like it may be four more.   Today was a sunny day, perfect for the ride to Ocean Grove, and carrying my inking bag back inside from the car.

I arrived in the Studio and it looked like I left it yesterday, so no Molly yet.  Once again I brought the jazz/blues book of discs, but this time it was Miles Davis, probably because I had seen something about him and his album Kind of Blue on the web recently.  I have that album, so an easy one for me to put on today.   (I wrote about it back in June of 2023 if you want to know more)  Last time I printed, it was a copy of the Love In Vain print from my Robert Johnson series, as my friend in Virginia asked for two of them (for her, and for her friend who came to New Jersey).  The print is fine, but the margins are a little dirty, so I planned to try trimming and/or erasing to fix it.  Then yesterday I got another request for that same print.  (in fact, it's the same one Tom had mentioned for part of his Nashville show- I guess it's a pretty good print and people like it) I knew I needed at least one more of them (assuming I could fix the one I had), and now maybe another one.  So that was my focus for today.  

I started by tearing down a second sheet to the size of another one I had prepared, larger than the one I made the other day, but plenty of margin for this print.  I set those aside, and prepared some ink.  Got the block ready, which I had shown yesterday with the framed print to demonstrate how a print is taken from a block.  I put on the blue tape around the edges, to make sure I didn't get ink where I didn't want it.  After the first bit of rubbing I checked the results, which meant re-inking and re-taping a few trouble spots, as in the photo below:

By the way, those small blue spots on the block are small pieces of tape used to cover ink that got unintentionally on the block, to make sure it didn't end up on the paper.  Someone had asked me about that yesterday, having seen some small bits of tape on another block.  In the old days I would have used standard masking tape, but this blue painter's tape is more available these days, and was created for the same purpose- to block unwanted paint from getting where it is not wanted.  Blocking ink, blocking paint- no real difference there.

But eventually I fixed all the problems, and was ready to lift the print off the block and inspect it.  I touched up a few bits, places that there was no wood, and no amount of inking with a brayer would have helped.  I then blotted the print itself, to remove some excess ink from area that had been re-inked, so it would dry faster and look more natural.  Results can be seen below:

To me this looks like a good proof.  I put it in the drying rack to help it dry, and cleaned up.  I don't know who gets what yet, so I may need to print another one from this block, but not today.

The first disc ended around the time I finished the proof, so I put on the beginning of 'Round About Midnight by the same artist, to listen to as I cleaned my tools.  Another disc in my book, and the two certainly go well together.  You can read my thoughts on this album on this blog on August of 2019.

No one in the office today, either before or after my printing session, so the question of a possible exhibition in public space in the building gets put off for another day.  Not a problem for me, as they want this more than me, and I told them I don't mind waiting a bit and letting someone else go first.  I have plenty to keep me busy the next few weeks.

2024 Open Studio

 

Today was the big Open Studio event at the art building in Ocean Grove.  We were asked to be there by 10:30 for a group photo, and promised a brunch for our troubles.   So I was there on time.  As I pulled into the parking lot I saw food being brought into the building, so I guess this was catered.  No problem there.  I dropped off a few things in my space, then headed up to the 3rd floor where the brunch and photo would take place.  A good crowd in there already, at least 20, and more were coming.  There were some quiches, some plates of sandwiches, some pinwheels, tins of salads, jugs of beverages, plates of cookies, etc.  I just took enough to fill one plate, as I don't like being stuffed for teaching and talks.  I knew some people, but others were strangers to me, but that's life in the basement.  The photos weren't posed, just group shots of people sitting at tables, which was fine by me, as it would have been quite difficult to make it across the room.  Lots of food left over, so maybe there will be some leftovers in future days.  Everyone had a chance to introduce themselves (board, artists, others) then I headed down to the first floor to get a second bag from my car.  From there down to my space.  Rearranged a few things to make more room for visitors passing through, and got ready.

I put out my recently rescued postcards, and a tin full of cookies I brought in, as we were asked to bring treats to have in our studios, plus I had promised them to anyone who showed up.  

A few framed artworks were arranged around the room.  My tables were cleared, and I was ready to cut.  I had done just a little more drawing on my block, re-drawing that car hood one more time, and a few minor corrections.  I had brought all my tools with me, but took out just the good ones for today.  Also brought my jazz/blues book of discs, which seemed appropriate for my plans to work on a Robert Johnson block.  All of these have been written about before.

The first hour was kind of slow, but eventually people started visiting.  Sometimes families- parents and children on an outing.  Sometimes groups of adults, all ages.  I had sent emails and postcards to a few people, most of whom had been to past events there, but none of those showed up.  But that's not to say everyone was a stranger- among my visitors was Vince from the critique group, and Ann, who organized the group show we had at OCC several years ago.  And of course, people I knew from the building.  First time visitors mostly noted two things- the great light that the room has, and how intense woodcuts are, between the work that makes them, and the impact of the black on white.  A few people took cookies and postcards, but most remained there.  I kept count of visitors, and by the end of the day, I had 55 people show up in my space, breaking the record I had from last year.  I have tentative orders for a print or two, so I need to follow up on those soon. 

Because I had so many visitors, I didn't have a much time to cut as I might have.  I decided to start at the top and do the buildings and land in the upper half of the block.  Figures are more fun, but this had to get done as well, and I was going to be in that room for five hours.   I finished almost half the block, which is a good start. Results from today can be seen below:

At 5:00 I shut my doors, put the room more or less back the way I found it (some of Molly's stuff is still out of the way, but nothing where she can't find it if she shows up in the next few days), cleaned up any mess I made, took a reference photo of the block, and got ready to go home.  It had been a long day and I was exhausted.  On the way out I ran into Jeanne, who said overall it was a very successful day.  It seemed to be for me.

Studio Business

 I had followed up with the people running the building by email, but heard nothing.  And I had sent out some emails regarding the open studio to people in the area who had taken classes with me.  One replied she couldn't make it, the other I haven't heard from as of now.  I had been advised that the main parking lot would not be available yesterday, some roof repairs, but yesterday's weather was unpleasant. and not needing to go in, I didn't.  But today was a nicer day, so why not go in for a bit, and find out what was going on, plus prepare for Sunday,

Driving up the road, I had noticed people working on the back of the building roof, and throwing stuff off it. The front lot was mostly empty.  A sign telling people to drop off artwork in the office (probably the next show), but the photos still up on the wall, the show expected to be there on Sunday.  When I first walked into my Studio it was very dark, and I saw ochre shapes covering up all the windows.  Did we get some shades for all windows finally?  Looking more carefully, I realized it was plywood leaning up against the outside of the building, probably protecting the windows from the debris falling from the roof. Probably a good idea.  

I expected a short stay, but did bring one album, a label produced cassette of Texas Flood by Stevie Ray Vaughn and Double Trouble.  I had a few Vaughn albums on disc, but this was the only one I had purchased and only had on tape.  Probably because the album came out in 1983, and discs weren't available yet.  However, one of the songs, "Pride and Joy" was regularly played on the local rock radio station in New York, so I knew this album well.  The rest of the album was very much Texas blues (I had a live version of the album's title song on a blues compilation disc).   The good news was that he had beaten a bad drug dependency. The bad news was that he died in a helicopter crash in 1990.  Learned about it while at work in Hackensack, and asked the boss to let me go home to morn.  She said no.  The tape played fine in my Studio boom box.

One thing I wanted to do was straighten up my areas a little bit before the Sunday event.  For now I didn't touch any of Molly's stuff, as I have no idea when she returns, but I may move a few things around on Sunday before everyone arrives.  My excuse is that we need space for people to walk around, but I will make use of a little of her table space temporarily.  Meanwhile, I used my visit today to rearrange and tidy up my one table and my drying rack.  Below is what it looked like after I was done:

Of course, some things will be put back today, but at least it's ready now to be quickly cleared on Sunday.  Lots of room to work and display some prints and blocks.

Before leaving I checked the bathroom, and the sink was cleaned of whatever red was in it last time.  I don't know who did it, but it was done.  From the office I got an update on plans for the building and for the weekend.  The railings that had surrounded the parking lot and are now gone are going to stay gone, with a plan to put hedges there, which I was told matches the original design from long ago.  Whatever. One sidewalk was torn up, and may be back before Sunday or not, but we don't think it affects anything. The roof is coming along, and work will stop over the weekend, with the contractors cleaning up their stuff in between, which will help us with parking on Sunday.  I was told that Bobby was planning to be part of the Open Studio event, which is good- more likely a sign gets put up sending people to the basement, and he's good at inviting people who show up.  All that settled, I went home.

More Printing

 The print I have in the rack is pretty much dry, so I decided to print the second ordered print today.  Another beautiful almost summer day here in April, so a good day to drive up to Ocean Grove.  Got there and found the sink in the basement was full of red stuff.  Maybe ink, maybe paint, I don't know, except that it didn't come from me.  And I doubt it came from Molly, as we have a sink in our space, and she probably wouldn't be using the men's room if we didn't.  I worked around it and got to work.

Once again I brought selections from my newly acquired cassette library.  Two label produced tapes- Steely Dan Gold by Steely Dan, and Steve Miller Band Greatest Hits 1974-1978 by the Steve Miller Band, of course.  Plus one home recorded tape- assorted songs from the Who.  The two label produced compilations follow double album compilations from earlier in their careers, both of which I have on vinyl, so in storage.  Also in each case, I was able to get the second side to play by repeatedly pressing on the play button until it worked.  As far as the Who songs, I have no idea where I taped it from.  Not any album I have on vinyl or disc or cassette.  I know that many of the songs come from different albums originally, from the 1960's to the 1980's, again mostly things I don't have.  That all three tapes were in this particular box was probably because I had other things by the same bands on my CD shelf, including some of the same songs.  In any case, all music to listen to as I worked, and for that need it did the job fine.

Work today was continuing on my print order.  I decided today to take on the two copies of Love In Vain that were requested in Virginia.  Or at least one of them.  With clean hands I tore the paper to the right size, put on my apron, got out some ink, and began the process.  As the music played, I inked and printed. 

When I was done, I had another copy of the print with the lyric, as requested.  Everything in the image area is fine, but there are a few flaws in the margins- marks and such.  If I can remove them by erasing or trimming, I can still use this print.  If not, I'll have to print yet another one, and save this print for another purpose.  A mat would cover the marks, and the print itself is a good one. 

So that's now maybe two down, and two to go.

After the printing session there was still a bunch of the red stuff in the sink, and near and around the wastebasket in the basement bathroom, so I decided to report it to the office on my way out.  The door was unlocked, but no one was in there.  Hopefully they find out before Sunday's event.

Terraplane Blues part 5

 Another day, time to work.  I decided to try something different today and bring cassette tapes.  One day last week we took a trip to my storage unit, threw away my old recliner/rocker (very dirty, but it seemed like it was caused by the storage unit), and brought some stuff home.  At my mother's request, the bigger boxes didn't even come in the house, but I just unloaded them and brought the contents (mostly art books) inside a few at a time. (those old boxes were recycled)  Also got my print group folios, some art materials, postcards and other art promotional material, and those tapes. Back in the old days, before there were compact discs, cassettes were the easiest thing to listen to, and I bought some music that way.  I also put some record albums on tape, listenable anywhere, such as my car, or boom boxes here and there.  I kept an old boom box in my studio in Carbondale, but a more modern one with a CD player in my apartment.  The cassette player in my car stopped working as I drove to Illinois to start classes, and cassettes were replaced with discs in music stores, so I started buying discs or vinyl.  Now there are no record stores, and music sections of department stores are now gone, so I don't buy anything.  Most of my cassette collection of music is still in storage (I could see it, but not reach it that day), so what I brought home was the lesser things, but it was new things to have at home or in my current studio, so I was glad to have it.  Plus I knew that the new boom box I got for the Studio has a cassette player as part of it.  Never used it, but I knew it was there.

Another thing I brought with me today was several dozen of those postcards, all things with images of my art.  (I had organized them at home over the weekend)  I figure to have some available at the Open Studio for people who want such things, and this seemed as good a day as any to bring some there.  Of course my real reason for going was related to current art, so I had brought with me the latest block, and my tools and a sharpening stone.  The tools were to take the image down to the borders, and removed the margin veneer.  Before this, I sharpened some of them.  I also checked the status of the print I pulled the last time I was there.  The ink seemed pretty dry, but I have no place to put it anyway, so I left it in the drying rack for now.  I was able to remove quite a bit of wood from the block, done now rather than when I have an audience.  This included the area between the bottom border and the top of the text.

I didn't touch anything I had drawn on the block, as I am saving all that for the Open Studio.  I ended up cutting the first word in the top line, which made me decide to go ahead and re-letter all of it. So I ended my cutting there today.  Below is how it looks now:

As for my cassette experiment- mixed results.  I had brought with me two label recorded tapes (both Atlantic), The Blues Brothers original soundtrack recording, and Led Zeppelin II, their second album, and the only one of theirs that I only have on tape.  Both are excellent albums, but were probably relegated to this box because I had other stuff on disc from each band, and just didn't listen to them as much.  One thing I realized about the soundtrack album was that some of songs were different versions than appear in the movie.  These were songs that the band performed live in the film, while the ones on the tape were recorded in a studio.  Maybe it had to be that way.  The Led Zeppelin album was their second, and was a road album, meaning it was recorded in various studios as the band was busy touring and promoting their first album, but the quality is good nonetheless.  (this may have had as much to do with becoming better songwriters and players, plus familiarity playing with each other)  One thing odd about this is that the song order is much different than any other version of the album, probably the necessity of making both sides come out even, not an issue on disc or vinyl.  So the music was good, but playing them was a problem.  First of all, I had a hard time figuring out the tape buttons on my boombox, marked but not clearly.  Second, I couldn't get the second side of either tape to play.  I'll have to figure out that later.  So I switched to a home recorded tape, which had a copy of a vinyl album on the A side- David Bowie's ChangesOne Bowie.  This was the first volume of a two record greatest hits collection, with ChangesTwo Bowie having later songs.  I believe these two albums were later combined on the Changes Bowie disc, which I later burned onto disc, which is why this tape was in the secondary box.  And when it ended I was able to flip the cassette and play some from side B, so this tape worked at least.  By the way, all of this can be found on the internet if I need to listen to it near a computer.

2024 Tournament of Art part 4

 We just had the final weekend of the NCAA Men's Basketball tournament.  It's probably no surprise that UConn won, repeating as champion, something that rarely happens, and may happen even less, with reformations in the college game that give players more rights.  I predicted this, and also the opponent they beat, which probably a lot of other people did as well, as the two teams were dominant this year.  I ended up picking 43 games correctly out of 63 games that were played.  Not great, but not bad.  My art schools have all been gone for a while. (I don't include a school like Purdue, which has a head coach who had previously coached at one of my art schools- such things don't count in my way of thinking)

What this means is that schools from the Big East won both the NCAA and the NIT basketball tournaments, and in the two games those winning teams played against each other this year, they split.  Yet so many other conferences were given more teams in the NCAA than the three the Big East got in.  That committee has some things to explain.

Printing

 I got some good news over the past week, there is a demand out there for the Robert Johnson prints.  I knew they were well liked in the exhibition, but over the past week I had three people order prints, for a total of four.  I'm glad that I am getting something else out of these, but that means I have to print them, which is some work.  I have all the blocks of course, and I have enough ink and paper to do the job, so all I need to do is go through the effort of printing them.  I can handle that, but it is a physical effort.  A bit of good news is that there is no immediate deadline on this, and I let the buyers know.  But I thought about it, and realized that the open studio event is about two weeks away, and I don't have much more I want to do to the piece I plan to cut there, so maybe this is a good time to start the printing process.  It's all by hand of course, and ink takes a while to dry.  And today was a gorgeous day, sunny and maybe in the 70's.  That meant today was a good day to start the process.   I purposely put on old clothes, things I wouldn't mind if ink got on them.  Brought along a disc I was in a mood to hear, my home burned collection of songs from Townes Van Zandt, all from a two disc set of his work, a mix of studio recordings and live material.  All the big hits I know are there, and then more. If you want to know more about him, you can find my write up on the blog in October of 2019.

First step was finding the proper block, but I was able to. Then I put painter's tape on all the edges that were left on.  The previous ink was completely dry, including that under what tape there had been there, so I removed all that. With the weather the way it is, the ink that had been in my car was plenty warm enough.  Used my ink knife to pull a scoop of ink from the can, and my brayer to roll out some fresh ink.   I put on my apron, because even though I could tolerate getting ink on my clothes, I didn't want that.  Inking the block was not too difficult, as this block had been inked before, and because that old ink was dry, it was easy to see where the new ink was going down.  Meanwhile I cut a piece of paper to the right size, and counted how many sheets I had while I had it out.  (good to know for the future)  Then began the process of hand rubbing a print:

When I was satisfied, I put the new print in the rack to dry, and blotted the block to get as much ink off it as I could.  Cleaned all my printing tools and put them back in the bag.  I'll be needing them all again in the coming weeks, but I decided one print was enough for today.  What I did today was the one Molly requested, Walkin' Blues, which she had said made her think of her daughters. She wanted it without the lyrics so that is how I printed it.  I have one like that in the frame, so this one will be #2/10 in that edition.  The proof can be seen below:

One down, three to go.

Carbondale and Eclipses

 Big news today was a total eclipse, visible in some parts of this country, and for much of the country a visible partial eclipse.  Apparently, there are total eclipses about every two years, but most of these appear over the ocean, and not in this country.   However, the news mentioned that there was one town in America that was in the totality path for both today's, and the last one that was seen in this country, back in 2017, and that is Carbondale, Illinois.  I know the town well, as I used to live there,during the three years I attended, and got my MFA in Printmaking, from Southern Illinois University.  During the years I was there, I also experienced an eclipse, an annular eclipse (on May 10, 1994), which I made the subject of an artwork, a daily woodcut in my Fourth of July series.  That print, and the whole series, can be seen online on a blog I did for that series.

By my count, that makes three eclipses in a 30 year period in one town, which seems kind of unusual to me.  While there, I heard a story that for a brief time in the 1960's, the town was considered the cosmological center of the universe, which resulted in a brief hippy invasion, but that was before my time.   (I also heard a story about a professor that suddenly disliked a graduate student, tried unsuccessfully to get his MFA rescinded, and then tried to set fire to the student's trailer while he was in it, but again, that was before my time.)   I guess Carbondale is just that kind of place.

Here in the east, we were only scheduled to get a partial eclipse, but it still got full tv coverage all day, starting with the first appearance in Mexico, and then following the path of totality, from there to Vermont, passing through Carbondale along the way.   It didn't hurt that the ABC network has an affiliate in southern Illinois, not too far from Carbondale.  I think back then it was in Carterville (just down the highway from Carbondale), though I think it has moved a little now.  I know this for two reasons.  One is that when I lived there I chose not to get cable, but got my networks over the airwaves, from Illinois (ABC), from Paducah, Kentucky (NBC), and Cape Girardeau. Missouri (CBS and Fox), plus the school was seat to the local PBS station, and it's official radio station was an NPR.  (to handle all the Radio/Television students that needed some air time, a second tiny radio station was permitted to exist, WIDB, which is the one I worked at for my three years there)  Also, I remember that local ABC sent a reporter to cover our Cardboard Boat Regatta, an annual event that was participated in by many students, but required for the college's 3D students the spring semester.  When my 3D students at Kean complained about doing too much work, I showed them photos of the boats that students there made and raced around the lake for their 3D class.  It shut them up in a hurry.  I had a photo of that reporter, holding her ABC microphone, reporting on the event, but that's in storage, so you won't be seeing it here.  However, I am posting a photo of the total eclipse as it appeared in Carbondale today, taken from the television.  (news warned us that trying to take photos of the actual eclipse without special filters for the camera could damage it, and I need this camera to keep working)  They can afford the filters for their cameras.

To view the eclipse here, I made a pinhole viewer, much like the one we used in Carbondale to view that eclipse back in 1994.  Worked just as well.

Terraplane Blues part 4

 

So far it was a nice day.  I was told my brother was coming in the afternoon to take me to storage, so if I was going to go the Studio, it would have to be in the morning.  So that's what I did.  Went there directly, so I got there around 11:00.  For music I had brought a home burned disc of Sonic Youth.  This was because last night I saw Kim Gordon (their former bass player) on one of the late night shows, doing her new single I guess.  I wasn't particularly impressed, but I do have a copy of SY's Daydream Nation in the discs I took from my Studio, so I wanted to listen to that today. If you want to hear more about it, I wrote it up March of 2020 on this blog.

The first thing I did was take some photos of the publicity material for the upcoming Open Studio event.  Here are the cards, and I'll save the poster (which does have my studio name) until we get closer to the event itself:

Front and back of course.  My name and/or studio is not listed, but no one's is.  The organizer made a big deal over that green symbol of the Garden State Art Weekend, which he claims is a major achievement for the event.  We are on the poster.

As for work, I continued on the latest Robert Johnson block.  Did some work on it at home, and more at the Studio today, all on the image area.  The most obvious changes are to the closest building, the house. I took the window at the end of the house and made it two, side by side, with the rear window being boarded up.  However, I also redid the roof lines, put on better roof shingles, redid the siding, improved the gate and fence, and made some slight adjustments to the two human figures, among other things.   I like the drawing better now, but I am still not sure if it is completed.  No hurry, since the event I need it for is not for a few weeks yet.  Image can be seen below:

I brought the block home to look at some more.   If I make no changes, I will still probably go ahead and cut the margin out, since it is what I start with anyway, and wouldn't be that interesting to people who come to the Studio open house.  And if I make changes to the image area, you'll see that here.

Terraplane Blues part 3

 Since my last visit to the Studio, I spent much time online looking for source material.  I had finished (more or less) the two main human figures (male and female) as well as the third figure, the car.  The way I see it, car bodies are not unlike human bodies from an art point of view, so all three items are figures.  What I was looking for was background material.  Thought about it quite a bit, and decided I needed some buildings and yard.  I had seen some videos on YouTube in recent months that might work.  These characters, working on an old car, left me with the feeling that they were in a lesser neighborhood.  I did know that I could find videos of the worst towns in Illinois (at least according to the guy who made them), and some were towns from the area where I had lived for three years while going to school.  What these towns have in common now is that most are poor, run down from lack of high paying jobs, a lack of income and development, loss of local businesses, etc.  The result is non-urban slums.  When I was in Carbondale, I don't remember any neighborhoods that looked like these, but then again, it's been almost three decades since I lived there, so who knows? I don't remember if any of the buildings I drew were in Carbondale or the surrounding towns.  I also decided to look for some buildings from Clarksdale, Mississippi, right in delta country and arguably the home of the blues.  Robert Johnson used to live there, as did John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and many others. It was also a stop for the Illinois Central railroad, which I used in the Love in Vain print in this series.  In the end, I think the house in front was from Illinois, and the building in the deep background was from Mississippi, but it doesn't really matter.   Below are some pages from my sketchbook, with many renderings of buildings seen online:

When I arrived at the building I saw something familiar at the entrance, a large cardboard box filled with cloth printed with images.  This was Molly work, so she had to be around.  Sure enough, I found her down in our space.  She seemed impressed by the framed prints I had there (Robert Johnson prints from the recent show) and wanted to buy a copy of the Walkin' Blues print.  No hurry, as it may be a while before I see her again, but it's nice to know there is some interest in these things.  As for the box of prints, she was unloading things from her car to make room for more things she needed in her car.  She wished she could spend time working in the Studio, but had to go.

Luckily, I didn't.  I put on some music, my home burned disc of the Reverend Horton Heat (you can read about it back in November of 2021 if you care) which seemed appropriate to the story of the piece. I roughed in two buildings, some yard and driveway, and a fence and gate past the closest house.  Seemed like the kind of neighborhood where people would have a fenced-in yard near their house. The car being worked on is an AMC Javelin, from aspects of the 1968 and 1970 models.  It was that automaker's (a descendent of Hudson and Terraplane) take on the "pony car", which was defined as a low cost, smallish, high powered car, which seemed about right for what I wanted.  I don't know if these are final versions of the background items, but I wanted to get something down to see where I was at.  My goal is to have the drawing done before April 21st, so I can start cutting it at the Open Studio planned for that day.

Speaking of the Open Studio, as I was leaving the building I looked at the cards and pamphlets out on the table near the door, and found there were items for the upcoming Open Studio, same as the previous one, but with the new date, and a purple tone.  I'll have to get photos of them and post them here as we get closer.

2024 Tournament of Art part 3

 Getting to it a little faster this week...

Teams are dwindling now, just four left at this point.  Last round we had 16 at the start, and I had one art school left.  Next round was down to eight, but I still started off with one art school- University of Illinois.  However in that round, they played UConn, which looks unstoppable right now.  UConn won the game and moved on to the Final Four.  They are joined by Purdue, which also looks unstoppable right now. I did pick those two teams to make the Final Four, so that's two teams I got right. The other two teams still alive are Alabama and North Carolina State. I have to give some props to NC State, which was seeded #11, but has beaten a #1, a #3, a #4, and a #6 on the road to get to the Final Four, perhaps another example of the committee really not knowing what is going on with these teams.  (Seton Hall, left out of this basketball tournament despite coming in fourth place in the Big East, is currently in the Final Four of the NIT) 

I have the two teams I have in all the remaining games, so I am in good shape.   (this wasn't just me picking chalk, but teams I have seen play this year, and know what they can do) So in about a week I'll know if I at least picked the games right, even if all my art schools are gone now.