Old Habits

 I had various business to deal with up in Ocean Grove this morning, and the weather was good, so I drove up there. Coming up Main, I could see that men were working on the roof in the back, and sure enough, the dumpster was finally out of the handicapped spaces in the front (although a bunch of pick-ups parked all around the office would have made using them very difficult), but there were plenty of spaces available in the front, so I was able to grab one and unload my car.   First down to my space in the basement to pick up and drop off things, then up to the 2nd floor to draw.  One of the more active artists (organizer of the open studios, among other things) has put together a drawing group.  No lessons, so not a class, but there is a model.  Over the years I have sculpted, painted, and drawn from dozens and dozens of models, as a student and in workshops, and even taught the class at a college for several semesters, and I do credit my time doing this as what made me the artist I am today.  

However, I haven't done any lately.  I was a regular in the group that met in Belmar, but the guy who ran it had to close his business and leave the area, and no one wanted to take over. Then a lot of stuff happened (see the reasons why I've taken so long to do my current boardwalk block), and I haven't done much figure drawing lately.  Even most of the Robert Johnson prints, all of which include figures, were either things I copied from photos or just made up out of my head (those years of practice paying off), however, for larger or more significant characters, I would prefer to work from life.  In any case, some of my upcoming print projects call for figures and I think I could use a little practice. This thing today is not a class, just pay as you go, draw what you want, when you show up.  I think that would work for me.

This not quite class meets on the 2nd floor (in the old 40's room, a place I have taught before myself) and there are tables and such present, so all I had to do was bring drawing stuff, and I have that now.  As is typical we started with short gestural things (30 seconds) and moved onto 1 minute, 3 minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute poses, before finishing with a couple of 25 minute poses. Here you see a couple of the 5 minute pencil drawings, and my best long pose, done with charcoal. (that sort of skirt thing she was wearing for the charcoal was something she brought from home, but I didn't feel like drawing all the spangle things on it)

But I also had some building business to take care of, including bringing in some work to hang on the walls.  What I ended up bringing in were three of my boardwalk diptychs, prints from my Floating World  series.  All have been in many shows, including some held in this building, but not recently, so they may do for this.   All were already framed (though I did switch one from being framed behind glass to behind plexi, much lighter) so I packed them in the car yesterday, and brought them into the building when I arrived.  The three chosen can be seen below:

After the drawing group and cleaning my hands of charcoal as best I can (from inking I have some good soap) I stopped by the office.  Jeanne wasn't in (I was told she's be back soon), but Andrew was, and he said no problem if I dropped off the requested work. Took care of a few things, then put the three pieces into a plastic bag and carried the whole thing to the office.  There I found Jeanne was back, so I took out the pieces and showed her.  She was impressed (possibly because she said she really likes playing Skee-Ball) and looks forward to hanging them upstairs.  (one thing she mentioned was that there is some interest from a guy who does a PBS arts show in doing something about the building, so she really wants things to put on the empty walls, and my prints are busy and colorful, just like the actual boardwalk)  At this point there is unlikely to be a reception or postcards, but it does get things out of my home basement.  If I learn more, I'll post it here.

Boardwalk Days part 18

 Weather reports on tv said that yesterday would be pouring rain at times, and today would be sunny, and those things turned out to be true.  So I stayed in yesterday, and took the trip up to Ocean Grove this morning.  I had various papers in a box in my car from the other day, so this was a good day to take them up there and in the building.  And despite the construction going on, I did find a spare spot in the front lot, so I parked there and carried my box inside safely.  

When I was up there last week, Jeanne asked me about putting up some work.  She was in the process of hanging a new show, and I didn't even realize it was her up on the ladder.  Apparently a lot of the 1st floor is empty right now, and she is willing to hang anything to fill it up. What she was hanging was work from a tenant, and not at all new.  My initial response was doubtful, as I only have a few things that haven't been shown there and I am saving those for the next tenant group show.  But over the weekend I thought about it some more, and decided if she didn't mind something that had been up previously, though a few years ago, I could lend them some boardwalk pieces from the past.  Not the one I had most recently, but ones displayed in the past, which is now a few years ago.  They are all in frames in the basement at home, ready to go, so why not?  Thus my first task on the day was to stop by the office and see her.  She was in and is agreeable to the idea (on the 1st there are only two artists currently showing), so I told her I would bring something in on Thursday (the next sunny day).  Just have to figure what I have down there.  

Next task was to check out the printed work that I had requests for, and clean them up if I could.  Started with music.  Molly had been playing the radio, and loudly, so I switched it to CD, and put in the Bruce disc I had bee listening to.  Still in the American period, with his most successful album, Born In the USA.  Then came a few songs from what I think of as his California period, where he married an actress and moved out there, away from the band that had been on most of his albums.  That didn't work out, so he moved back to New Jersey, married a second woman, and got on with his life.  That's about when I ended those discs of Springsteen, so while he continues to put out new albums, I have seen fewer patterns, and I don't have access to them.  (my 2 disc set of copies covers through 1995) Art continued.  Using a newish pencil eraser, I was able to remove some of the unwanted ink, so that looks like it will work.  I will attack them all on a future visit and try to get them in proper shape.  

Of course, the main thing I was doing was drawing on the new block.  Last night I copied some figures from the internet, all in the background, so not as detailed as if drawing from a person, but it's the best I have right now.  Of course, these are mostly background, so not as important.  I put these figures in where I had roughed in some stick figures last time.  I also looked at my photos of Convention Hall, and made a few adjustments to my block drawing.  I also made a change to the banner being pulled by the plane- fewer words, but a name that reflects an actual boardwalk place of my youth.  Below is a detail of where most of the work was done today, and an overall view of the whole block as it looks now:

I don't know if any of this will stay or not.  Updates to the building will probably remain, the figures will probably all be refined at some point, and maybe more added, while the plane banner may stay the same or change.  I'll figure that out later.  Meanwhile, I may not be done with this Asbury Park woodcut, but it looks like I'll have to pick some new music to work to.

I am not on the boardwalk today

  

This is definitely not a day to be on the boardwalk.  Yes, I am currently working on a print in my boardwalk series and need more references, though I am hoping to get them all via photos I have or can find on the internet.  And I do have ideas left over from years ago for at least 3 others, for all of which I already gathered some references.  Still don't know if I am going to do them, as I don't necessarily have the wood, and definitely don't have the wood filler (which I spread first on the luaun to eliminate the grain) or the sandpaper to make the surface smoother, or all the watercolors I use to have when I made most of them (though the sand paper and watercolors can still be purchased).  On the other hand, if I like the way the current piece turns out I may try more.  Nothing I need to decide today.

Two reasons not to be on the boardwalk today.  One is the weather, which is predicted to be rainy today, and we have had enough rain today to believe that.  But also because today is Memorial Day (or Decoration Day to the older crowd) which is the unofficial start to the summer season, and a good day to avoid any place that would attract a crowd.  The towns around here started filling up last week, when the weather was much nicer, so on Wednesday it was getting hard to get around on the roads around here.  

I have written on this blog in past years about some of my connections to this day, whether it be blues music (Howlin' Wolf's "Decoration Day Blues" was on one of the earliest blues albums I owned, which let to a lot more record/tape/disc purchases, my radio shows, and the Robert Johnson series I am currently working on and exhibiting and selling), life in Carbondale, IL (which is among the towns that claim to have invented to holiday, and have a case for joining that extensive list), teaching (have had a lot of students in the military- their past and present), or my own artwork.  So no need to write about it again, though you should be able to find it if you want to know more.  Meanwhile, in the coming days I do expect to get back to my current piece, set on Asbury Park's boardwalk (the above photo shows a piece of it) in the coming days, hope to have the block drawn by the end of June, and the whole print finished sometime over the summer.  At that point maybe I'll be ready to take another trip to the boardwalk.  

Boardwalk Days part 17

 Pouring rain this morning as I showered, but news showed via radar that it would end and clearer weather was coming into the area, so when the rain drops became less numerous, I decided to drive up to the Studio.  However, I remembered that last Thursday I had to find my way to the back parking lot and walk around the whole building to get in, and I certainly didn't want that to happen.  When I did get there I saw that work seemed be done on the roof, but the dumpster was still occupying the handicapped spaces, and not surprisingly, the sidewalk wasn't done yet, which meant the main driveway in and out of the back lot was still not available.  Luckily there were a few spots available in the front lot, so I did find parking.  

Last night I had done some sketching of my location for the latest boardwalk print, from photos taken of those buildings at the time I started it.  So far it's saving me from going back there to sketch in person, as I did a few times back when I started it.  I sketched these architectural details in my sketchbook, easier to bring with me to the Studio.  Also coming with me was more Bruce (made sense for this Asbury scene), but this time Disc II, which picked up where the last one had ended.  So nothing about Asbury Park itself, but from what I call his American period- or in other words, songs from The River and Nebraska.  (written about back in March of 2020 if you want to know more)  As that disc played, I made changes to the block, all concentrating on the Convention Hall part of the image, as can be seen below:

Around noon I set aside the art to head upstairs to talk to the guy who is running a figure drawing group.  Explained how the weather had been discouraging, but mostly I wasn't there because I had ordered art materials, but they hadn't arrived yet.  He did say that they will be doing it next week (I wasn't sure because of the holiday), so maybe next week I will be doing that.  

Then back down to the basement to document and put everything away.  Took a photo of the whole block as it exist now:

Got home before my parents left, and found a bunch of art supplies waiting for me.  Looks like I'll be doing some drawing next week. 

Boardwalk Days part 16

 Another sunny day today, so I decided to go up to the Studio.  Didn't really have to do any work, and with the work going on around the outside of the building, I had no idea if there would be any place to park.  But I went up because of the weather, and I had a box of paper to bring inside.  That doesn't work so well on a rainy day. 

As I drove up Main I saw that the back parking lot was empty, but still caution tape stretched across the side of the parking lot with the driveway off Lawrence. Continued on to the front lot.  Still work being done on the roof, and a dumpster was still parked in the handicapped spaces, and workers still working on the sidewalk, but there seemed to be a few spaces available in the front.  I was able to get one, so I was happy.  Went in through the front door, carrying my paper box with me.  

Set aside the box for the moment (wouldn't need any paper today) and got to drawing on the latest block. Still had the Bruce Springsteen disc with me (in my jazz/blues book from last week), and since I was going back to work on my Asbury boardwalk scene, it made sense for today as well.  This time I skipped some of the early songs, and as a result got to hear some tracks from Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The River.  I consider these albums to be part of his American period, when the music was less focused on his New Jersey background and more on national events and conditions.  For the most part, I have tried to make my art with an American focus, which may come from a plan to be more universal, and may come from the fact that as part of my education I lived for several years in Virginia and in Illinois, and time spent there made me more aware and interested in life in those places.  (to put things in their perspective, this boardwalk series is very much about New Jersey life, while the Robert Johnson series is not, and the prints could be about life anywhere)  

I do need some more reference for the boardwalk print, and hadn't had time to do that yet, though I have spent a little time looking at the scene in photos, and had some things I can do.  For example, I noticed that the benches have three boards across the back and seat, not the two boards I had drawn, so I made those changes.  There is something along the roofline of Convention Hall that doesn't match anything there, but I did see some things I could fix or draw in.  I very much roughed in a few of the planned figures that will occupy some the space between buildings, but I want to get more specific images of those figures to work from before I do final versions.  Results of today's brief session can be seen below:

I'll be needing a lot more time with drawing this one, but I decided to head home before my parents left for their latest thing, so I'll deal with it later. It's waited years, so a few days won't make a difference.  Meanwhile, before leaving I put my paper box in the usual place I keep it.

Terraplane Blues part 13

 While this print is officially finished, I still need to pull a few more copies, such as the one for possible inclusion in the Robert Johnson show in Nashville in the future.  So far my contact has told me it should be acceptable to send a digital photo of whatever image is used, although I also told him I'd be willing to send the actual print itself if they want to photograph it in a way that I am not equipped to do.  But in either case I need a better print than the one I pulled the other day, so I had a goal for today's Studio session- pull that suitable print.  

First step was to tear down some paper to the right size.  So while my hands were still clean, I took out my paper storage box from the place in the Studio where it is stored, and took care of that.  This left me with only one full sheet of the Rives Lightweight I have been using for this series.  I definitely need more.  Then I got out my tools, ink, etc.  Didn't put the box away as I had more plans for it.  For music I brought my pop/rock book of discs, and from this selected my home burned Dap Kings disc- a full album of Sharon Jones, plus as much of the Binky Griptite Ghetto Funk Power Hour bonus disc as I could fit on the blank disc I recorded it on.  (you can read more about this disc on this blog back in June of 2019 if you want to know more) My reason for choosing this was because Amy Winehouse has been in the news lately, as a bio-pic is coming out soon.  I don't have any of her albums, but I do know that her most successful album was done with the backing of the Dap Kings, and in my opinion what made the album successful was the band's music, not her singing. 

Music on, I got down to business.  I used carving tools to quickly remove a few bits of stray marks from the block, then began to ink it up.  Having inked this block a few times now, it was not too difficult.  I inked the block, then printed the image on one of my recently torn pieces of paper.  Result can be seen below:

I think this new proof is suitable for any purpose, but I will eventually pull one more with the song lyrics, just to have in case I need it. But I don't need it right away, so that won't happen right away.  I blotted the block, cleaned up, all while the disc played.  As I left, I took the paper storage box with me. 

Over the past weekend I had done some more looking in the basement.   As usual I was searching for one thing, and ran across another thing I was looking for.  What I had found was a box of rolled paper with a very heavy cardboard cylinder inside.  I think I brought it home the last time I visited the storage unit, but hadn't looked at the contents, just remembering that I had some paper stored in it.  What I found was some sheets of hot pressed heavy paper (perhaps some Bristol board, or at least something suitable for future Christmas cards), a few sheets of heavyweight cold pressed paper (left over from a drawing class, where I gave it to students for the final ink wash drawing if they wanted something more substantial than what was in their drawing pads- something that was donated to the art department after the new operators decide the college bookstore would no longer stock art supplies) and what I took for 15 sheets of the Rives Lightweight.  So today I brought home what I had left of what I knew was Rives Lightweight, compared it to what was in the basement, and finding it matched, put 10 sheets of the basement paper into the plastic envelope that held what I kept in the Studio, and put it back in my car. 

I will adjust my order of art supplies to reflect my new reality, and call it in soon. 

Boardwalk Days part 15

 It's been a long time since this work was mentioned here, about 10 years since the last post, and about 12 years since the last time I worked on it.  A lot has happened since then, and here's a little explanation.  I think this was the seventh print in the boardwalk series, also known as The Floating World.  One of the boardwalk prints I finished was called Boardwalk Nights, and it was a scene of a boardwalk at night- completely fictitious, though thoroughly accurate. (Many times people saw it in shows and claimed they had been to this boardwalk, but I knew it was a lie, as I made it up myself.)  However it did occur to me that maybe I should make a boardwalk daytime .print of a real place, and chose Asbury Park, which is within walking distance of my Studio, and mostly because no town loves itself more than Asbury Park, and any art that features any recognizable part of Asbury would likely be shown in galleries in town.  I picked a piece of space that I particularly liked, and set about drawing fairly accurate renderings of those buildings.  

Then some things happened.  We had a major hurricane roll through, which meant a loss of power for more than a week, and hours devoted to cleaning up the basement where much of my older work had been stored.  Part of my  walking path to that location space was torn up, which made it a little more inconvenient to get there.  As the end of the fall semester approached, I had to devote a lot of time to grading of student work.  The type of wood I had been using became unavailable.  My sources for ink, paper, mat board, and frame parts all closed or went out of business, leaving me scrambling to find alternatives.  A pandemic hit our nation, which affected everyday supplies (food, paper products, etc), teaching jobs, and exhibition opportunities,  although somehow Molly and I were categorized as "essential workers" so we could still use our Studio space, if we could get to it.  Thieves took advantage of the mostly empty building to break into that same Studio space, and from there enter the building.  (Molly and I had little worth stealing, so we didn't lose much)  I was hit with two potentially fatal medical conditions, which took a lot of my time, and continue to do so.  And I probably came up with more ideas of prints I wanted to do.  I looked at the in-progress block drawing at times, last seen in the apartment I had back then, but it went into storage and I hadn't seen it in a while.  At my last visit to the storage unit I found the block again and brought it home.  Maybe it's time to work on it again.

I finished the last Robert Johnson block earlier this week, and I'm not quite ready to start the next one, so it seemed a good time to get back to my boardwalk scene.  Today was a little rainy, but nothing I couldn't handle, and I had brought the block up to my Studio on a sunny day earlier in the week.  However, there were problems.  For one, the whole front lot was full, and a dumpster was occupying the handicap spaces, so that was out.  The sidewalk and driveway from Lawrence Ave to our back parking lot were all torn up and closed, so I couldn't use that.   However, from the street it appeared that I could get to that lot from Main, so I went around the long block and found my way to a parking spot.  The back door was unavailable, so I had to walk completely around the building to get in. 

For music I had brought with me a home burned disc of favorites from Bruce Springsteen, what I call Volume 1.  I made the two disc set in chronological order, and so what I listened to today were songs from the first three albums, which is what I think of as Bruce's New Jersey albums, the first of which is called, Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ, which seemed very appropriate for a scene set on Asbury's boardwalk.  However, before I got any further, I headed upstairs to find out more about the figure group that I had read was meeting on Thursdays on the second floor.  The windows were covered, and I was told the doors were locked (made sense for a class with a nude model) so I waited for it to end.  Andrew let some people locked out of the room in, but I continued to wait.  Fifteen minutes after the group was supposed to end I checked it out for myself and found dozens of people sitting in chairs, not drawing, and a little sign on the door saying that the drawing group was moved to the first floor.  But at that moment I saw Joe (the organizer) by his studio door, so I asked him the questions I had, which is why I was up there in the first place.  Problem solved, back to the basement.  

Early on I tested my ability to cut the wood with the tools I had, as this wood was at least 12 years old, but luckily it worked.  Didn't do much drawing today, just fixed up the benches in the foreground a little and added an element planned from the beginning, an airplane towing a banner with words.  I remember such things being common enough on beaches when I was young, plus it filled up a section of the otherwise empty sky.  Exactly what it should say I wasn't sure.  I do remember seeing messages about "Schickhaus Franks" up in the sky when I was a kid, but I think those were skywriting, not banners.  So for now I put a message about a common beach activity, but it may change.  What I added can be seen in the diptych below:

I do plan to add some figures, doing such activities as riding bicycles, on skateboards, walking, sitting on those benches, putting on suntan lotion, and whatever else I come up with.  (part of the reason I want to get some practice with figure)  Plus there are pieces of the buildings that I have no idea what I started- but I think I have enough photos of the space to figure it out.  And I doubt that I have the proper watercolors to finish the piece, but I won't know that until I start to color it, and that is way off.  (again, photos of the buildings will help figure out some of it)  I have ideas for two more prints in this series (ideas that go back over a decade), but I'm not going to worry about those until I finish this one. I was let out the back ramp to the parking lot, so at least my trip back to my car wasn't too long.

Terraplane Blues part 12-finished

 At first I wasn't sure if I was going to go in to the Studio today, but then I decided I would.  Then I wasn't sure what I was going to do there.  I planned to take a better proof of my most recent block, but wasn't sure if I would include the lyric or not.  In the end I decided not to- I won't need them for the Nashville show, and in theory, that is still the next possible plan for this piece.  I had a piece of print paper that was a little smaller than the one I used yesterday, but I knew it would just cover the image area (and text if I had done that), so not really suitable for an edition print, but good enough to record any changes.  At first I looked for my rock/pop book of discs to bring with me, but couldn't find it.  Had I left it at the Studio yesterday?  So for today I brought two loose discs (in cases) I had in my home pile, and a block I may work on next, and used the sunny day to go up to my building.  (possible rain is predicted the rest of the week)  The inked Terraplane block was still there, sitting in my drying rack.

As soon as I got to my space, I saw the disc book I had left there.  Years ago I just kept it there, but brought it home to have things to listen to as my main collection is still in storage.  But I had brought new discs to listen to, and put on one of those.  I went with one made by my college friend Doug, including two albums- Mountain Jack by Hans Rotenberry and Brad Jones, and Street Songs Of Love by Alejandro Escovedo, a disc I wrote about on this blog back in June of 2022.  Although it is two full albums, it is not that long.  First step was to remove a few bits of blue tape, then I proceeded to do a little more cutting.  I used to proof from yesterday to decide what more needed to be cut- maybe some changes, but mostly spots that picked up ink unintentionally.  Now they wouldn't.  The process made my hands good and dirty, but the ink wasn't thick, so washed off with soap and water.  Then I used much thicker ink to roll up the block for printing.  I carefully placed my printing paper, which indeed just covered the image area without much margin to spare.  I rubbed it, and re-inked as necessary, as you can see below:

I was careful enough not to let the paper slip, so I got a useful image, if not one I can include in the edition.  The resulting new and improved print doesn't look much different from the first proof (other than the small paper margins), but I can see the differences and am happy with the results.  Check it out for yourself:

I still want to pull one more proper print on larger paper, and may to one with the lyric text, but that can wait until the block is properly dry.  Meanwhile, I will declare this one done, and work on something else next time.  

My first disc ran out, so I put on another one to do my cleaning of tools and palette.  What I had brought with me was Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, which you can read about back on August of 2019 if you want to know more.  Everything (including my hands) got clean, so I left the new proof and the blotted block in the rack, yesterday's first proof hanging on my tack wall to keep drying, and after a stop at the store, I went home.  

Terraplane Blues part 11

 I have found myself curious as to what this will look like printed, but a bunch of appointments late last week kept me out of the Studio.  No problem with that today, so I took advantage of the nice weather to get up to Ocean Grove.  I had no messages from the building saying that they were working more on the roof, and when I got there it seemed done and the parking lot was open, so I got a nice space to park in.  I had brought my Terraplane block, along with my rock/pop disc collection.  No one there, so I put on some music.  In this case it was my disc copy of Other Voices, Other Rooms by Nanci Griffith.  The long story of how this album ended up in my Studio set can be found on this blog in a post from December of 2021. As for why I decided to listen to it,  mostly because I remembered this album of duets/covers has one where the chorus talks about the Northern Lights ("Night Rider's Lament" with additional vocals by Don Edwards I believe), and that phenomenon has been in the news a lot lately since an unusual solar storm has resulted in the aurora borealis being unusually visible in our area this past weekend.  (unfortunately, this visibility was after 3 am and we had constant cloud cover every night)  Also brought a section of newspaper I saved from the recycling pile to use as a blotter for the block.

I had printing paper of the necessary size left over from last week's printing, so I didn't have to worry about that.  Got out the rest of my inking and cleaning tools and materials and got started.  From looking at the block I figured that it was properly cut, but I wouldn't know for sure what I had until I printed it.  And that I did.  This was a first proof, and I decided not to do the lettering (I know what that looks like) but it still told me enough.  In the near future I will pull another (and hopefully better) proof with the text, and have just a few minor things to clean up and fix, but the main mix of black, white, and gray seems to be what I want, so this may be close to done.  Results from today can be seen below:

Next time I will probably try to get a better proof of this block, but soon it will be time to work on something else, and I have a few ideas. 

Terraplane Blues part 10

 A beautiful day, almost summer like, so a good day to drive to the Studio.  I wondered if there would be limited parking in front, thanks to classes and roof work, but there wasn't.  There was no parking in front- the driveway blocked off to keep everyone out of the lot, so I had to take Lawrence Ave around to the back driveway to the back lot. In the old days I sometimes parked in the old back lot- a locked back gate (padlock, same was the one on the iron gate at the main door) off the Main Street driveway, as it had a ramp down to the basement.  But that lot is gone now, along with the fenced in area, disappearing with the annex and the tunnel connecting it to the main building.  But here's what it looked like when I first moved in:

The new back lot is partly paved and lined, and is good for when additional parking is needed, and today it was pretty full.  I took an available handicapped space because I have the hang tag to do so.  And the main back door was open (that ramp door is locked from the inside unless opened) so I got in and made my way to the basement.  I had brought music on disc with me, in this case the live album by X, an early Los Angeles based punkish band first active in the 1970's.  I've owned this album (Live at the Whiskey-A-Go-Go) since my undergrad days, and you can read about it and the band on this blog back in June of 2022 if you so desire.  I've listened to it while making art for decades.  

Today I wanted to finish the cutting of my Terraplane block, a piece I began almost a month ago.  In this case I needed to complete the cutting of the lyrics I adapted for the print. It all went as expected, and I finished the letters around the time the disc ran out.  I hung around for a few more minutes to finish removing the wood below the letters.  Tape would have covered it up I suppose, but I felt like getting rid of it completely.  Results are below:

I took the block home to look at some more, but unless I find something that needs fixing, I'm done with the cutting and will try to pull a proof sometime, probably next week.   Getting out of the back lot is an issue.  Almost impossible to make a left turn out of the driveway onto Main, and the back driveway leads to a one way away from that Main (hard to explain to people that our building is at the corner of Main and Main, but that's where it is) so since I had to make a right anyway, I decided to take advantage of the nice day and this time of year to cut through Ocean Grove to the ocean, and take that road down toward home.  A month from now I won't be able to use this route, what with a crosswalk on almost every corner, and pedestrians using them almost constantly to cross the road to and from the beach, but today I only had to stop once, in Avon. 

Printing Something Else

 After a few times printing copies of "Love in Vain", today I got to print something else.  It all goes to the same place- my Virginia order.  The last thing to print was a copy of "Cross Roads Blues", the latest finished print in my Robert Johnson series.  I do have one digital image of the image area of the print, but I have never done a proof that includes the lyrics, but that is what I am requested to make, so today was a first.  

When I was driving up the street I noticed a lot of cars in the back parking lot, but didn't think much of it at the time, as I could also see some cars in there front lot.  But as I came around the corner, I could see people up on the roof, scraping shingles off and sending them down to the ground, so parking near the building was out.  Luckily I could see some empty spaces around the perimeter, so not a real problem.  However, I also saw a lot of caution tape near the front.  As it turned out, I probably could have gotten around it and to the front door, but I decided not to take a chance with getting hit with debris, and entered the building through the office.  It turned out no one was there anyway, and it took me to the basement anyway, which is where I was heading.  I was by myself as usual, so I put on music.  In this case, my home burned copy of Bob Brozman's The Devil's Slide, made from the later extended disc, and not from the vinyl copy that first appeared at the radio station in the late 80's.  You can read about this on this blog back in February of 2020.

Before I did anything else, I checked paper.  I need to place an order soon, and I wanted to know what I had before buying anything else.  I have enough paper and ink to fill any orders I should have in the near future, but I will need more of everything soon, including for shipping work to Virginia.  That settled, I pulled out the block, tore a piece of Rives Lightweight to the right size for one of these recent prints, and then got all my ink stuff.   The block seemed to ink fine, but did require some re-inking to get a proper proof.  The letters had never been printed before, so this took a little extra work, but I got it all done as the first disc was ending, and I liked the results, which can be seen below:

As I cleaned up, I put on another disc from my jazz/blues book, Djangology Volume I by Django Reinhardt, probably with violinist Stephane Grappelli, though I don't have the original disc with me to confirm that.  My home burned disc says it was recorded in 1934-5, though again I can't confirm that. I put these discs together as the music is similar.  The big difference is that Brozman was active in the 80's and specialized in playing old music (that album includes two Johnson covers, so it fit with today's print), while Reinhardt was active from the 20's to the late 40's (dead by the 1950's), and the music sounds old because it was old.  So that played while I cleaned up my tools, palette, etc.  The new proof went into the drying rack for now.  

That makes 5 prints done, and one more to go.  Next time I work on something else.

Terraplane Blues part 9

 Time to get back to my Terraplane block, a week after the last time I worked on it.  In that time I did a bit of research and a lot of looking at the block, so I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I had a chance to work on it again.  For example, I figured out what the spot near the bottom middle was by looking at one of source photos for the car.  It's a piece of the odd front bumper that kind of wraps around the car from the front to the sides.  The front of the bumper is set back a bit from the front grill, so not visible in my drawing.  In a color piece I would use that to deal with it, but this is black and white, so I just have value to make use of.  Luckily I can do a lot with relative value.  So instead of making the bumper silvery to represent chrome, and the body a bold color typical of these cars, it's all black and white or an optical gray.  

So I brought the block and good tools to the Studio today, along with home burned disc of songs from the Wipers, 20 favorite tracks from the initial existence of the band- 1978 to 1988.  (read about it on this blog in July 2019)  The Wipers are one of those bands that I associate with particular times and places, such as my times at Montclair State and Southern Illinois, and it can bring me there.  However I made this disc to bring to Texas, but never listened to it there, so this music does not make me think of that time or place.  No matter where you are, it's good music.

Music on, I went to work cutting my block.  Besides the piece of the bumper, I did a little more in the engine compartment, and then the male figure, busily working on the car's engine.  The music wasn't done yet, so went ahead and cut the top line of text, finishing that.  The fact that I do all the text backwards seems to impress a lot of people (once again brought up by many who came to the Open Studio a few weeks ago), but as I always say, I've done so much backwards text that I can block print backwards as fast as I can forwards, and when it comes to cutting, a shape is a shape is a shape.  The practice I got doing names of saints in my Everyman series probably helped as much as anything.  Results from today can be seen below:

It looks like all I have left in this first round of cutting is the rest of the text.  After that, I print it up and see what I have.  If I like the results, I declare it done and move on to the next project.