Another Breakthrough

After a long hiatus, I am making a post to share some images from my first quarter in graduate school.

I find myself in a luxurious space, being paid to be a student and able to make more art than I ever have in any other period of my life. I am laden with ideas, comforted by support and surrounded by inspiration. I have an art studio outside my home for the first time and it is a beautiful space. It was grimy and disheveled when we arrived, three strangers, spanning three decades in age from three different states with three different lives. Together we cleaned, painted and arranged to create a peaceful environment for our imaginings.

I have waited many years to be in this spot and I intend to engage fully, making the most of each opportunity. I am in a place where I am ready to explore and play.

The first image is a collage made from my first ever lithography edition. What an incredible process! I entitled it "Still Breathing".

In addition to plate lithography I have started stone lithography and also worked in various relief processes.

As my final project in releif, I created a variable edition of four books entitled "Ways of Knowing Bugs". Each was made of 2 prints that combined relief and litho with six chin colles. This is an image of one of the mock-ups I made as a preliminary. All of the works are relatively small. The book is 8" tall, each print in the collection above (25 in all) is 71/2" x 11".

The middle image (above) is the most complex lithography I have created, with two plates of color and one with black ink on vellum. It is on display right now in the Hopkins Gallery at The Ohio State University and is titled, "Settled In".

I have been raising silkworms as part of my creative work for the last four seasons.

I brought eggs to my studio at the start of the quarter. I also brought an abandoned doll house that I saved from being taken to the landfill. Somehow the two projects became one and the result is also in Hopkins Hall at the Recent Arrivals show (of first year MFA students). I hope to post more pics from that soon. These are stills from the video that is part of the piece.