Oxen plowing a year late but plowing nonetheless

Well, here it is, a year late but sometimes the oxen run into troubles...

I dedicated this print to those who taught us to keep the plow in the ground no matter what life brings. After all, the fields can't wait and the harvest won't come if we don't keep working. So here it is, a little woodblock print in the Japanese tradition; must say I enjoy the change in process.



Aside from that, I wanted to do something to benefit Haiti and decided to use my ebay store to do just that. So from now until the end of February, maybe longer, who knows! I will donate pretty much all my profit from auction sales on ebay. The donation happens automatically when a purchase is made and it makes me happy to know that my art is being used for the good of all those poor people.



Two more prints already on the bench, an engraving and a puzzle collaboration print. It feels good to be back in the studio and this year I vow to keep the plow in the ground.
http://1000woodcuts.com

Carving Goldwell blocks these days

While I was at my residency last October at the Goldwell Open Air Museum, I fell back to my old habit of taking a bunch of "sketch blocks" with me on daily walks.

Here are some of them. I favor Sharpie markers as my sketching weapon. No room for mistakes that way which makes me capture things in a very spontaneous and direct manner.

I made quite a few of these and plan to print them as sketches and bind them as a coloring book.

Here are some progress pictures of the smaller of the two East blocks. This one is the Red Barn as seen from the East.

One down, seven to go! Oh yeah, and all the little ones...

Workshop at Goldwell Encore!

Once more I'm dragging a few unsuspecting souls out into the quiet of the desert for another workshop with all proceeds to benefit the Goldwell Open Air Museum http://www.goldwellmuseum.org/

In addition to joining their Board of Directors I have been ordained their Workshop Director? Organizer? Anyway, I will be recruiting instructors and attempting to put together a program of workshops and demonstrations.

The Red Barn Art Center is ideal for workshops because of its remote location. Participants can work in a great setting without distractions and the desert has a way of making us focus on what's important: ART!

For starters, here is the information on mine:

Intermediate Woodcut Printmaking Workshopwith Maria Arango
February 20-22, 2009, Red Barn Art Center Instructor: Maria Arango (2008 Artist-in-Residence)Members: $140 for both days Non-Members: $175 for both days Beatty Residents: $50 per dayAdditional studio time: $25 per day

Woodcut printmaking is a very simple and rewarding process. An image is drawn on a block of wood (or linoleum). The areas that are not part of the image are cut out, leaving the image in relief. Ink is rolled onto the block, paper is placed on the inked block, and pressure is applied to the back of the paper. When the paper is lifted the image is transferred, transformed by the cutting, fresh and beautiful.

This workshop will cover the essentials of relief printmaking and introduce more advanced techniques. Instructor will demonstrate various techniques to achieve multi-color woodcuts, including puzzle woodcuts, reduction woodcuts and multi-block woodcuts. Participants will be encouraged to complete a multi-color project during the workshop. Participants of every level can be accommodated. In the spirit of printmaking tradition, participants will create a minimum of one small edition in order to exchange prints with every other participant and walk away with a beautiful collection.

Two full days of dedicated instruction from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, on Saturday and Sunday.To reserve your space, send an email to goldwell@goldwellmuseum.org with the word WORKSHOP in the subject line.Lodging is available in nearby Beatty, lunch, a Friday night arrival dinner and all basic supplies will be provided. For more information call 702- 870-9946.

Goldwell Blocks Get Going

I can't believe it's been four months since my residency last October!

Anyhow, I managed some trench digging projects (ongoing) and other home things and now I'm beginning to carve the 8 Goldwell Blocks.

First cuts are always pretty cool; I'm using cherry plywood which shows the marks very well and allows me to see exactly what's going to happen in the print. Almost exactly.

Notice to the right of my block is my new favorite device for keeping tools handy: a magnetic tool organizer from either Rockler.com or Woodcraft.com, I forget which. Keeps all my carving tools handy, at eye level and off my working desk-- not that my working desk is clean at any time, but the tool holder helps.

The second picture is of my favorite helper. She makes me stand up by taking over my chair because she knows I carve so much better when standing (hmmm...)

Holiday Greetings from Las Vegas?

How's this for a strange Las Vegas almost-Christmas??

Last time I saw snow like this was 1979. I used to ride a bike in those days, not for pleasure but as transportation. I believe that was the year I abandoned my road bike in favor of a mountain bike, more grip on them fat tires.

And now, a carol...

• 12 broken branches
• 11 flattenned oleanders
• 10 hours of snow
• 9 frozen palm trees
• 8 years a'coming
• 7 broken cacti
  
• 6 snowball fights
  
• 5 freaked out kitties
• 4 inches of sno-ow
• 3 snow angels
  
• 2 howling wolf-dogs
• 1 gorgeous sunset
• and a partridge in a pear treeeeeee

thank you, thank you very much...

Updated Latest Works

My latest creation: "Moonshadow" is done on black Arches paper, a cork color block and cherry line block.

Printing on black paper with opaque inks can be tricky because the opacity is different for each color. Obviously white prints best, but it also "eats" other colors and makes everything milky.

This time I chose to use pearl pigment in the inks to make the image glow and give opacity to the subtle colors wihout milk. Not that I'm against milk, but with breakfast, not on my prints. The pearl pigment makes the inks shimmer.

When the prints were drying in the studio, the image could be seen in the dark. I thought it was pretty cool to have a fluorescent moon lady (or a bunch of them) hanging in the studio. The cork once again traps some of the ink and spits it back out in darker lines and clumps, but this time I used lighter ink on the moon to let the black paper add some irregular shadows on the moon.

So there she is, "Moonshadow" in all her glory.

Goldwell Adventures Update and the Red Barn Art Center

The Goldwell Adventure has been partially uploaded. I uploaded pictures from the workshop which show off the interior of the Red Barn Art Center and me working away. Well, if you can call making art in eden "working".

I also uploaded pictures of the workshop, some of my faithful and fearless students, and their work. It was fun leading them into the world of the woodcut in such a great place.

Photo albums of the place itself are coming but there are about 1200 photos to go through and I get tired of sitting, click, click, click...so they will get there but in due time. Meanwhile, the view to the South is prominent in the Goldwell Project page, it's almost enchanting even in a small web size. Imagine the silence and the wind brushing gently against the creosote ocean...

What did you do with YOUR Cairn?

I'm taking my Cairn on the road to show off all my Baren friends to my workshop attendees this next weekend at the Goldwell Open Air Museum.

Should be a nice way to expose new initiates into the woodcut art to a variety of carving styles and, at the same time, smaller image suggestions.

Here is what Lynita Shimizu did with her Cairn! I cracked up...

Check it out at the project page and send me your images of the Cairn, framed, shown, exposed...???

I got my plexiglass and will be sticking mine on the ceiling also; then I can see everyone while I work.

Is everyone ready for the next Great Puzzle Print?

Woodcuts in the desert

My temporary gallery at the Valley of Fire Visitor's Center. This is a small Nevada state park that is just beautiful to visit, especially (and almost exclusively) in the winter.

Compared to an art festival, this is an easy setup. I used my festival panels for the back wall and also the browse bins for information on woodcuts, business cards and, of course those portable matted works that hopefully will find their way into the suitcases of tourists.

The park benefits from the artist's sales and for the artist, it is a chance to show works to countless tourists and other desert loving critters.
Woodcuts are again at an advantage because they are so rarely seen in these parts. Of course I have free for the taking my standard "How to Make Woodcuts" handout. Knowing that the State Park gets a percentage is huge for me. As I grow older, I yearn for the days when the desert was a largely uninhabited place. More and more developers are building and building and it feels good to be a part of a preservation movement.

The weather forecast for the rest of February in these parts calls for spring-like 60's and 70's, and, of course... sunny and clear!