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This is the last painting in the series. It's called "Never what I expected" and that's actually my mom in the foreground and me in the background. I got the colors and trees from this day I was driving into Edmond (where I live) from Oklahoma City. The grass was all brown and even and the colors of the ground and the sky were perfectly in tune muted colors-bluish green and tan. Then the cone shaped evergreen trees plopped here and there in the grass weren't green but really dark deep brown and it looked perfect. They matched the colors of the crows flying (if only in my mind). The crows in this one are small and flying away to signify literally the ending of this series but also the relief and lightness I felt at the moment of the composition. Anyway, It's one of my favorites.
So this week and next week are the openings for the Art 365 exhibition and I'm so excited to be done and actually see everything complete and installed in the gallery with other people milling around and talking about my work and everyone else's work and all our blood sweat and tears from the last year. So if you can make it, come to Untitled ArtSpace this Friday or next Friday!! See you then...
The awesome filmmakers that are doing to documentary about the Art 365 process came to see me print today. It went really well. I'm always a little nervous about being filmed, having to talk about my work and stuff without practicing first and all is a little scary, but once I got going it was good. I always do that, just start blabbing about some detail and pretty soon I'm describing the history of etching. Anyway, this is one of the images that I proofed during the time they were there. It's called "Sifting you out." My favorite part was telling and showing them how etching works. Most people have no idea and can't visualize the process of etching so it's cool that I can demonstrate it and people will get to see it on the film!
This is the third print in the series. The three white blocks are computer screens. It's kind of hard to see in this small picture, but there are two crows, one is looking at the figure with its mouth open, like it's talking to him. A lot of times in my work the birds have more to do with the narrative than the figures. Like they're the ones doing all the thinking and talking. I guess that's why I think of them as the inside part of me. Like what I'm thinking, not showing on the outside. The collage element in the bottom right is a page from some kind of pamphlet I got from my grandma. It's in Latvian so I can't read it but it says something about genocide and some religious things. I liked it because of the red text, and because this is kind of a sad and tense print and the page made me have that feeling too. This is another print where I added a lot of drypoint to make things darker or softer. The leaf pattern is a linoleum block print in a bluish green color. This print looks much better in person because it's so dark that you can only see the nuances when you're up close to it. I think it kind of looks like he's waist deep in this big muddy sea with only the lights from the computer screens to show him what's out there.
This is the fourth print in the series. It's a plate that I didn't like the original drawing, so I scraped it down and the new image is all done in drypoint- scratching lines directly into the metal plate with a needle-type tool. I love drypoint lines because they're so irregular and soft. They look like scars. My favorite part of this print is the top bird's biggest wing, right where the dark and light meet. It reminds me of this long diagonal scar I have on my arm from when Justin and I were taking apart a couch last year- I pulled some fabric off and caught my arm on the edge of a spring. It was really deep so I still have the scar. I like how the skin changes and gets all crinkly and stuff. I like working on paper-paintings and prints because it's like skin. It wrinkles and buckles and has lines and creases. There's a lot more to the story behind the print but that's part of it anyway...
Here's the final print that I framed and will be in the show! I've got all the prints done and framed, and I'm so happy that they turned out so well. They all look like "me" but each one has a different feeling to it, from the way that I printed it and also the drawing and etching methods. Overall I'm really happy with them and can't wait to see them all up in the gallery!!
Here's the final proof of the first print in the series. There's still some background color and chine colle (collage) elements to add, but I've got the key image where I want it. yay!
Things have been crazy and changing lately and kind of overwhelming at times. I guess that's usually how the holidays are. I always feel like I'm forgetting to do something, or send something or talk to someone. This year seemed worse than others for that. I hate feeling like I'm not accomplishing things that I want to. Or what I think I should be doing. I make myself crazy thinking about it, all the family gatherings and the bills and work and filing and taxes and relationship maintenance, and I feel like I'm everywhere and things are getting away from me. I hate it. I just want a break. Usually I just clean my house obsessively and organize things to have control over something that will make me calmer. It usually works for a day or two.
This is the last painting in the series. It's called "Never what I expected" and that's actually my mom in the foreground and me in the background. I got the colors and trees from this day I was driving into Edmond (where I live) from Oklahoma City. The grass was all brown and even and the colors of the ground and the sky were perfectly in tune muted colors-bluish green and tan. Then the cone shaped evergreen trees plopped here and there in the grass weren't green but really dark deep brown and it looked perfect. They matched the colors of the crows flying (if only in my mind). The crows in this one are small and flying away to signify literally the ending of this series but also the relief and lightness I felt at the moment of the composition. Anyway, It's one of my favorites. 
