My art show was last Friday and I’m still trying to recover from the loss of sleep, work, and my social life. I learned a lot about this show, which is mostly plan ahead. I got exactly done what I wanted to get done – a life size standing bear (6’3″ tall, to be exact). I wanted to fill the space a bit better by having three standing bears. The other two are pasted on glue, waiting to be cut out. It’s unfortunate as to how close I got but I chose 2 hours of sleep instead plus a wall installation I titled “Recur & Repair” to give the bear an environment and further support my statement.

I named the bear, “Mary’s Grizzly Bear” because I like to name each animal after someone who had some kind of influence on the piece. Mary Toscano had a huge part in helping me complete this by giving me the idea to cut the wood block in half, since I do not have access to any rolling press long enough. I literally would not have been able to complete this without her. The only challenge I came across that I am still trying to solve is when I paste the paper back together on the plywood, the line is obvious. Each print is inked separately so I’m sure I just need to carefully ink them the same amount, and the darker the better. If anyone else has any other advice, I’m all ears!

The response I got was really great and I appreciate everyone’s support! Here’s my artist statement:

Tags Fresh Boutique Grizzly Bear Mary Toscano woodcut