Christmas has come early for this girl. I was gifted a Wood Engraving workshop at SaltGrass Printmakers with Koichi Yamamoto, a printing genius who currently teaches at the University of Tennessee. I first heard of him in 2005 when I was at Utah State and he was the head of the Printmaking Department there. I hadn’t yet dipped my pretty little hands into the inky world of printmaking and when I finally decided to do so, he was gone. I never even spoke with him and only got to know him through his work left on the walls and I always wondered how my art and skills would be if I got to learn from him. So, the guy surprised me early by saying he bought me the two day workshop, which took place last week. I was thrilled and couldn’t wait! I went in for the experience and came out with wide eyes.

The maple woodblocks we carved are type high. They are meant to be printed on proofing presses or on a letterpress. Gasp! I have always wanted to letterpress with woodblocks but I carve on  .25″ plywood and knew I had to work with some backings to make it type high (.918″) but I also worried about how easy wood can warp. But this maple wood was smooth and beautiful. And the wood engraving tool is another story. I currently have 14 wood carving tools of different shapes and sizes. The single engraver I was given can create different widths of cuts solely by just how deep you carve. Although I was most definitely not use to carving on such small blocks such as 2″x3″, I learned a whole new world of carving wood that I would like to explore more with my press. Koichi even suggested, after seeing my show Horny, that I use my scroll saw on the woodblocks to eliminate the negative space if I wanted to carve shapes and objects. Great idea!

If that wasn’t fascinating enough, I was encouraged to look into grad schools. Koichi spoke with me about my show and said I am in the right direction and to keep moving. When I told him it might be awhile before I apply for grad school he even encouraged that and admired the time exploring different printmaking mediums, styles, and messages. He also got me thinking more about applying for artist residencies and told me to keep in touch with what I do. In two days I was connected, inspired and educated in a whole new way.

It’s been a week since the opening of my first solo show in a gallery setting. The energy spent on creating it during the same time as living with the guy’s parents in West Jordan (25 minute drive from the studio I work in) until moving into our first real adult home (post to follow!) a week prior, burnt me nearly to a crisp. The goal was to cut 204 birds but only made it to 114 before time ran out. I am surprisingly happy with the results though. The challenge I had for myself, beside the large 6 point Rocky Mountain elk, was to take the largest wall in the gallery and fill it solely of birds. I still had a handful left to spread throughout the room as well as with humor add to Stolen & Escaped Gallery‘s hand painted logo. I giggle each time I look at my new screenprint, “Horny Utah Dudes,” (right) where a Big Horn Sheep is standing on a Deer standing on a Moose standing on an elk standing on a Buffalo. I kind of had an epiphany while sketching of how similar my marks can be as when I carve wood. You see, I don’t think I can draw very well. Carving wood seems easier for me to achieve realistic imagery. But that might change as I really enjoyed how it turned out and want to explore it more. I almost didn’t show Birds, Bees & Hunger (left) as I was super unhappy with how the yellow ink from the canary birds sat against the tan paper. It was really harsh on the eyes and the paper felt empty. I usually really love negative space, but there was nothing to love about the print until I experimented with bleach. I used straight bleach, a paint brush, a fan and an open window to discolor the paper and make more interesting results. Then the elks. I didn’t think they were possible when I measured them then I jumped over joy when I thought more about cutting the block in half such as Mary’s Grizzly Bear. I didn’t want the same obvious line through the body, but finally I got smart and realized the divide could be at the antlers. If you look super close, you can see they are separate on pieces of paper from the body.

The title Horny, might just seem like a really fun pun – especially when you make cracks about wood and such. But really there is more to it and I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about it until now. I created the idea about 6 months ago. The idea was that no one would get it and that’s how I want it to be. No one would get that the two beautiful elk who are looking at each other are men. They are looking at each other like they are meant to be together and yes, I am implying that they are gay. But the funny thing is, no one thought about it like that during the opening. At least not openly. They just saw the beauty in the creatures and admired them for what they are. Elk. Male. Strong. Large. Bold. Beautiful. And that’s how I want the world to work. Everyone is beautiful and everyone is admired and never is orientation in the picture. The red chested Robin Birds are swarming to the elk in support and protection. They are the eyes on the ground.

So this is my way to have fun with support of Gay Rights without being Gay Rightsy. Because all in all, I just want it to be Right.

Horny is on display until January 13th and is located in the basement of Frosty Darling (177 East Broadway) Tuesday-Saturday 12pm to 6pm. Purchases can be arranged with gallery owner Amanda Hurtado at stolenandescaped@gmail.com.

Take a good look ya’ll. Because the rust ain’t comin’ back after these next few days. I’m finally, after emptying that mystery box and doing a lot of online research, restoring this press and the goods it came with. The most common solution I found for removing rust was Evapo-rust, which is awesome because it’s environmentally friendly and extremely strong. A couple nights ago I did the first bath using metal furniture. I was hoping there was a small amount of rust that a half hour would do but it ended up being an overnighter. And to my surprise, I need much much more Evapo-rust to get the rest of the furniture and my press pieces cleaned.  I’ll be sure to post how much I used in the end.

Also found in the mystery box were:

A lot more metal furniture and some wood (I purchased a good amount of wood furniture from Lyon Printing’s Estate sale not too long ago)
Another chase
Various sizes of leading and slugs
3 galley trays
3 composing sticks
2 quoin keys
2 sets of wedge quoins
1 challenge high-speed quoin
Type planing block
Pica ruler
Old ink
Gauge Pins

This is in addition to what I’ve previously discovered:
Lead cutter
Roller (still in awesome condition as far as I can tell)
1 truck
Number machine
Chase
Tympan paper
and various paper work from the 1980′s!

The only disappointing thing was not finding the second truck. I was really hoping to put the rollers on, especially after I’m done cleaning up the rust. I assume by the time the truck comes in the mail, the press will be rust-free and waiting! I’m pretty excited about all I have. It’s really all I need to start printing besides new ink and wash, which I’ve already ordered, and some good thorough cleaning. Oh and a furniture cabinet would be nice. I’m on the hunt for one.

Last night was a fun last minute event for me. A week before during Gallery Stroll, I met a boy named Isaac outside of Copper Palate Press where he was smoking. We were chatting it up and I learned his booth was near mine at Craft Lake City. When he asked what kind of work I did, he soon transferred his cigarette to his left hand and stuck his right hand out to shake mine. I couldn’t help but say, “Oh my,” at the gesture of needing to shake my hand but it was with great esteem. I learned his studio was at Poor Yorick and lightly discussed about the open studio they were having. The day before the opening, Isaac asked if I would like wall space. Not entirely knowing what that meant I said yes and quickly brought pieces I had ready and it turned out to be a great display.

As I arrived I had people holding a couple of my pieces ready to buy. One lady had my framed piece of “You Lied to Me,” and she said that today was a very special day for her – 5 year anniversary of her mother’s passing – and that her mother named her Robin, after the bird, and the back of the frame had “V-W” standing for vintage white, but Robin said it were the initials of her and her partner’s last name. She said it seems meant to be to have the piece. After asking to sign the back of the frame, I wrote, “Today is meant to be,” and she showed me a lot of gratitude and kind words. The event was a huge turnout and it was fun to ease drop on people talking about my work.

Poor Yorick open Studio only happens every six months. You can still swing by and check it all out today from 1-5pm!

Andy and I finished up our first collaboration last night at Leia Bell‘s [old] studio. It’s always nice to print with a friend, especially one that you find yourself constantly laughing with. And it’s good to learn how other people print and learn from it. We hope it’s not the last, even as much as we are glad this one is over with.

The studio is amazing – a lot of elements are handmade and I admire Leia for it. The drying rack is especially clever.

On the second day printing with Amos Kennedy, we hopped right into getting our second posters ready to print. Normally workshops start out with small lectures or reflections of the day before, but not for Amos. If there’s something to learn, you learn it over the press. That was actually the best part of the workshop – just how hands on it really was. We didn’t talk about stencils then walk over and do it. Amos just cut one out and showed those interested. We didn’t talk about what a rainbow roll is, he just slapped ink on the rollers and let the motor run. Everyone truly learned so much in so little time that everybody was doing their own thing. David Wolske, the Creative Director at the Book Arts Program noted in the end that this was one of the most successful workshops and congratulated everyone on how attentive they were with the equipment and materials. And of the few workshops I have taken, I fully agree. Definitely one of the most fun too.

I donated each poster I worked on for Amos’ archives that he likes to keep of students work. He mentioned putting Anthony Burrill‘s inspiring words in his studio.

Check out Amos 1, the first day printing with Amos Kennedy.

Here’s one of the posters out of the 100 he brought (all but 5 sold):

When Amos Kennedy introduced himself yesterday for the Joker’s Wild: Unpredictable Letterpress workshop sponsored by the Book Arts Program, he said, “All I do is put ink on paper. Sometimes I do it good, sometimes I do it bad.” Then he introduced our project where we can print any content with wood type and a tint block – what he does everyday. I took his intro and modified it to something I kind of need in my new place now that we have a special booze bar,  “All I do is drink. Sometimes I do it good, sometimes I do it bad.” I took on the project with two friends I was surprised to run into at the studio. Angela Brown is the editor of SLUG Magazine and Josh Joye is the designer of said magazine. Josh and I go way back even though we’re not allowed to talk about how we met (enter hipster grifter here). Amos loved our phrase so much he helped us do a pressure print of booze bottles and even hand wrote “Let’s go get drunk,” to cut out as well. He called us his drinking buddies.

The first day with Amos was a lot of fun and messy. I’ve never heard anyone say it’s ok to contaminate ink cans with other colors and to add as much ink as possible to the rollers. He just wants to print and get going. He started printing at 40 years old and his motivation is to do what makes you happy. And printing makes him happy and if it does you too, do it everyday and get it done. Wise words I need to live by once my press is ready to run. It was fun to do letterpress way different than I normally would: unplanned and with a variety of set type. I also used a new press – The Challenger – copper ink, and allowed for different kinds of runs and improvisation.

I had the pleasure to eat lunch with him and learn about how the pink shirt trademark came to be. When he tried it on at the store, the sales lady told him how great he looked. He came home to where his beloved told him he was being hit on. So he wears a pink shirt every day waiting to get hit on again.

Stay tuned for Amos 2.

Tonight and the next couple of days are going to be a blast. At 5:30pm the AIGA of Salt Lake will be hosting a reception: 50 books/50 covers at the University of Utah Marriott Library, 4th floor. Afterwards we will all venture down to the first floor to the Gould Auditorium for a free screening of Proceed and Be Bold, a documentary of Amos Kennedy who will not only be there for a little Q&A after but will also be conducting a workshop, The Joker’s Wild: Unpredictable Letterpress, all Friday and Saturday at the Book Arts Program. I was able to squeeze into a slot for the small workshop and I cannot wait to learn and observe Mr. Kennedy.

The above poster was well collaborated and letterpress printed by Spencer Charles and David Wolske. I love the strong headline to compliment the strong word styling of Amos Kennedy as well to advertise the free reception and screening. David did a great job documenting the process of how the poster came to be on his blog. The silver is a nice touch.

The 3rd Annual Craft Lake City was held yesterday, a blistering hot day. I had sweaty bangs and sticky legs to prove it. The 2nd annual was my very first big event and my oh my what a year it has been since. I have learned and observed so much and grown to a point where I feel very comfortable with the direction I am going in.

Today was one of those days that made all those exhausting and hard days worth it. My sales were like none other I have ever experienced and it’s simply flattering people want pieces you’ve made with your own hands. It’s also a great feeling to know the investment you put in yourself is paying off. Then all of those fights and arguments with my mother about how I choose to go to art school felt as if they never happened when she texted me, “I’m very proud of you,” at the end of the day. Everyone who stopped by, strangers and chums, were very encouraging. I’m really excited about the sale I have to ship to New York, the commissioned project for Blonde Grizzly, and the possible commission projects to come pending e-mails and quotes.

With the parents and the boy out of town as well as the majority of my talented friends who were also vendors, I am very fortunate that my dear friend and former roommate Di was able to help get through a long hot day. Seriously couldn’t have done it without her!

Yesterday was a crazy day. I had two art shows, but not only that I had to somewhat professionally hang 33 frames for one of them and still had to complete my piece for the other before both events started. My little photo club of four friends, Grain, had a showing of film photography cleverly titled “Grain of Salt” at Cafe on 1st. I sported my holga shots and I gotta say, seeing them framed made them look 10x better. I decided to hang everybody’s work so that each person had a designated frame color with numerous styles and hung in individual salon style clusters. I’ve never hung anything salon style before and I tried to do research about it which was pretty overwhelming. With limited time, I ended up eyeballing the whole thing and am overall pretty happy with the outcome.

I ended my night at Kayo Gallery to see how all the boxes were doing in the bid. Box. Paper. Scissors. is an annual fundraiser of cigar boxes decorated inside and out by local artists. My box, titled “My Three Black Hearts,” is of an octopus and inside consisted of three calligraphy pens and ink jars. The idea behind it is not only the relation of octopus and ink, but octopuses have three hearts. Two of them are used to pump the gills and the one is used to pump the body. I related the three hearts to the three most important relationships to me – my high school/college boyfriend, my live-in boyfriend, and to my current boyfriend – and how the past two have really shaped how I treat my relationship to this day and without them, I wouldn’t have such a great understanding of myself or how a relationship should be (for the better and the worse). All three boys have a story with me and I with them. I took a few steps away from my usual process of carving a woodblock then pasting the print onto wood and instead I just directly carved onto the wood used in the piece itself. It’s very subtle, but all 8 arms have carving details of suction cups.

It was a little too perfect that the winning bid went to Ken Sanders of Ken Sanders Rare Books. He may find use of a calligraphy set?

As much of a relief it is to have a show over, I’m a little over being a hard worker. So much so that I am delaying my August solo show that was given to me by the owner of Stolen & Escapes Gallery. Huge shout out to her for understanding and accepting my replacement artist and also allowing me to delay it for a few months (TBD). My next big event is Craft Lake City, in exactly four weeks. That’s plenty of time to prep, right?