Cricketts Inky Art Blot

Something I like doing when I have the time, is to make Artist Trading Cards. In the few months, I have hosted 2 swaps and made many cards for swapping individually. They are quick and easy to make and are lots of fun to collect. Maybe you would like to make one for Beth's swap that I mentioned a few days ago. What is an Artist Trading Card? Artist Trading Cards (ATC) are mini works of art that artists collect and trade among themselves. By definition, ATCs are made in limited numbers, often no more than one of a kind. Unique ATCs are called originals. The general public have started collecting them, which has started to put a dollar value on cards, but they are meant to be traded ATC for ATC. Artists often participate in international exhibitions of these cards (often with a simple theme, such as “purple”) to cheaply show their work and self promote. For the most part, they are art for art’s sake. Guidelines for ATC cards: 1. They are always 3 1/2" X 2 ½....

My baby girl is turning 6!

Today I would like to honor an wonderful artist called Beth from a community I am attached to called Milliande.Art Community. I have been touched by her request and I hope I can help her in her goal. Beth has been registered legally blind for many years and as her sight is decreasing she wishes to have one piece of her artwork traveling into as many countries on this Earth as possible .. a kind of legacy of her ability to see. You know how I obsess about the flags on my map @_@, well, I would like to ask a special favour of all my visitors, ESPECIALLY those who live in countries outside of the UK and USA (I think there are many of us already participating although every state is wished for, so still participate!), if they would consider making an Artist Trading Card (ATC) to trade with Beth. I have been blessed with many visitors from all over the globe and I would love you to connect with me to do this together. ATC's are artworks that are just 2 1/2" x 3 1/...

My set of prints went off to Carson City today ready for hanging in the "Secret's Revealed" exhibition by members of Printmaker's Conspiracy. I finished my etching of Lady Penelope riding an elephant just in time for the show. I hand tinted it with watercolours and printed with sangrine and black ink mixed. I need to print off an edition of each of my prints when Oxbow press is open, then I can start on new work in this series.

This video is made by an assemblage artist whose work I admire called Michael deMeng. The Island of The Dolls is quite disturbing, yet intriguing, I won't say anymore as it might influence your thoughts. It definately gets the creative juices flowing though! * Tin Can Tart (have we traded ATC cards recently?)... maybe you should start this going somewhere near Newnham-on-Severn (one of the world's freaky places in my book). Can you imagine sailing up on the Bore in a river of eels, to be greeted by the dolls? Part 1 Part 2

The race is on to get everything finished in time for Oxbow Press' big opening. The clock is ticking to get everything complete and hopefully we will have a good looking print workshop to show our guests and new members. We put the walls up in my studio space and I have been priming them today. I had the help (is that the right word?) of my kids and hubby in the wall construction and so far they are still standing! The door painting is now finished (yes, it IS supposed to look " aged and rugged"), and just awaiting the logo. I have to find some more prints to frame for the opening and hand-tint them. I would also like to find some paintings to hang, but I am not sure I have anything I can find in time. On the home front, I have two birthday parties to arrange for my daughters, the first is coming up on Saturday. Timing is tricky as another daughter has two birthday sleepovers in succession this weekend and yet another daughter has another birthday sleepover the ni...

Sad as it seems, the community press-time at TMCC is now over. We had our final work critique and studio clean up last week. I miss my collegues already, but hopefully they will all be joining me for press-time at Oxbow Press. I have framed up my prints for the Printmaker's Conspiracy show "Secret's Revealed" that will be exhibited from May to September in Carson City. I am looking forward to seeing how my new prints look hung in a gallery.

We have somehow fallen into a tradition of camping for Mother's Day Weekend. Far be it from me to shake a tradition (although a weekend spa retreat would also be a good tradition for Mother's Day), we headed into the Sierra Nevada mountains not far from Truckee, for a chilly, but beautiful trip. Although it was cold at night, we did not face Donner Party conditions. In fact we had the comforts of heating, a microwave and flat screen TV, so the conditions were very different from Donner Party. We did party for Mother's Day, but no chargrilled camp members were eaten at our party. All in all, I guess the cold and stiff aching bones in the morning was not as bad a deal as I first thought.  My awesome girls. I took lots of photos, not exactly Ansel Adams quality, but I want to share a couple of them anyway. Mornings are rough!

I found a demo that describes in pictures what I tried to say in words. This is far more effective. I don't have the plans on how to make a hotbox, but I know that it involves finding heat bulbs and that it is important to have anodized aluminum (which is pretty pricey). I have seen people learn how to use this technique by working on a pancake griddle. Walmart currently have two flat griddles that are $19 and $35 according to the size you want. The surface is just like you would find on a frying pan. I have been thinking that if you buy an indoor grill, you could buy a small sheet of the anodized aluminum to make sure you have that smooth finish as we see on the movie below.

My 5" x 7" keyhole print has been made using photopolymer printmaking, or solarplate. I used sanguine and black ink to print, then used muted watercolours to tint it. I will probably make 20 in total, one down... The print is called "XXV. A Slight Glimpse Of San Francisco" and relates to Phileas Fogg retiring to his railway car in chapter 25 of Around The World In Eighty Days on his arrival to the West Coast of the USA. I adapted this to show Lady Penelope retiring for the evening after dinner. Here is a clip showing a solarprint workshop with Dan Weldon.

I can't believe it is May already, how fast the year is going. Here is my first finished print of Lady Penelope flying over Paris. I have used a number of etching techniques; Aquatint, spit-bite and drypoint. I am now pleased with the contrast, which had been difficult to achieve as I had some problems with the aquatint. The print is called "III. Two First-Class Tickets To Paris". It is 7" x 8" and refers to chapter 3 in "Around The World In Eighty Days" by Jules Verne, where the characters travel through Paris. In the book, the journey is actually by train, in the film it was balloon. I used an airship balloon to satisfy my Steampunk heart. My very first flight anywhere was to Paris, so I absolutely felt the need to make it air travel.