Cranking Up Production

With much of the settling in process behind me, I had a strong urge to get some works into production. Tuesday and Wednesday were cutting and placing days and Thursday was a sticking, sewing and tracing day. I was preparing myself for Friday when I had the good fortune to be minding the Gallery for Gretchen. This weekend is the Joshua Tree National Park Art Show and Gretchen was setting up shop for the long weekend there. The payback on spending the day at the Gallery is use of the printing press and related materials. That and meeting the lovely folks that drop in.

The collages are very modernist, being derived from images in Dwell Magazine. I had found some wonderful old maps, sheet music and a workbook from the Lockheed Space and Missile Company in a local thrift shop. I thought the contrast of the sharp imagery with the various old publications would tell an interesting story. I'm exploring the notion that there is no need for me to be creating new imagery from scratch. There is plenty of rich material available in the world and I can repurpose both images and substrate to make something new. Recycyling materials for a new point of view.





With collages and tracings in hand, I headed to the Gallery on Friday morning. First up was washing a bunch of brayers, paintbrushes and plexi plates that had been used for a class with high school kids. Following a cup of coffee, I was ready. Or so I thought. Gretchen had told me to go easy on the ink and easy on the pressure. These are not intuitive to a total beginner and I guess I made all the typical mistakes. I had fun using tracings made from the collages to drypoint etch onto a plexi plate. I then merrily rolled ink over the plate and printed. A lovely black rectangle dripping dark ink was my first result.




The day went by with me variously consulting the web on technique and trying various tools and pressures out. The results were mixed at best and I have a much better appreciation for what it takes to make a good print. There's a reason there are master artists and printers involved. Luckily, visitors were rare since the locus of attention was up at the art show and the weekend was not yet in swing. I'm now heartily looking forward to my workshop with Gretchen on Monday



I ended the evening with dinner and some music over at The Palms, an institution in Wonder Valley. The Palms really needs to be experienced. Where else will the lead singer of a great band called The Sibleys cook your meal, bring it to you at the bar and then strike up the music? Where else is seltzer such a stretch that it comes flat? The locals are so colorful it puts the Mac range to shame.





The Sibleys played a long and strong set and were followed by Dean Chamberlain,
the former lead guitarist for The Motels. The audience of about a dozen good citizens was enthusiastic and even formed a coyote choir, the sound of which accompanied me all the way home to Joshua Tree.