Where Does the Time Go?

Wow! These past several weeks (and almost two months) have been consumed by the norm - work, doctor appointments, picking up prescriptions, replacing starter in car, changing spark plugs to pass smog test, etc.

I also told myself that it was time to stop stalling and turn artwork into screens to print. I had been working on turning my collage prints into black and white art and printed them on transparencies, and I finally started to do something with all those transparencies. I should confess that I have a bad habit of buying supplies and never touching them. I also have a weird obsession with screen printing "tools". What I have always wanted to do is screen print on fabric but I have never had the funds to purchase all the equipment to "set up shop", so hence, my obsession with any new screen printing "tool" (I say tool for lack of a better word at this writing).

A few years ago, I purchased the PGArts. This is the larger format Gocco that I had always wanted and it was on sale at Paper Source. As soon as I bought it, I found out that the company that owns and makes Gocco, Riso, was discontinuing my favorite "toy". Therefore, I never took the PGArts out of the box. I continued using my old smaller model until I finally ran out of screen masters.

Well, I pulled the PGArts out of the box. I attempted to burn two screens and neither worked. I'm not sure why they didn't work, but can only say that the entire imagine did not burn both times. Ugh. Then I ordered some PhotoEZ Standard Stencils. I burned a stencil in the sunlight and then burned some in a light box. They came out pretty good, yet still lacked some detail from the artwork. They kind of looked a bit blurry when I pulled prints.  I then ordered some StencilPro Standard Stencils and I think they came out quite good, that is until I printed my stencils on a rather "rough" dishtowel. I didn't like the way it looked.

I then brought out the Yudu. I had purchased one back in 2008 or 2009 and had never used it (I only used one at a workshop I had taken). I watched some videos and read some helpful blogs and attempted to place the emulsion sheet on the screen. My first attempt was dreadful! It turned out looking like an abstract painting.

I clearly had too much water on the screen so the emulsion took forever to dry. I would attempt to pull the protective plastic backing off and it would pull the emulsion with it (a sign that the emulsion is still wet). I have since attempted a few more sheets of emulsion and have pretty much determined that knowing when the screen coated with the capillary film is dry, is a visual thing.

I then read about others having great success using liquid photo emulsion on their Yudu screens. It is certainly more economical and easy to apply once you get the hang of it. I am still learning to get the hang of it! I have coated several screens with the liquid emulsion and only a few have really been good. The very first screen I coated was so crazy, though. I used a scoop coater but applied the emulsion holding the scoop coater upside down. Talk about a waste of emulsion!  The first "good" screen I coated with the liquid emulsion, ultimately failed. When I was rinsing off the screen after burning the artwork,  I missed a few areas of emulsion so the print was wrong.

Seems that my biggest investment lately has been in emulsion remover! I am not deterred, however. I plan to get this down and get it right as I have so many design ideas floating in my head that need to come to life.

On the family front, my mom celebrated her 89th birthday this past Monday! I cannot believe she is 89. My sister and I took her out for a nice Thai dinner and then she had a glass of champagne (served in a vintage cocktail glass) and a jumbo Red Velvet cupcake. We got her gifts from the Braille Institute - a talking clock, two decks of playing cards for the visually impaired and a great magnifying mirror. I also learned how to fix her talking watch while at the Braille Institute store. She also had many well wishes and a call from my cousin from Canada.

Aunt Sadie

I love this picture and came across it while going through a large box of old photos. It is my maternal aunt Sadie McPhee and her precious cat Sam. This was actually in a little plastic photo book that contained pictures of Sadie's cats, her dog Brandi, and me with Sam when we were both babies.



Sadie and Sam, 1962

Growing up, Sadie was the "fun" aunt. She took my younger sister and I to our first walk-in movie, That Darn Cat! I naturally thought Sam was in the movie.

She was a glamour girl in her day and was tall. She used to tell people she was 5'12"! She also drove small cars for many years (a Karmann Ghia, a VW Bug and a Toyota Cressida).

 

Patricia McPhee Dolan, Clara McPhee McPhail, Sadie McPhee



When Sadie passed away in 2004, I made the funeral cards. I found a great old photo booth picture of her that I used and printed the cards with my Gocco.





Sadie McPhee in photo booth in Toronto



Funeral Card



She was always very organized and had her entire funeral planned and written out and everything was paid for. She is buried next to my aunt Pat in Rowland Heights, CA.



Fabulous Finds...and woe is me

This has been the week from hell (as they say). Work is getting me down, it has been hot, and I have managed to go nearly the entire week without producing any art. I do tend to think of writing as art, so maybe my blogging in lieu of painting or printing might count. So, yes, those lino blocks are still waiting to be inked up and printed and I shall do that tomorrow. Tomorrow is Friday, after all, and thank God for that! I think, too, that I've tanked on the 30 day art challenge, so I am going to have to get a mental adjustment and try again.

I even told myself earlier in the week that I was going to pull out my Gocco and play. Well, not yet. I have been wanting to print with the Gocco for some time now, but have been afraid to since the supplies are quickly becoming obsolete as the parent company, Riso, has discontinued my favorite little "toy"!

Today I had to take my mom to a doctor's appointment. This was a follow up to discuss the results of her barium esophagram. The results were normal and only showed typical signs of aging which is good. She was having headaches, coughing, and what seemed to be allergies and the doctor gave her some samples of Nasonex which has really helped her. Well, we got to the appointment at 2 in the afternoon. There was a lady there already doing a crossword puzzle, and shortly after we signed in, a man came in for an appointment. The clock was ticking and the man there for his appointment was loud and chatty. Then the receptionist told us that the doctor was running late - a surgery went into OT and he wouldn't be in the office until 2:45. So, we sat and waited.

While we waited, the chatty man began talking to the lady doing the crossword puzzle. They somehow got on the subject of her husband's arthritis and various surgeries and then she mentioned that her husband is 85. I thought she was a child bride or something. Not that she was in her 20s, but surely, she wasn't yet 70! She had on a hip blouse and Capri pants, and was wearing sandals, exposing her polished toenails and toe ring. Her hair was done and make-up applied perfectly. I'd say she may have been a diva! She mentioned that she and her husband were pen pals and went to the same high school, except that she was 4 years younger than him! I nearly fell out of my chair. She began writing letters to him when he was in the Navy during WWII. When he came home he took her out for dinner to thank her for all those letters and they began seeing each other and have now been married 62 years!

Speaking of artists that are producing artwork on a regular (if not daily basis) and divas, today's Fabulous Find features both! Steven Hall is the artist behind some of my all time favorite illustrations, The Doodle Divas!

They are fabulous. They are fun. They are funny. And they are taking over and here to stay! You can adorn your walls with divas or you can get a diva notecard! And if that's not enough, you can even get them on candles, soap and t-shirts!

I can't see these illustrations without being in awe of the simplicity, yet the detail at the same. I love them.  You can find them on Etsy and follow their adventures of Facebook or on Steven's blog. Get out of the mundane and step into the fabulous (one high heel at a time, of course).