Cocktail Cat Test Print

I have been thinking that I need to turn some of my groovy cats into line art for screen prints. I can then print them on towels and shirts. I get great feedback on my cats, but not really sales. So, my thought is that if I make them more "functional" they might stand a better chance of finding new "homes".

I have been working on many, but thought I'd share Cocktail Cat. In reality, I may get nice feedback on my designs, but do I really get any view on my Etsy shop? Not really. Is that disturbing? Absolutely. I can create treasuries until I'm blue in the face, but that doesn't seem to be what works (no matter what any Etsy expert might say). I can relist until I'm blue in the face, and, well the same.

Anyway, while I try to figure out what the hell I need to do to get my handmade items out there, I thought I'd share my first test print of my Cocktail Cat. I turned my collage into black and white line art and just tweaked it a bit.  Here are the "before" and "after" results. I was actually quite happy with the test print. Now, for the fabric printing. Of course, that will come after work, my mom's doctor appointment and my trip to the vet.

Can the Weekend Really Be Over?

 Please tell me I'm hallucinating and that it isn't really Monday! Please tell me that I don't have to get up and go do something mundane when I'd rather do something creavtive and fun. Then I always hear things like, "I'm so thankful I have a job" or "you should be thankful you have a job". Surely there's some truth to that, but what if that "job" you're so "thankful" for drains the absolute life out of you or might just be taking a toll on your health? Then what? I've read that times like these are the best to start a business. Hmm. Maybe so, but what kind of business? Enough of that downer talk, but any thoughts are surely appreciated.

On Saturday my sister thought it would be nice to take my mom out for lunch and then shopping at one of her favorite stores, Merle Norman. My mom had said that she'd like to go get some foundation and lipstick. Having macular degeneration makes it hard for to primp herself into her onetime diva self and she's been feeling a bit down about that. So off we went and had a nice lunch in a very loud Chipotle. Naturally, my mom eats much slower than my sis or I and we waited quite some after finishing out veggie tacos for her to finish her burrito in a bowl. Then we walked to Merle Norman. My mom got lovely special treatment there and ended up getting this awesome tinted moisturize with SPF! It really looked good on her and brightened her complexion! I couldn't wait to try it. She also got a nice pink lipstick that is somewhat reminisent of the old Yardley Slickers!



On Sunday, I FINALLY did some test prints of my lino and soft rubber blocks! Yes, I think Hell did freeze over. I did my test prints on an unironed floursack dish towel and pretty much feel that the lino blocks did not lend themselves well at all to the fabric. Not sure why that is.

I feel that the soft rubber blocks printed much better on the "unironed" cotton, and now my little adorable Louie might just be ready to adorn kitchens worldwide. Will need to work on the prints though, prior to his household appearance. Oh, and get better pictures!

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).

Carving and Block Printing

It has been a while since I pulled out the carving block and lino cutters but I was seriously in the mood. Since it has been a while, I opted for a simple design. I drew a vase with flowers on a table right on the block and began to carve away.



As I was carving, I decided to add more detail to the design. This added detail may or may not end up as a part of the final product. That is what I like so much about carving - the end result is often different that the original idea.



I drew the design with my trusty Pitt Pen brush marker and was a bit surprised to see the ink smear as the blade came in contact with it. This was the first time I used a Pitt pen on the printing block and wasn't expecting it to smear so much. I have used Sharpies and pencil in the past and both smear, but not to this extreme. I'll post pictures when it's done.

Song of the Week - 21

So another long period of time has come and gone since my last "Song of the Week" post. Actually, too many periods of time are passing in between any posts lately. This past weekend went by fast (as most do). Friday night started off with a fabulous Christmas dinner party for the department I work in. It was a very nice evening. Besides that, the weekend found me sleeping, working on cleaning up a few of my images so that I can relist items in my Etsy shop, listing a few new prints, running errands. Then suddenly it was Sunday night. Where does the time go?

I am so much more aware of time now that I'm older than I ever was when I was younger. Does it truly go by faster as we get older, or are we just more aware of it? Am I at an age where I'm aware of the fact that I don't have "all the time in the world" and now it seems to be slipping away? I'm surely not the only one that wonders about this.

So Sunday evening as I was sitting on my patio, this week's song popped into my head. It probably did because I was in the midst of wondering where the hell the weekend went! When I went back into the house, I did an Internet search of the song and just couldn't believe that it was recorded 40 years ago! Wow. I remember being a kid and hearing it on the radio. I also remember my older sis having an album with this song on it. I can't really say if it was the debut album or if she had a "best of", but I do remember hearing it on the radio, her album playing on the console stereo and singing this song. Dare I say, it is timeless!

How can it be that I am now eligible for AARP, and nowhere near where my teen self would have expected me to be in life. Somehow, through the years, I lost touch with the dreams of my teen self and fell into line with the "norm" - get a job, blah, blah, blah. It's been OK as I've earned money and made some good friends along the way, but it hasn't been heart driven, and therefore, does not make a happy person. I rather, just go through the motions daily and feel depleted. I really need to make changes and soon, as time waits for no one (to quote The Rolling Stones)!

What would I really like? I would really like to draw, paint, write, find my grandmother, print on fabric, and get paid to do this. Oh, and be happy at the same time. I don't think that's too "out there" or too much to ask for. Just need to figure out how to make that a reality. I also hope that what I create in pure joy, brings that to others. In the meantime...

Sundays Are a Drag, and Other Thoughts

How does it go from Friday night to Sunday night so quickly? Traditionally, I begin to get a real down feeling about 3:30 on Sunday. Why? Because my weekend, my free time, is ending.

While talking with my mom today, she said that Sundays are a drag. I couldn't agree more, except I know our definitions of that differ. For her, Sundays are long and boring with nothing to do and nothing on TV. For me, Sundays are a reminder of my free time slipping out of my hands and that soon, Monday will arrive. The weekend will be over and I'll be back to the grind (as they say).

I don't know why I can't seem to get good pictures during daylight, so when it gets dark, I generally think about taking pictures and then they just look like crap. Here's an example. This is a bad picture of the dishtowel I did using spray paint and the stencils I cut from watercolor paper. I do need to try some more of these to get the look I really want.



What I did here was lay the cats and words stencils on the towel and then spritz with the fabric spray paint. I think I got a little carried away and some paint landed in areas that I wanted to remain white. Oh well, it was the first attempt. I am trying to build my inventory so that I can list items on Etsy. Hell, I actually created an Etsy store a year ago and that is as far as it has gotten - being created. I really need to focus on that and really need to do it soon as that is one of my 2010 goals. Plus, I would so hate to fail at that goal (as I have with too many others in the past).

Well, the story of my great grandmother Effie's sister, Edna, is slowing coming together. I got her obituary in the mail on Friday. She died in Denver in 1948 at 72 years old. She had four children that survived, yet only three survived her. As with many women of her era, she gave birth to children that died young. From what I can tell, Edna and her husband Wes, lost at least one child very young. Her oldest son Everett died in Monterey County, California in 1943. He was 42 years old. He died from rheumatic heart failure. Edna's husband Wes had died in 1933. They lived in Laramie, Wyoming, having moved there in 1910. Wes was an engineer with Union Pacific Railroad. From Edna's obituary I learned that her oldest daughter, Rose, was from Denver, so I imagine Edna moved there with her daughter after Wes died.

Edna's younger son, Elzie, was also living in Denver when he died one year later (1949)at 50 years old. Her daughters, Rose and Hazelle ended up in Southern California (I'm not yet sure when or how) and Rose died here in 1960 and Hazelle in 1987. The sad thing is that I was living in a neighboring community to Hazelle in 1987 and never knew of her, let alone knew her. I did get the name of her son from Edna's obituary and I think I've found him living in Orange County, California. I did mention in my earlier post that I was going to reach out to him, but I haven't done that yet and will do so this week.

Block Printing

One of my favorite forms of printmaking is block printing.  I tend to refer to it as carving when talking about it.  I have carved many things over the years on both lino blocks and the soft rubber blocks.  I love the soft rubber blocks as they are much easier to carve than the lino blocks.  The down side to the soft rubber blocks is that they will deteriorate over time where lino blocks will last "forever".

When I first started carving, I would generally draw right on the block and then carve away the negative space (the area that I did not want to print).  This is very freeing actually and does not lend itself well to "self-criticism".  Many times you find the carved block when printed doesn't look 100% like the original drawing.  That, to me, is the beauty of it!

Being obsessed with vintage things and not be a photo-realist, my earlier carvings were whimsical household items such as percolators, dress forms, fruit bowls, wine bottles, cocktails glasses, lamps, flowers in vases, etc.  These are items that generally appear in my paintings.

Then I decided I wanted to carve landscape items and did some carvings of buildings, etc., and then found a love of carving portraits.  I started getting pictures of family members and carving these so that I wasn't in any violation of a copyright and found it quite addicting.  Some ultimately did not turn out as I had visualized, but others did.

Below are some portraits I carved next to pictures I used.

Here's a carving I did of my dad.  This picture and the one below of my mom were both altered in PhotoShop to get the high contrast look I was going after.

Here's a carving of Louie. I placed a piece of tracing paper on top of the photo and traced the positive space with a carbon pencil.  I then transferred that to the carving block.

Here's a carving of my mom.  I plan to re-do this one and give her eye more detail.

Yudu and Gocco

 I am a long time user of the Print Gocco, a table-top printing system developed in Japan in 1977. This fun little machine works using flash bulbs, carbon based artwork and an emulsion-coated screen.  When you manually flash the bulbs, the carbon artwork burns the image into the emulsion-coated screen.  Sadly, in 2005, Riso (Print Gocco's parent company) citing decreased sales caused them to end production.  That started an internet campaign to save Gocco or find a new home for Gocco.  Now the supplies are getting harder to come by and therefore more expensive than ever! This crisis has forced me to look for alternatives.

About a year ago, I heard about the Yudu.  I was pretty jazzed and HAD to go get one.  I bought it along with additional supplies.  And now, almost one year later, it is still in the box.   The "similarities" in the name (Gocco - Yudu) did not go unnoticed by me.  This Yudu came with an instructional DVD which was, to say the least, pretty darn goofy.  Since it also comes with one screen and two (rather pricey) capillary emulsion sheets, I kept putting off using it.  I would read the posts on the Yudu Forum for tips and occassionally search for videos on YouTube.  Then I discovered a place in the L.A. area that was teaching Yudu workshops.  I wrote on my 2010 goals that I'd take the workshop.  I posted those goals.  I then called to sign up and was told that the workshop was sold out.  NO!  I was told that they offer it every month, but, in February it was being offered on a weeknight and with my work schedule, plus the hideous traffic involved in getting from point A to point B, I couldn't do it.  I asked to be put on the wait list.  The laws of attraction, I gather, were at work.  I got a call a few days later that someone cancelled the workshop and I was in.  I went last Saturday.

One of the class requirements was to email the artwork to the instructor.  I chose my Guitar Cat, thinking I could not only burn a screen of the detailed drawing to print in black, but that I could also burn a second screen sans the detail for the first run in a different color.  That wasn't really a part of the class.  The class was quite good and focused on how to properly transfer the emulsion sheet to the screen (apparently the hardest part of the process), burning the screen in the Yudu, removing the excess emulsion after the screen has been exposed, drying the screen and then printing.

I brought T-shirts, flour sack dishtowels and card stock with me to class to print on.  We were given a piece of scrap fabric for our first print.  The Yudu comes with 110 mesh screens.  These are really for printing larger areas.  My finer line artwork lends itself well to 220 mesh (smaller holes per inch) and Gocco screens are 220.  Yudu now offers 220 mesh screens, FYI.



Once all the prep work was done, we got down to printing.  Yikes!  Way too much ink.  This is the scrap fabric provided by the class for our first print. 




I then started to print on the floursack towels. These towels are pretty big and I encountered a little problem due to the limited work area - kept accidentally getting the towel in the ink (not good).  Also, my prints on the cardstock were equally "runny".  I wasn't too pleased due to the lack of detail, but my hip, young instructor liked the look.  She even called me a "perfectionist"!

After several runs the image began to look how I wanted it to look.  I think it didn't have anything to do with the mesh count, but rather the amount of ink.  In the class, we also determined the cardstock was just too glossy and that could be why they were so blurry.  Maybe, or maybe it the screen was just too overloaded with ink.  This was quite fun and I fully plan to get the hang of it soon.  Stay tuned. More to come.