Story Without a Plot

Here it is! The official show announcement.  Through the month of August, I will be the featured artist at RiverSea Gallery in beautiful Astoria, OR. Opening: August 8th, 6-8pm and on Facebook Live from 6-6:30pm. Show  dates: August 8th - September 8th RiverSea Gallery 1160 Commercial St, Astoria, OR. For those of you who cannot make it in person, I will be broadcasting on Facebook Live from 6-6:30pm. Go to my Facebook art page to see it. Don't do Facebook? Have no fear! You do not have to have a Facebook account to view it. I will be sending out an email the day before the opening with details and a link. (You can sign up for my newsletter by clicking on the lovely lady with the gun just to your right...) In addition, on August 13th at 5pm I will have an online artist talk, probably in the form of a Zoom call. I will provide a short talk on exhibit, then open the “room” up for questions. I will be sending out an email the day before with details and a link to the event. We will be presenting my collage paintings along with intaglio and woodcut prints. The work is inspired by classic film noir and pulp fiction covers, full of romantic longing, drama and adventure. Populated with femme and homme fatales, they evoke mysterious narratives. Come bathe yourself in the intrigue and glamour of a bygone era! RiverSea Gallery is dedicated to the safety of all it's visitors. Therefore masks and social distancing are required (fortunately it is a very large space!)We hope to see you there!

Adventures in Intaglio!

I took intaglio and woodcut back in college almost 30 years ago. Since that time I have contemplated restarting my interest in printmaking, and now I have finally pulled the trigger.

I enrolled in a printmaking course at Portland Community College. Signing up for a class two days a week for 11 weeks is no small commitment! But it turns out it was barely enough time to scratch the surface (no pun intended!) of the possibilities and complexities of this medium.

Intaglio is a process where lines are etched or scratched onto a metal plate. Ink is applied to the plate, then wiped, leaving ink captured within the lines. Then damp paper is placed on the plate, and is rolled through a printing press. The ink transfers onto the paper, creating an image. 

In total, I did three different plates over the course of the semester.The first one I did is called "The Bitter Sea" (5"x7")

Here is a picture of the inked up copper plate before the first printing:

Here is an image of the print after rolling it through the press.

Notice the image gets reversed when transferred to the paper!

This initial state of the print was done entirely with drypoint (which is simply scratching the image onto the plate with a metal object).

Here I added aquatint, which creates fields of varying shades of grey.

The second plate I developed might be called my magnum opus of the semester. It is named "Vacancy" (8"x10")

Utimately I did a total of 11 states before deciding it was finished!

I decided to utilize some of the earlier states by tinting them with watercolor. I’m fascinated by how the mood can very so greatly with different color schemes.

The final piece I did was a tiny 4”x6” image, based on a jazz record album from the 50’s, called “Struttin’”.

 Although I would LOVE to keep going with the printmaking, it is necessary for me to put it aside for the time being and concentrate on some collage painting projects coming up this year. Keep you eyes open for more news of those projects, and when they are completed, I will surely dive back into printmaking! 

Stay tuned...