RaePress

My SMFA students are AWESOME

2010-02-04T16:19:00.003-05:00

Ok, so they are not really MY students, as I am not faculty and have not taught any of them specifically. But I have offered them advice, helped them with projects, and watched them as they struggle through the creative process...so I do feel a little mother hen proud when they have significant accomplishments.

First, this Friday evening Feb 5 is the artist reception at Grub Street for [Current Work] by Max Colby, Kokoro Yanagita and Wayne Kleppe. Their work includes relief printing, collograph, mural drawing and handmade paper. Their work will be up through the month of February. Grub Street is located at 160 Boylston on the 4th Floor in Boston.

And opening on Friday Feb 5 is Paper Capers: Adventures in Paper Art at the Wenham Museum. This group exhibition includes work by SMFA post-bacc student Gessica Silverman. This past fall it was exciting to occasionally be a second set of hands as she worked to pull large sheets of kozo. The Wenham Museum is located at 132 Main Street in Wenham, MA. The exhibition program also includes a few family friendly programs with children's book illustrators, readings, and hand's-on projects.

Body & Soul Exhibition at Bunker Hill Community College, Boston MA

2010-01-28T21:58:00.006-05:00

My work will be included in this awesome exhibition! Come to the opening on Thursday February 11, from 6 - 7pm.

www.bhcc.mass.edu

Stone Graining video

2010-01-13T10:28:00.004-05:00

Had fun shooting this short clip while graining a litho stone:

Lithographic limestones are re-usable; once an image is drawn, processed and printed, the image can be removed and the stone used again for a new image. I use a levigator to grain off the previous image from the top surface of the limestone. The process is a bit painstaking, in that I start with a very course carborundum grit to blast away the image, going through several rounds. Carborundum grit is basically shaved metal. It's like using sandpaper. Then I progressively use finer and finer grits to level off the stone and create a smooth surface. During the process, I have to be consistent ands even, I cannot grain one side more than the other or else then the stone becomes uneven, which then interferes with the printing process later on. So periodically while graining, I also check the level of the stone and check for any scratches. Scratches will interfere with my image. I want the stone to be a smooth as a sheet of Rives BFK, having a slight tooth to the surface so the drawing materials will adhere nicely.

So while it is painstaking, it is also very meditative. Like kneading dough for a baker. Or at least that's how I imaging kneading dough would be like!

Old wood, new groove

2010-01-06T21:22:00.003-05:00

"Destroyed" the block from a series of monoprinted woodcuts I started years ago. Still love the idea of the image but the image itself needed to change. Here's the proof so far. Still needs some work, stay tuned...

Let's read a story! more from the DeCordova

2009-12-21T11:44:00.003-05:00

Forgot I shot this short vid on my phone!

DeCordova fun with Jlee

2009-12-17T16:10:00.004-05:00

Earlier this week my little man and I went to a faculty holiday party at the DeCordova Museum. But the best fun was had in the museum's Process Gallery with an installation by Nadya Volicer, called "Brain Storm." Hundreds of leaves and birds made of hand made recycled paper swirled and whirled around the walls of the room. The floor was made of quilted squares of recycled fabrics. And tree stumps were created of rolled recycled magazines. In the center of it all was a large "tree" made of recycled wood pieces. Even cooler, there were books! Dr. Seuss's "Oh the Places You'll Go," "The Giving Tree," and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs."

We took our shoes off before entering and the quilted floor felt neat and springy under our toes. There was one big tree stump and two smaller tree stumps, which Jackson enjoyed climbing atop of, ready to hear a story. He was also magnificently awed by the kaleidoscope of paper leaves, and the texture of the big tree in the center. We'll visit again in the winter, as it would be a great room to relax in after a bit of sledding outside in the sculpture park!

Cool Books!

2009-11-09T12:42:00.009-05:00

Last Friday evening got to check out the opening of "Somewhere Far From Habit: The Poet & The Artist's Book" at the Pierre Menard Gallery in Cambridge, MA. The exhibit was a collection of artists' books whereby the artist collaborated with a writer/poet. There were some really creative books, some more sculptural than others. Various styles: pop up, accordion, fold out, long stitch... One book bound in an iron, another "book" on a long stretch of paper and pulled from a large tape measure... my technical nerd favorite was a coptic bound book with a continuous circular spine. Don't know where it started or ended!

But before headed out to the gallery, during the day I helped Ann Pelican at the SMFA to install an exhibition of books made by her students. Really neat little books made of found materials. Always inspired by the open creativeness of students exploring new techniques and ideas.

Gotta make more books...

Cool Videos (for printy nerds like me)

2009-10-29T12:45:00.007-04:00

Found these and wanted to share. The first is a bookbinding video, including printing of the etching plates for the book pages and pulling of handmade paper for the covers. Lovely letterpress printing, on the bench sewing, case binding, ... shivers! The second is a 4 minute litho printing, from graining the stone to printing the edition. It's like litho on speed. Say no to drugs, say yes to printmaking!

Chain me to the press!

2009-10-24T21:35:00.009-04:00

Printed some woodcuts this past Saturday on a litho press. Works well, not as much deep embossment cause there are no blankets to cushion and press the paper down into the carving of the wood. But it makes a nice impression and I was happy.

I love this Takach...

Here are some preliminary "underprints." I work in layers, monoprinting from a woodcut, varying the colors with each print...

And using stencils to block out some areas to further vary each print...

And some more "underprints." They are kinda like underpaintings: just a beginning layer to work on top of, to offer a background texture which will then be added upon by a middle ground of layers and a final printed layer.

But don't ask me what will happen next. My printing is like Iron Chef: I have an ingredient but I have no idea what will be added to the mix until it's done!

Connecting with The Art Connection

2009-10-14T17:30:00.004-04:00

When I moved out of my studio back on January, I had a number of works that I loved but also wanted to find a good home too. I had always been interested in donating work to the Art Connection but kept putting it off until Tova Speter came to my studio and said "So Jenny..." Perfect timing! I handed off the art work to her, delayed the paperwork for months (shame on me) and finally got my work registered with their organization.

The Art Connection is a non-profit organization that connects artists and other non-profits. Artists who have art to donate, organizations who have a need for donated art to liven up their spaces, a perfect match. As artists, we often have so much work that sits around that it is a great opportunity to share our work with those in need. At no cost to the artist or the non-profit.

So far my work has been placed at the Massasoit Community College, The Dimock Center and the Lowell Community Health Center. I am very pleased that my work will be placed in public spaces to be viewed and appreciated by many people from varied communities.

Learn more about the Art Connection at www.theartconnection.org

Checking out Damian Ortega at the ICA with Jlee

2009-10-13T15:07:00.010-04:00

So yesterday was Columbus Day (even though he didn't discover sh*t, but don't get me started...) and with no work and no daycare, Jlee and I set out make our own discoveries. First we headed to the ICA to check out the Damian Ortega exhibition Do It Yourself. Immediately Jlee was drawn to it, eyes wide open and pointing "Mommy look! What's that?"

He was instantly drawn to the spinning barrels of "False Movement (Stability and Economic Growth)," 1999. We both enjoyed Ortega's use of common items (chairs, dressers, tortilla chips, rolled pennies...) broken down and reconfigured to create monumental sculptures hinged on tension and balance. Even still objects had movement, as objects were tied together precariously, expectantly, on the edge of their own tipping point.

Then we checked out his mini videos "Nine Types of Terrain," 2007, of bricks laid out like dominoes and set in action. Jlee enjoyed watching all nine films... over and over... So proud that after starting him off early with gallery visits, he now appreciates contemporary conceptual art.

After also going to the duck pond and to the Museum of Science, Jlee and I later followed up our ICA adventure with an activity at home of stacking and creating our own balance sculptures and cause-and-effect actions using blocks, chairs, books, cans, plastic cups, cereal boxes, etc.

Collaborative Drawing

2009-08-06T12:33:00.002-04:00

Collaborative drawing between Jackson and mommy Jenny:

Figure Drawing at the Eliot School

2009-07-21T22:39:00.003-04:00

Tuesday nights I teach Figure Drawing at the Eliot School in Jamaica Plain, MA. I share the class with another teacher, alternating weeks. It's an open, drop-in class, with a different model scheduled each week. Low-key, no pressure, very congenial atmosphere. The attendees are both professional and casual artists, some who come every week, others who come as the wind blows every once in a while.

This past Tuesday there was a man visiting from France, who spoke only French, but eh, the language of drawing is universal, right? He drew on the floor, all over the floor, laying his large sheets of paper down and sitting/kneeling/squatting with hand fulls of charcoal chunks. His figures were almost ghostly, wirey, sinewy. As if there was no skin, all muscle striations. It was kind of reminiscent of Anselm Kiefer or even Leonard Baskin. In any case, I was not only keen on his drawings but also his act of drawing. Very much like my own act of carving large woodcuts, very aggressively to get the overall large figure then settling in to more refined cuts to bring out slight details.

I love these moments of teaching when students are inspirational, reminding me to push my own boundaries and not fall into a trap of complacency with my art.

Art Adventures: Guitar Hero and Dinosaurs

2009-07-20T15:50:00.005-04:00

Jlee accompanied me to Mass MoCA and check out his mad skills at the Kid's Space wall of guitars:

He also really loved the Sol Lewitt murals (impressed everyone with his knowledge of shapes and colors) and the Simon Starling sculptures (hard to stop a kid from touching shiny things...).

He insisted the sculpture was a dinosaur and was quick to tell me where the head, feet and tail were when I asked. So how could I argue?

Jenny Hearts Sol Lewitt

2009-07-20T15:37:00.008-04:00

Ashamed to admit that this past weekend was my first venture out to Mass MoCA. Tsk tsk, I know. And yeah, I'd been meaning to go out there but never really felt an urgent need/desire/drive to go...until Sol Lewitt happened. I love LOVE Sol Lewitt's murals. Sometimes when I just happen upon one of his murals by chance, walking into the lobby of an office building or rounding the corner of a gallery in a museum, I get all slack jawed and glazy eyed. Isn't that how you get when you're in love? Or is it just me...?

Color Linoleum Printing at the Fitchburg Art Museum

2009-07-14T18:00:00.000-04:00

This past Sunday I woke up early for an hour-long drive out to the Fitchburg Art Museum, where for over a year now I have been teaching one-day printmaking workshops. They have a lovely small press and a nice studio for water-based printing. Mostly suitable for relief printing and monoprinting but I hope to teach some intaglio classes there in the future. This class was on making multiple-color linoleum block prints. Certainly something that can be taught in a 6-hour workshop, but suffice it to say that there were some ambitious folks in the class! Here are some images of the works in progress:

Just Beat It and Fun at the DeCordova

2009-07-12T17:31:00.007-04:00

I have decided that Lucia can be sporty woodsy learn-to-swim mama. I shall be arty music explorer adventure mommy.

This past weekend Jlee and I met up with our friends Ophelia and Zeke, a good college friend from Wellesley and her 8-yr old son, and headed to the DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park for Summer Free Friday. Free admission! Music! Crafts! Fun! We didn't spend a lot of time indoors because it was such a nice day and perfect for walking around the sculpture park. The boys LOVED exploring the landscape and "exploring" the sculptures. I was very impressed that Zeke knew who John Wilson was. And of course everyone enjoyed the musical xylophone sculpture by Paul Matisse, cause my little man is so musical!

Then on Saturday morning, we got up early early to trek out to Spontaneous Celebrations in Jamaica Plain to drop in on the toddler drumming class taught by Sugarfoot. SO MUCH FUN! Ok here's the thing: Jackson is high energy. He wakes up alert and ready to go. So now our goal is to find activities that focus his energy and helps him learn something fun. Like music! He was so engaged and attentive to Sugarfoot, who was an awesome and fun teacher for the kids. And now I know how to make simple musical instruments for Jackson, out of buckets, sticks with one end padded, empty cans, duct tape and beans. Voila! Percussion!

Arty Party Weekend or How I Learned to Love Contemporary Art

2009-06-22T12:34:00.010-04:00

This weekend, I had the great honor of being infused and inspired!

First, on Thursday night I went to a performance by Wumni at Dietch Projects in Long Island City, NY. Dietch Projects was exhibiting a group show titled "Pig" including several large scale installations by Paolo Pivi and large drawings by Paul Chan, among others. It was so very New York to be in this installation space in a warehouse on the docks of Long Island City, rocking out to a cross-over Kenyan band. I almost wish I could move back there!

Then Friday afternoon I got the spectacular opportunity to meet and visit the studio of Kenyan-born Brooklyn artist Wangechi Mutu. Lucky me. I had heard of her work a while ago but only really seriously began to understand her work, process and themes about a year ago when her collages were part of the "Black Womanhood" exhibit at the Davis Museum. So for me to see her studio, and especially to see works in progress (how an idea starts, how an idea progresses, how an idea changes, and finally how the idea is finalized...) was big. So big. Especially since I have no studio right now ... but I digress. The point is, I was overwhelmingly inspired to meet a fellow black woman artist who works in a similar way as I do: collage, large scale, figurative, narrative, and self-reflective themes. Like I said, lucky me.

Finally, on Saturday I went to a private reception at the Art Barn, the collection of Jerome and Helen Stern on Long Island. Woah. Ok so here's the thing. It took me a while to get into contemporary art and really GET IT. Sure, I'd appreciated and connected with the work of Jenny Holzer (subversive use of text), Kiki Smith (subversive use of her body), and Louise Bourgeious (just plain subversive). But some how it all clicked when I saw a show of work by Mariko Mori at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. At first I thought: bizarre chick. But I loved the quirkiness of it, her use of herself as a model/performance artist, the use of photography/video as a medium for documenting her performance/situations... and then there was the alien/other being thing that she's into where she transforms herself into something else (using costumes, make up, etc) and inserts herself into these innocuous places with ordinary people who are oblivious to her.

So when I walk into the Art Barn it's full of contemporary art, of course. It's not really a BARN but a modern steel building mimicking a barn. The Sterns built the barn to house their growing collection with a large high ceiling gallery on the lower floor and two smaller galleries on the upper floor. And lo and behold guess what art work is on the wall of the main gallery? Mariko Mori's 6-panel photograph "Empty Dream."

It's a long and complicated story about how all this transpired and came about. Top secret. One thing led to another. But suffice it to say, I am very appreciative.

More Sketchbook...

2009-04-29T14:08:00.002-04:00

My sketchbook mess. What do they say about cluttered minds...?

Extreme Printmaking and Artist Books at SGC Chicago

2009-04-03T00:16:00.008-04:00

Last week I went to the SGC Conference, hosted by Columbia College in Chicago. A very good conference! Over 1600 attendees, great demos and fabulous panels.

One panel that stuck out most for me was titled Printmaking with Extreme Technology. Woah. 3-d printers, laser cutters, computer programmed woodcuts, etchings on microchips...I especially was intrigued by Mike Lyon's digital drawing machine. Traditionally, not a "print." But consider the definition of a print. Using a press is not required. Using a matrix is not necessarily required. But here is a process that DOES use a matrix: the computer program and the machine itself as repeatable, being able to reproduce and edition a drawing countless times over. So... isn't that a print? Kinda?

The exhibition Monumental Ideas in Miniature Books was another highlight for me. I am so attracted to artist books and always looking for inspiration. Some were simple, many incorporated unusual and interesting materals. The only downside was that we couldn't touch the books. Many of them begged to be opened, but also many were rather fragile or more sculptural than page-turning.

FOUND IT!

2009-03-15T22:26:00.001-04:00

Just to let you all know, I found my sketchbook. Where was it? In a random bag of art supplies in the basement. How'd it get there? No idea...

Women in Print Exhibition at Bunker Hill Community College

2009-03-04T10:05:00.002-05:00

I have three prints included in this show: my favorite Bertha's Curtains and two prints from my new series Goddess Night and Travellar.

Proud Artist Mommy

2009-03-02T20:50:00.005-05:00

Let me take a moment to digress to a somewhat related topic. My son Jackson is now almost 22 months and has been learning at an almost exponential pace.

A few weeks ago on a Friday afternoon we went to the Davis Museum at Wellesley College. He was immediately attracted to a hazy glow from a fluorescent tube light installation, pointing and squealing "purple!" He was able to point out the circles in the paintings by Leger and the squares in works by Mondrian and the boxes in the Sol Lewitt mural. And had fun identifying the animals in the pre-columbian vessels (dog, bird, sheep, frog...).

The next day we went to the Danforth Art Museum with our good friend Dianne Zimbabwe. There was a great exhibit of story quilts by Faith Ringgold and prints by John Wilson. Jackson enjoyed learning about the musical instruments in the jazz themed quilts, and singing "Row Row Row Your Boat" while looking at the John Wilson etchings. Jackson also enjoyed the illustrations from Faith Ringgold's children's book Aunt Harriet's Underground Railroad in the Sky. Because it has trains, of course!

I am very excited that I can share my art experiences and love of museums with Jackson because they are fantastic opportunities for learning and fun. In his own art, he enjoys drawing circles with the blue and green crayons. Soon, he'll know all the primary and secondary colors. Next, I'll figure out a way to use art to help him learn his numbers... oh! Jasper Johns! Excellent!

[Note: Mondrian and Pre-Columbian images reproduced here are NOT from the DMCC collection and are meant only for reference]

Lost my sketchbook...

2009-02-23T16:17:00.008-05:00

I lost my sketchbook but wanted to share some images from it. Now that I am studio less, it's been great for my sketchbook! Except I lost it...

Wood Carving Progress Report:

2009-02-23T16:14:00.003-05:00

Finally made some headway on a new woodcut. Part of the series of large figurative woodcuts emphasizing hands.

DeCordova Museum School Woodcut Class

2009-02-04T00:22:00.012-05:00

This winter I am teaching a 5-week intensive course at the DeCordova Museum School on waterbased woodcut printing, printing by hand using some Jenny-modified traditional Japanese printing techniques.

I first learned this from Keiji Shinohara while at a workshop at Frogman's several years ago. In turn, Keiji had learned it while apprenticing with a living treasure of Japan. Along the way, he had incorporated some more contemporary details into his technique, including using mylar tracings to seperate the colors and Golden Harvest Teknabond Wallpaper paste instead of rice paste to add tack to the inks.

For myself, I sometimes use only one kento mark, eliminating the corner mark. It's kind of a hybrid between kento and t-bar. I also use my key blocks for monoprinting (the Goddess Night and Travellar series are from a key block for a print never editioned...).

Below are images from this morning's class, week 4. Blocks are carved and they are now proofing colors, checking registration (all on spot!) and already thinking towards their next images. But there is just a week left! Nevertheless, they are all well on thier way to becoming great woodcut printers and can certainly handle it on thier own after the class has ended next week.

Twittery Tweet

2009-01-23T00:03:00.006-05:00

Check me out on Twitter! Recently I have started writing haikus, primarily to woo my wife Lucia but also as an outlet for my day dreamy thoughts. Ok, really most of my day dreamy thoughts are of her... But I've begun to use Twitter as a way of publishing some of these haikus.
Words, snippets, iconic and ironic slices of verbage have always been important for my work. Haikus are such great visual literary works of art. By no means are my haikus very good; they are just ok. But the joy is in writing them and finding word solutions to the simple 5, 7 5 syllable beat pattern.

Here is one I wrote for Cia:
sleep deep call me soon
dream of her under the sphere
silver dew to kiss

Here is one on sketching:
Pen and paper inked
ideas draw towards flow
image and words sync

I look forward to seeing how these haikus make their way into my art...

New Year, New Work, New Space

2009-01-19T14:02:00.011-05:00

Many are wondering "Why are you moving?"

Well, I don't really work in my studio much. It took a personal catastrophe for me realize that and for me to start making some changes. There are so many things I can do from working in shared printmaking spaces elsewhere. My work is big, requires a press. The series of large woodcuts continues, partially funded through a generous grant by the Barbara Deming Money for Women Fund. So really all I was doing in my studio was matting and framing, some drawing, some bookmaking, some work on smaller prints (more on that...) and occassionally napping (though not as much as before since I got rid of the futon last year...). But not a significant amount of time was spent doing any of it.

Of the large woodcuts, I have often been asked "Why hands?" Hands are gracious, graceful and always grateful. My mother's hands bake, my grandmother's hands quilted. Hands express love, surrendering, compassion. Hands can also be used to hurt, push away, denounce. I think you can tell a lot about a person by how they use their hands. For me, using hands in a print makes sense: hands repeat motions, they are redundant. There are two of them. After a few years of doing this series, I began to realize where I was in life when I started them: I was about to be married and start a family. This was important to me. A marriage ceremony involves clasping hands and making vows. The greatest moment in the birth of a child is holding him in your hands (and Jackson was barely more than a handful!)

These are all important to me, though not necessarily literally reflected in my work. Instead, it's the sentiment of nurture and love that is reflected.

In tandem with the large woodcuts, I am starting two new series (one which I mentioned in an earlier post). Goddess Night and Travellar. Travellar is rather appropriate for my studio move, as I have this urge for change. No, not in an Obama kind of way! I will be turning 35 this year. That's a significant age! I am looking for movement in my life, forward progression. The feet and legs in Travellar are in motion, Goddess Night is busy gathering and collecting. I am taking stock of my life and asking "where to go from here?"

THE BIG STUDIO MOVE SALE GOES ON!

2009-01-18T16:05:00.016-05:00

The sale continues! and with pictures too! Due to the blizzard this past Sunday, I'll be extending the studio moving sale to SATURDAY JANUARY 24, 1 - 5pm and SUNDAY JANUARY 25, noon - 5pm. 6 Vernon Street, Somerville, MA.

ALL art work for sale is priced at 50% off or MORE. Lots of matted and framed prints, drawings, watercolors and oil paintings, from $5 and up. That print you coveted last year at Somerville Open Studios might still be there AND on sale!

Following is a partial list of equipment and supplies for sale. Prices are negotiable within reason.

About 10 or so clip lights, most with metal hoods - $2 each

Folding Tables (2 available) - $10 each

Large green extension cord - $5

Some Photography Equipment - $100 or best offer for the whole lot (enlarger, and full bin of supplies)

Type Drawer - $5

Plastic Storage Drawer Tower - $10

Clamshell boxes - $5 each
Small/Tiny paper cutter - $5

Metal Shelves (there are 2) - $5 each

Flat files with table top (measures approx 32 x 40 inches, 16 inches high, ten drawers) - $200 or best reasonable offer

Wood type - $20

Metal type - $50

Plus some other stuff...

Email me for more information info@jennifer-hughes.com

STUDIO MOVING SALE!

2009-01-11T13:56:00.001-05:00

SUNDAY JANUARY 18, noon – 5pm
SUNDAY JANUARY 25, noon – 5pm

6 VERNON STREET, 2nd FLOOR, SOMERVILLE MA

I am moving out my studio at Vernon Street in Somerville and need your help! Oh there will be lots for sale: lots of art (prints, collages, paintings…), clamshell boxes, long folding tables, clip lights, old photography equipment and supplies, a 10 foot square art fair tent (used only twice! With sandbags too!) and some other stuff. Come on by, check it out. No reasonable offer refused. That print you were eyeing last spring at open studios may be available at a great new price.

Don’t make me move all this stuff in the snow…

For directions, best to use mapquest.
For questions, call Jenny 617-733-3622

* if the door is locked when you get there, just call my cell # 617-733-3622

Eliot School Craft Fair THIS WEEKEND!

2008-12-04T13:20:00.004-05:00

I'm participating in the Eliot School's Annual Craft Fair, this Saturday December 6. Truth is, I don't really consider myself a "crafter" but these days the definition of what is craft is kinda blurry. It can include a range of handmade items from knit socks to hand printed woodcuts.

One good thing about this Craft Fair is that potential students get to meet me and ask me questions about the workshops I'll be teaching at the Eliot School this upcoming winter. I'll be teaching woodcut and gelatin monoprinting. As well, I'll also be co-teaching the Tuesday evening drop-in figure drawing class. This one is always alot of fun with a good group of steady repeat attendees.

And Saturday is supposed to be nice weather too! If you are in Massachusetts, swing by JP and say hello.

DeCordova Museum School BIG Woodcuts

2008-11-25T22:06:00.004-05:00

I LOVE that moment of printing, after you've carved and inked and layed down the paper and placed the blankets and cranked the press. That moment when you roll back the blankets like a curtain and hold your breath as you pull the sheet of paper from the block...

It's especially magical when I teach because I love seeing that glint of joy in the eyes of my students. Below are images from my class at the DeCordova Museum School (in Lincoln MA). The students are all artists, in some respect. Some have never done printmaking, some have way in the past and wanted to rekindle the flame. Some are painters or sculptors or photographers, and then bring that aspect of their art into their prints. I teach the class with an open mind, responding to each person's needs, ideas, and queries. As we are approaching the end of the Fall term, with only two classes left, students in the class are well onto thier individual paths. Some came in with an clear intent of what they wanted to accomplish, others kinda played around a bit to discover a personal goal. The images here are from that moment when the path is clear and the goal is a wide open target.

Freehand Drawing at the BAC

2008-11-20T05:06:00.008-05:00

This fall I have been teaching a class on Wednesday afternoons at the Boston Architectural College. What's that you say? How can I teach at an architectural college when I don't know the difference between a corinthian column and a doric column? Meh, doesn't matter. The point of the class is to understand and apply observational drawing and rendering three-dimensional forms into a two-dimensional space.

Now I love teaching, and I especially love interdisciplinary teaching, where I get to work with students from all sorts of different backgrounds. They may not go on to careers as fine artists, but they can still appreciate a basic drawing class and take the greater skill of observation and attention to detail to whatever future they have set for themselves. John Ruskin noted that he enjoyed teaching drawing to people like craftsmen, engineers, mechanics, etc, because it helped them to "see" better and that they were better at their trade for it.

Following are some pictures from a recent BAC class. The focus was rendering drapery and fabric so they were drawing their coats and bags, incorporating all of the various techniques we've covered this semester including gestural drawing, contour lines, variation in line weight, rendering reflective surfaces, volume, shading and negative spaces using charcoal and/or pencil.

As You Wish

2008-11-18T01:46:00.006-05:00

Up late again, finishing up some prints for Melanie Yazzie in Colorado.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Lucy, The Late Night Studio "Guard" Dog

2008-11-14T02:41:00.002-05:00

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Not such a failure after all?

2008-11-14T00:47:00.003-05:00

I'm in my studio very late tonight and the experimental book with the poly urethane is much drier and more interesting. The dried surface is stretched tight and has become slightly more transparent. I can see some of the text below the surface of the amber glowing pool.

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

More Monoprint Books

2008-11-12T18:30:00.004-05:00

Here are a few more monoprint recycled books. One made with a re-used book cover, another made with a vinyl floor tile sample.

Then this "book" is still in progress.

I liked these stencil letter forms and the idea of looking at text through text windows. But not sure yet where the "book" is going, if anywhere at all. This might just be a process project that won't become an actual finished work.

Test post

2008-11-12T18:27:00.002-05:00

Cool! I can blog from my crackberry!
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

Jlee and me in the studio

2008-11-10T22:50:00.005-05:00

This past weekend was Vernon Street Open Studios. Lucia and Jackson hung out with me for a bit and Jackson and I made paper turkeys. In fact, Jackson is a good little artist, loves to paint and draw and appreciates visiting museums and galleries.

Sky Goddess

2008-11-10T17:39:00.015-05:00

Often times I start a drawing intrinsically, intuitively, not necessarily knowing yet where the source is. Only after working with the image for some time and having conversations with friends and colleagues that I am able to dig deeper and see how the image has developed and what possible relationship it has to the greater world outside of me.

For a few months now I've been working with this image that started off as a simple doodle on a page margin (now lost) and stuck in my mind. I later drew it again on the background of a litho print that I never finished.

Then carved it into a woodcut.

And started experimenting with a series of small monoprints that also included found textural elements like lace and embroidery.

I've talked with a few people about this image and this process of mine of drawing and printing and using textures. But this weekend when my friend Deb Santaro was visiting my studio, she saw something in the image that I had not. She made reference to the Egyptian Goddess Nut. In mythology, she is considered the protector of the inhabitants of earth, arching her body over separate the world from chaos and disorder.

Nut is represented by the sacred symbol of a ladder, used by Osiris to enter heaven and also placed in tombs to protect the dead. This also reminds me of the Christian symbol of Jacob's ladder, envisioned by Jacob in a dream as path between heaven and earth. Again, like the sky goddess, the symbol that unites two.

I am not yet sure what this means for me. Certainly there is a lot of chaos and disorder in my life... as I type this my son is poking at the CPU on the floor squealing "button!" and threatening to push the power off...

Recycled, Re-made

2008-11-09T20:10:00.021-05:00

While in graduate school at the University of Iowa, I had the great fortune of learning two wonderful techniques to supplement my printmaking: papermaking and book arts. Years ago I had taken old proof prints and made them into new paper by tearing them up and tossing them into a hollander beater. I then re-printed a series of woodcut monoprints.

Now years later these prints are taking on yet another life as artist books. I have taken them and cut them in to strips.

Then attached the strips together and folded the whole thing into an accordian page book.

There's an old copy of "Cry the Beloved Country" by Alan Paton that I have in my studio and for many years I have been using the pages of text in my collages. Now there's not much left of the book except a few cut up pages and the book cover. I used this old book cover for my new accordian book.

Another book, however, did not turn out so well. It was just an experiment to start, to see how long a book filled with polyurethane would take to dry. It's been a week and so far it's just dry on the surface. When I touch it, it's squishy underneath. Kinda cool, but not what I was aiming for.

Next I'll try epoxy...

Studio Time!

2008-09-05T23:17:00.007-04:00

So this is a corner of my studio, from earlier this summer. Progress has been made on the clutter, but you know what they say about an empty desk...There is a fire lighting under my ass and I will get there.

In the meantime I have been inspired and encouraged these past few days by the many exhibition openings I have attended. First on Wednesday evening, Jlee and I went to the New Art Dept Faculty Show at Wellesley College; then Thursday night I joined George Fifield, and crew from Axiom Gallery at the DeCordova Opening of Drawn to Detail(insane drawings... IN SANE) and sketches by Layla Ali; and just tonight, Lucia, Jlee and I went to First Friday in SOWA and were most impressed by the work at Bernard Toale and Kayafas. All shows were fabulous and you should check them out if you can.

Death of Rauschenberg

2008-05-16T01:34:00.014-04:00

I've been so busy with family life that I just know read about Rauschenberg's recent death. So much of my work is clearly influenced by him. I LOVED that show at the Met "Robert Rauschenberg Combines." It spoke to so many of my own sensibilities as an artist, to see incredibly beauty in mundane objects (crows, bedsheets, chicken coops, boots...). And of course he was a great printmaker, taking full advantage of the medium of lithography. Broken stone? Print that!

There were no obstacles to his work, nothing weighted, no waiting. It was all just there. I struggle so much to just get halfway there, but I think for him there was not so much thinking and thinking and thinking. My father always says if you think long, you think wrong. I find myself thinking myself out of doing, thinking a big burden on my work, stripping my work down too far. Then I have to go back to my work without over thinking the process and just creating by instinct.

It's like when I'm driving sometimes and I know where I am going and I know how to get there but if there is a road block, traffic, slow school bus, whatever, sometimes I'll take a "detour." When really I should just stay on the way I was going in the first place. But is that sticking with the familiar? I must say that sometimes when I do veer off path, sure I get lost, sure it takes me longer than if I had just stayed behind the slow school bus... but maybe I'll make a new discovery along the way. Drive by an interesting store, a tasty restaurant worth checking out or a cool dog park that I didn't know was there.

So maybe the detours are worth it in driving but how much are they worth it in my work? How can I make the experience of a detour actually valuable to my work?

Someone once said that they hate the fact that when they work on something they start to think "Oh that reminds me of Picasso...Degas...Rembrandt... Kahlo..." and that it pisses her off. She wants her work to be HER work, not reminiscent of some other been-there artist. But once she has that artist on her mind she can't beat it out and then every mark she makes is a Fridah mark or a Jasper mark or whoever. But not her own mark. So she writes the haunting name on a paper, takes it to the outside door of her studio and slams the door. Get out!

The death of a prominent artist takes me on this type of mental detour. I see so much of Rauschenberg in my work but I am not haunted by him. I also see Fridah's portraiture, Michelangelo's Sybills and Keinholz's tableaus. We can't help but be influenced, or rather, inspired. Parents influence children. History influences the present. The trick is not to repeat history. My work is clearly not Rauschenberg, but I am happy whenever someone sees my work and puts me in his company.

Gratuitious Mommy Moment...

2008-05-01T23:22:00.001-04:00

So exciting! Jackson is learning to walk! Soon enough he can be my studio assistant.

Studio Purge

2008-05-01T22:46:00.005-04:00

My work has gone through several cycles from graduate school, to my waffling years after graduate school to more recent years when it has started to find a focus. I feel the lense turning again now, and sharpening my view further. Mediums that I once only experimented with (meaning, I created a few wonderful pieces but didn't quite find a groove with it) are now being rekindled in my mind.

I've been teaching a class on artist books at Framingham State College. I've made books in the past and have been more interested in studying books and book culture. But teaching this class has sparked my creativity! This fall I am teaching a class at Tufts Experimental College on the transformation of visual culture from the perspective of the book. Should be fun.

But what does all this mean for the my archive of work? The good, the bad, the ugly... Does anyone throw out art work that they feel was just not right? No, that's not for me. I think I am more interested in reclaiming art work; reconfiguring it into new work.

And with open studios coming up, is is valid to have a "bargin bin" to readily releive myself of older work? Has the monetary value lowered OR has my emotional value of the work lessened? And what does that say about the work in the first place, if I no longer have an emotional connection to it? How can I lose an emotional connection to something I created?... Maybe I was never inspired in the first place...

Studio Clean Up

2008-05-01T22:26:00.011-04:00

Most of my great ideas and energy come at the last minute. This is why I started rearranging my studio just THREE DAYS before Somerville Open Studios. Yep. But somehow I managed to make a big mess that I now have to clean up before I can finish setting up my space for the public. Typical.

The guest room at home looks worst. And my mother arrives in one week. ha.

"The Hair Club for Men"

2008-04-16T01:15:00.002-04:00

Long time no blog...

These days the only time I have to do detail work (editing digital images, updating resume, applying to shows, finding my head...) is in the middle of the night. Our home office space is in the guest room (since the kid's room took over the office) and the television keeps me company. And it's usually pretty good for a few hours up until 1am when the infomercials start. I know far too much about hair treatments, skin treatments and weight loss suppliments. I think they assume that only overweight, bald, scaly skinned folks are up this late. Everyone else is off getting their beauty sleep.

Wooden Dialogues Artist Talk

2008-02-28T19:55:00.006-05:00

Today I was invited to speak in the gallery at Wheelock College with my fellow artist, Gloria Calderon Saenz, about our work. We spoke to two classes, an art history class studying women in the history of art and a studio art class doing mixed media collage. It was rather appropriate, as both my work and Gloria's incorporate use of various materials, as well as a varied use of materials.

First, it was great to get out and speak about my work, to hear the questions that my work brings up and to learn more about another artist. Gloria made a really good point that the desire to create art outweighs the obstacles. Another thing she talked about, which is somewhat related, is the need to make that art even if it is bad. I have such a difficult time making time between working and teaching and being a mother and financial and family responsibilities. So sometimes when I do go to the studio, it is a mental and creative struggle. As a result, I wind up making art that is sometimes not my best. But every artist has to do that, right? What is most important is that I am constantly in motion, challenging my creativity and finding motivation. Artist talks, having coffee with fellow artists or just visiting museums does that for me just as much as producing work in the studio. All experiences are relevant.

Always in progress

2008-02-04T01:08:00.001-05:00

For the past month or so I have been working on a number of projects. Too many projects. Not sure if I can keep up but I am putting in a good effort. On Saturday, I installed about a dozen prints for the exhibition Wooden Dialogues at Wheelock College (a two-person show including myself and another Arlington artist, Gloria Calderon-Saenz). I finally finished the last print on Friday. My work is so reactionary, involving multiple layers, processes and materials. Often these materials are found; sometimes the materials I have don't exactly fit the vision of a specific print and I have to wait... and wait for something to come along that strikes me. Until then, a print can sit unfinished for months while I move on to other prints.

Above are images of prints in thier unfinished state on the wall of my studio in Somerville, and my work table covered with stencils. For me, there is no such thing as completion; I save my blocks and materials and continue to work with particular images or revisit images in different ways. My newest dilemma is whether or not I can UNfinish a print. After the print has been signed, imaged, and even shown in an exhibit, can I then later decide that it needs "something" and continue to work on it? I think so. After all, John Singer Sargent changed Madam X after exhibiting it in a salon show and getting flack for depicting her with the diamond studded strap of her dress falling off her shoulder; he then went back and repainted the strap in its "proper" place. Though his changing of the painting was more a response to societal pressure, I do think it was a good move; a fallen strap gives away too much and makes her sex appeal too obvious. With the strap in tact, her allure is in what is not seen and what is held back through her composure, elegant profile, and the subtle way in which her fingers lightly caress the table top.

The prints I want to change are too obvious, too literal. They are on exhibit now at Wheelock... but I want to wait to have more discussion about them or even announcing on this blog which prints I am considering re-working.

On the use of text, notably the Bible

2008-02-04T00:05:00.000-05:00

I have always used text in my work, since my first lithograph. In that print, I used a copy of a letter written to me by my mother (I still have that print somewhere and will find it and include it in this blog entry later...). I never use random text, only text that has meaning. I have to be able to have some sort of connection to the words themselves, even if the words are barely legible in the finished print, as often happens. Sometimes you can barely read the entire line; but that's not always the point. The words have a feeling that I want to convey. I don't want people to be standing there in the gallery READING my prints. I want people to share the feeling of the words.

So I grew up in a strong Baptist household: church every Sunday, Sunday school, church choir (though I can't sing and they all knew it but you can't really kick anyone out of the church choir, now can you?) and my mother's famous line (at least famous to my brother and I) "you are going to hell if you don't change your ways!" No my mother isn't a crazy fanatic; she has a strong faith in God but she's also practical and contemporary. She bought me my first leather mini skirt in middle school (I looked SO cool) and even confessed once that Madonna was her favorite singer. But the Bible is her rock. During the weekday she wakes at 5am (!) to hold telephone bible readings and prayer sessions with members of her church. I tried to tell her once that God is still asleep at 5am but she just shot me a dirty look.

My point is, I started using the Bible in my work to admit that I too read the Bible. I love the Beatitudes because it has taught me that it is ok to be meek ("... for they shall inherit the earth.") And a number of passages which illustrate that women are strong even when they are doubted and looked over. Two women I have focused on are Mary, who stood up to the angel Gabriel by saying "How can this be...?" She didn't just accept what was being told to her, she wanted an explaination. And the woman with the issue of blood, who had been given no cure for her hemoragging. She didn't accept that and pushed against the crowd to seek another opinion by touching the hem of Jesus' garment.

Now, one might wonder how can I (being liberal minded and, more notably, being a lesbian) have such an affinity for the Bible? Throughout history the Bible has been used to promote the persecution of people (blacks, women, homosexuals...) But I think it's important for these people to take back the Bible and reclaim the words that have been used against them.

Family background...

2008-02-03T15:09:00.000-05:00

After finishing graduate school at the University of Iowa, I was all over the map with my work and had no real focus. Physically and emotionally I was moving in a number of different directions and this impacted my work. I had no studio, no job, and then when I found a job I didn't necessarily like it very much. Unfortunately, my work began to reflect this period of my life: random, unininspired, unfocused and, well, ugly. It took some time to get myself together, and then to get my work back on track.

In getting myself together, I had to realize that I needed to settle down. I was on the verge of a serious relationship, after years of running away from serious relationships and leaving a wreckage of broken hearts from here to there and everywhere. I had to find a focus not just in a relationship with another person, but also with myself. What were the things that influenced who I was on the verge of becoming as a person? In making these decisions about myself and my work while at the same time settling down with someone, I realized that it was all about family for me. I then began to look at how my family had influenced my thinking, and my work as an artist. Oddly enough, the answer was there all along, even when I was making work that was "ugly." My work had always reflected the influences of my maternal grandmother and my mother: inspired by texture, patterns, found objects and words as well as the ability to use what was at hand to create new "recipes." This is how my grandmother quilted and how my mother cooks.

The work that I have been focusing on for the past few years was started while I was a resident artist at the Vermont Studio Center in May of 2006. Some have used the lace curtains, doilies and table runners pilfered from my mother's storage. Found text images (from poems, non-fiction literature, and the Bible) have provided a context as well as an additional textural element for my work. I have titled my work with words such as "faith," "surrendered," and "virtue" as way of acknowledging the strong spiritual and emotional sensibilities that go into my work. My more recent work (which can be seen in the exhibitions at Wheelock, Bristol CC and Boston City Hall) more directly reference the women in my family who have influenced me: Bertha (my mother), Irene (my maternal grandmother), Daisy (my paternal grandmother) and Margaret (one of my many aunts).

I should also note that I have named this blog after my press name Rae Press, which is named for my mother's middle name Rae. But she hates it.

Welcome!

2007-12-17T22:37:00.000-05:00

For some time I have thought of writing a blog for a few reasons.

First, it seems that the "artist statement" is never satisfying, never fulfilling, and never gives the full picture of the artist. It implies a finite set of ideas, that one's art is rigid and fixed within the sole parameters of those 500 or so words. When in fact, an artist's work is a fluid and constantly evolving process. I could change my statement every week if I had the time. But I don't. So instead, a blog can serve as an alternative to the formal artist statement.

Second, my work is very process oriented and I love talking about the process, my influences, the materials I use and the choices I make. It is just as important as the work itself.

I hope readers will find new insights about my work, and in turn help me to be more insightful.