Lava Field

Fall is reluctant to arrive in Portland.

The days may be shorter ~ we’re nearly blanketed in darkness by 7:30 these days ~ but the sun keeps warming the grasses and ripening the tomatoes. We make up for late, rainy springs and cool, cloudy summers with blazing autumns that allow the green to linger on trees and extend our sitting and sunning weather well into October.

The angle of the late summer sun makes me long for the desert. I’m willing to put off putting the garden to bed another month, wanting to travel east toward the great basin to look at strange rock formations that burst out of sandy hills. Oregonians are lucky in that way, we have the desert to turn to when we need to clear our minds, if we’re so inclined.

This summer I’ve been working with figurative rocks in my studio. Beginning with my show in June, Tuf, and leading up to my latest work currently at 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Lava Field.

Part of my ongoing investigation into place, particularly the high desert of Central Oregon, Lava Field renders the undulating lava rock of the landscape in two-dimensions, as perhaps experienced by outsiders. However, within the cracks and fissures time and history are contained. Geological scale and personal history intertwine, leaving indelible footprints on an outwardly sterile landscape.

These rocks were formed by scanning the collagraph stencils I used in my Tuf prints, and creating photopolymer plates for printing on the letterpress. This allowed me to create multiple iterations of the rock shapes in multiple sizes, and to print a much greater quantity. In this process I lost some of the character of the original collagraph, its texture and density, but this flattening is interesting to me, and something I might play with further.

In truth, I love the silliness of these objects. I haven't quite figured out what they are or what they mean to me yet. But I love their objectness, their 2D/3Dness, and their implied gravity. I've been thinking about their commodification. They're not currently for sale because I'm not yet sure if that's their role to play, to be covetable objects, or if they're supposed to live at an arms length on a gallery pedestal.

You can visit 23 Sandy Gallery to see INKED! Contemporary Northwest Letterpress until October 13, and you can view the online gallery by clicking here.

March!

I really can't believe how quickly February FLEW by! I hardly spent any time here, and for that I apologize. I will have plenty to update you with this month, the month of the spring equinox and the return of the evening sun...(aka daylight savings time - yay!)

But updates will have to wait one more day.

In the meantime, a quick synopsis of February's highlights:

-New Oregon presented it's final installation of the interview series - Urban Development night was a huge success. Portland Mayor Sam Adams, Architect Brad Cloepfil, and Journalist/Editor specializing in architecture and urban spaces, Randy Gragg were on hand to talk about what would make Portland a world class city in urban design. The online transcripts will be available soon at www.neworegon.org.

- I finally had the opportunity to sit in on one of Paul Moxen's Vandercook press essentials two day workshops. I learned a lot, both about the presses at OCAC and my own press. Paul stresses that, since we no longer have the luxury of calling in "experts" to help us with our Vandercook maintenance, we all need to become our own experts in order to be better stewards of these machines for the future. If you're unfamiliar with Paul's website and the Vanderblog - a wealth of information on all things Vandercook - be sure to check it out.

- Also: My mom started a blog! Girl on the Town will be a mixture of new and old writing from the perspective of a woman interested in exploring the arts and culture in Central Oregon. Caryn May (that's her!) wrote for the Bend weekly the Source for several years, so she'll post some of her old favorites, plus new observations and reviews.

Not to mention, that even though the majority of our days here in the PNW are still very, very wet and grey, we have color bursting out all over.



To round things out, here are a few things to check out in March:

- Em Space is presenting a "working exhibition" of Heather Watkin's work in progress from the time she spent as a resident there. See the link here and check it out in person here.

- 23 Sandy Gallery re-opens after its winter hiatus to present two shows and a lecture or two in March. These look interesting!

- And finally, I'll be working on the broadside for the New Oregon Interview Series, which will include all the "pithiest quotes" from the series so far. Plus a semi-sekrit project that will be revealed very soon. I'll keep you posted!

weekend of Portland book arts

letterpress printed poster by the gorgeous folks at Em Space

Last Saturday, in between recovering from a migraine and acquiring a cold, I dropped by Em Space to see some friends and to check out the show "The Power of the Press," which Em Space is hosting since its closing at Portland Center Stage. The show looks great above all of their immaculate presses. I wish I remembered to bring my camera.

The show will be up until January 31 and is free and open to the public. To learn more about Em Space, check out their website.

The day before I also made it in just before the closing gate for the closing reception of "The Assignment" at the 23 Sandy Gallery. "The Assignment" was a show for and by the CBAA (College Book Arts Association) to celebrate the assignment as a valuable practical tool for book artists as students, teachers, and working artists.

This was one of the best shows I've seen at 23 Sandy, and one artist's statement jumped out at me as being just what I needed to read at that moment: Anna Bunting of Oakland, California talked about how her piece was an assignment to herself. That once a week she set aside time to be in her studio, to write, set type, print.

Between my work at OCAC, my commissioned work for Tiger Food Press, and the work I put into ephemera for my online stores, I am always at work in a bindery or print shop, either mine or the school's. But it continues to be so hard to carve out time just to write for the fun of it, or draw just for my self, or make a few experimental prints to get started on the book I've had germinating in my mind for so long. So to read this artist statement, and to see the finished book next to it was a jolt of inspiration to me.

23 Sandy brilliantly always includes an online catalog of every exhibition of work. "The Assignment" is now down, but the work, including artist statements is online here.

ink and impact

The catalog for Ink and Impact, the broadside show that is part of Write Around Portland's 10th anniversary is now online. Check it out here.