I Took Myself Up to the Mountain

I took myself up to the mountain twice this week.

I've been gloriously swamped with private commission work during the past few weeks. My inbox is filling up with requests and I've been thrilled with the upswing in interest in my work.

I believe that when we are busy, the most important thing is to take a break every so often, and in my case, seek out the wilderness to restore and reinvigorate.

Now, with sore muscles and a little sunburn on my nose, I'm hitting the studio floor humming.

Typical Rimrock and Desert Scenery

Introducing my latest book project and most recent paper lava rock processing: Typical Rimrock and Desert Scenery.

This book came about because I was invited to participate in a show called Ideation by Chance, opening today at the Seager Gray Gallery's Book Room.

Parameters set forth for this exhibition are based on an ideation technique my former instructor Barb Tetenbaum developed - that of pulling a set of prompts from a hat, thus allowing the structure and content of the book to be dictated by chance.

My directives were:
Imagery: none
Structure: unbound
Text: self-generated
Layout: minimal
Color: primary
Technical: mixed media
Paper: pre-printed/recycled
Describe: abstract
Adjectives: obvious, mosaic, traditional, encyclopedic, whimsical

This is the third time I've used the same rock imagery; each time the plates are transformed or broken up in a further processing of the material. For this book, in answer to the prompt 'mosaic,' I cut up some of the polymer plates used to print Lava Field and printed them in simple mosaic patterns.

I found this funky graph paper culled from a machine shop several years ago which satisfied the pre-printed and recycled paper directive. For the text I pulled out my old trusty typewriter. I was thrilled to find the ribbon still had life in it, I don't think I've used it for 10 years!

The book is made up of 20 folios that simply lay loosely on top of one another. Each folio has a numbered piece of text, but readers may go through them in any order. The pages are housed in a hard-case cover with a simple slip case inside to contain them.

So there it is, Typical Rimrock and Desert Scenery. The title, by the way, comes from photo caption found in a book about the high desert of Central Oregon written by Raymond Hatton, a long-time professor at Central Oregon Community College. The words seemed so comically dismissive of a subject matter the author was so obviously enthusiastic about, I've adopted it and taken it on for several projects.

And now, I'm off into the typical moss and rainforest scenery.

Hello My Swifties

So here we are. It's Saturday. January is nearly over. The quiet, gentle frost has broken in Portland and the rain is back, warming the air. The damp blanket of cloud holds the earth's heat a little longer, and the mercury rises a few degrees.

I slept in this morning. I'm making waffles with almond flour, coconut and strawberries - the last strawberries from a summer flat frozen for a day like today. The studio cat has been given a studio pass to sit on my lap as long as she keeps her hairs to herself and doesn't try to get them all over my work.

That is it. I'm writing to say hello. I'm working quite a lot in my studio. The shop heater has been going full tilt in an attempt to keep the ink warm and flowing. My typewriter has emerged from storage and is making an appearance in my latest book project. I will have a lot to show you soon.

Also, for all of you honeys and sweeties, I printed Valentines this year! Come take a look. They're adding a lovely brightness to my shop page, I must say.

Just a Few Things

Today I really should have gotten out early. I have some work that needs to be done at the computer, and as I sat at my desk in front of the window whose view reveals a sliver of Forest Park's hills, I thought about how beautiful it was outside. How nice it would be to go for a walk, or little hike *just after I finish.*

Gosh.

Now it's raining to beat the cars as E.B. White once said. Maybe I'll pile on the rain gear and shlep out anyway. In the meantime, I want to show you a few things.

My 2013 calendar:

This is one of two calendar designs I'll be releasing. I have a red-tailed hawk design following this one shortly.

Also, a new print:

And last, some little books:

I love making these guys. I'm hoping to release a new cover design each month so eventually there'll be a wide variety to chose from. These are handmade from the ground up. I draw the illustration, print, and bind these. And they're sewn never stapled!

Well, I think I'll pull on the ol' rain boots now and see what nature can throw at me.

www.tigerfoodpress.etsy.com

Yesterday evening there was a bite to the air that reminded me of snow. Today it's warmish and rainy again, so maybe I was imagining things. But then again...

I made my holiday cards a little more on the traditional side this year. These were fun to draw, fun to carve, fun to print. Does anyone write holiday cards anymore? I try to every year. I have a really small mailing list of close friends and family that I try to send a card and a note to. It was something I loved doing as a child (I can still smell the elmers glue and feel the glitter everywhere), part of a holiday tradition I don't want to slip away.