Solar Plate Etching

Last summer, I took a workshop at the Blue Mouse Studio in Aptos. I learned more about solar plate etching and started a series of prints based on an image of Machu Pichu that I took in 1986. I woke up early the morning after my arrival and spend several hours almost alone in the ruins before the first tourist train arrived. These images are based on one photograph that I transferred to a solar plate. I made an intaglio plate and a relief plate of the same image. These three prints and the result of my printing the two solar plates in different combinations of color and composition.

O’Keeffe Pilgrimage

Last year, I finally made it to Abiquiu for a tour of Georgia O’Keeffe’s home. It was so fascinating to see her studio with an incredible view of the valley below. The garden was interesting as she used the Pueblo method of flooding the fields once a weed. Her watering day was and still is on Monday mornings. The water flows down from a mountain source and is distributed to everyone in the village on their allotted day and time.

The inside of the house has been preserved just as she left it so there are lots of vintage appliances and electronics. She was fairly self sufficient and there were canning jars on the shelves, an herb drying room etc. We then went on to Ghost Ranch and climbed up to Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock near Ghost Ranch, NM

Humpback Collagraph

I have started working with collagraphs made using plexi plates and acrylic mediums. I have been painting and drawing with gel mediums such as tar gel. I sometimes at carborndrum grit to give the image more texture. I then ink it with a brayer and remove ink as in a subtractive monotype. Here is an examples of this technique.

Half Done Reverse

This was one of the first etchings I ever made. I worked off a photo from a recent visit to Yosemite and I was pleased with the proofs I was pulling. I was getting ready to make a small edition when another printmaker in the studio pointed out that it was backwards. Oops. Etching rule number one is to remember that whatever you draw or write will print in the reverse. Now I keep a copy of this print near my work space as a reminder.

Glacial Blues

A few years ago I was able to take a small boat cruise on the Inside Passage in Alaska. I was fascinated by all the shades of blue and the abstract shapes of the icebergs and glaciers. My recent artwork is inspired by this voyage. These images are mixed media collages on wood panels with a cold wax varnish.

Joan Brown

I recently had a wonderful visit with Joan Brown at her SMOMA Retrospective. The show was set up chronologically and it was wonderful to see her earlier work, with heavy impasto, mature and develop into her later work that was made primarily with flatter enamel paint.

During my Junior year at Cal Berkeley I was taking a drawing class with Elmer Bischoff. He often had models for us to draw and I began drawing from the figure, primarily in black. A few weeks in to the class he told me he wanted me to to work without using any black. That made a huge difference in the quality of my work and I was able to push out of my black and white style bubble.

At the end of the class he mentioned that I should study painting with Brown. He knew I was a Junior and only Seniors and Grad students were able to get into her painting classes so he wrote a note and I ended up taking several classes with her over the next two years.

She was a dynamic teacher and most always came in to class wearing high heels and carrying a cup of coffee. She was enthusiastic about our work yet she did not hesitate to make suggestions for improvement. For more private mentoring sessions she would walk with me over to the Cafe Strada across the street and we talked about the possibility of grad school and beyond.

The images are from the show at the SFMOMA.

Paper Quilts

I have been making “Paper Quilts” for over 15 years. My earlier collages were made with watercolor paper strips that I wove together. Currently, I am using mostly printmaking paper, marbled papers and found paper. I enjoy sorting through the various scraps and making decisions about size, color and placement. Then I begin the process of cutting and/or tearing and tacking them down with glue. Sometimes I add paint, pencil drawings or pen and ink.

This seaweed collage was made entirely with my sea and shore etchings printed in blues and greens. I then mounted it on a 12”by 12” panel and sealed it with cold wax. It is currently on display at the Piedmont Art Center in the California Society of Printmakers Annual Show.

Pacific Red

I recently visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium and spent time with my favorite octopus.  I love how they push up against the glass and show their tentacles .  This position inspired my etching and I mixed a custom "in your face" pacific red ink to go with the pose.  I find that the time it takes for me to prepare a plate for etching and follow through with printing an edition is a labor of love.  I worry about the ocean and how climate change is affecting its residents.  The octopus is a smart, fascinating creature and the Giant Pacific Octopus is one of our west coast representatives.

Earlier this year I decided to participate in a print exchange. The parameters included a maximum paper size of 8”x10”. I decided on a 5”x7” copper plate and began to work on an octopus. I started with a hard ground drawing and then added aquatints. I kept printing proofs , making changes to the plate and adding more aquatint and my octopus took shape. The final edition has 25 prints that I am sending to New York . There are 20 artists participating so eventually I will receive 20 prints by both New York and California printmakers.

Wild Seaweed

The Lamorinda Arts Alliance has a new show called “ Born to be Wild” at the Main Street Arts Gallery in Martinez. I will be showing a piece from my Seaweed series from September 2nd until October 16th.

I have been printing monotype collages with dried seaweed for several years. Recently, I was looking at my selection of “discards” and decided to rip and tear. For this piece, I added drawings, paint and cold wax and then mounted the work on wood panels. The panel sits in a maple wood floating frame.

Glaciers

The temperatures are creeping up again and I start dreaming of another trip to Alaska. Our family took a small boat cruise in 2007 and spend a week amongst the glaciers and icebergs. If we saw something interesting the crew would break the the kayaks so we could get a close up look.

We spent a morning with the iceburgs. The blues were amazing and I loved all of the different hues. We pulled up a piece of ice that was floating in the water and chipped off ice chips for our drinks. The water was so clean and pure and I loved the idea that it had been frozen for thousands of years.

Seaweed Wrap

Lips

Confinement Collage Day 42

Note: I found some old drafts and I am posting them out of order.

Our “shelter in place” began on March 17th and  I have been trying to make a collage a day.  After a few weeks, I realized that the only way to do a collage each day was to make quick, simple, pieces.  So, now I am finishing one every few days and they are more complicated and hopefully more interesting.  

Materials are in short supply so I have been improvising.  I prefer to use papers that I have made myself through printmaking but I have branched out into marbling.  

I got a Suminagashi style ink set and had fun trying out different papers to see what looks best.  Right now I prefer the heavier Rives BFK printmaking paper.  

East Bay Open Studios 2019

I had a great time at the open studios this last weekend. I was invited to join a group of artists and we set up our displays in the Studio One Art Center in Oakland. Participating in Open Studios and other shows where I have a booth is important because it gives me a chance to talk with collectors and other artists to get feedback on my work. Of course, a purchase is the best feedback and it makes the experience more fun.

I am working on two series right now. Croplands which is primarily monotypes and my Sea & Shore etchings. I have also begun making collages using my ghost prints and other non-editioned paper that I cut up and glue down.

Mayerling

Mayerling is a Vienna Woods hunting lodge, turned into a convent, where the Grand Duke of Austria and his lover committed suicide.  I took a day trip to Mayerling when I was a teenager.   I had a roll of black and white film and I was taking photographs in one of the rooms and I saw a very short, tiny, nun heading for the doorway.   I heard her pulling the gate closed behind us and I turned and got this shot.  It has always been one of my favorites.

Mayerling Nun

Washi Paper Collage

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There is a stationary store in S.F. Japantown that has beautiful, high quality, made in Japan, washi paper.  The colors and designs are amazing and I am every time I visit a new pattern tempts me.  This is a collage that I made using some of my favorite blue papers and acrylic paint on 300 lb watercolor paper.

Mini-Monotype Prints

California Dreaming

These small prints are 5" by 7".  I made them by inking fruit netting, or handmade papers, and/or an old gift card;  then, I ran them through the press.

Trinity Reeds

Monotypes

Copperplate, water soluable black etching ink, brayer, brushes, drawing tools.  I made my first monotypes using the printing press.  It is a very painterly form of printmaking and  I had fun.  

Winter Light

Near Sutter Buttes

I took this photo over by Sutter Buttes in the Sacramento River Valley.  It almost looks like a watercolor to me and I am going to try and reproduce it on paper.

Je suis Paris

I am posting this photo of my favorite crepe stand in Paris.  It was on the Boulevard St Michelle  near the Jardin de Luxembourg.  In the late 1970's I spent many hours sitting in this cafe, drinking coffee, drawing, writing and working on essays for my studies at the Sorbonne.  I took this photo with black and white film and printed it after I returned home.  Eventually, I scanned it ,brought in into Photoshop and added the sepia tones.  Last night I heard about the devastating Friday the 13th bombings and attacks in Paris.  My Paris.  It felt so personal even though I have not lived there for over 30 years.   Je suis Paris.

Lindsay Dirkx Brown Gallery

I had eight etchings in a show at this gallery in San Ramon.  It is a lovely gallery and our work looked great.  Most of my pieces were from the Sedona series.  

Nepal Gods

  These three collages were made with cut and torn papers including Nepal God prints made with rice paper, acrylic paints and acrylic mediums.  They are on sturdy, 300b watercolor paper and the edges were left exposed to give them an informal mat.