Just thought I would point out an up-and-coming project in the works.

The Dirty Printmakers of America is a collective of printmakers founded by members of Drive By Press and other accomplished printmakers promoting the education, awareness and democratization of printmaking to the masses. The DPA board has been arranging a portfolio exchange, called States of the State, surveying  artists who specialize in certain print techniques. I was invited to participate in the relief portfolio. This project will consume the rest of my free time from now until mid-October, so I’ll hopefully blog some progression posts (keyword is “hopefully,” I might want to keep it a surprise until the very end).

Anyway, explore the site, check out the other artist participants and stay tune to other updates in the near future.

Awhile ago, I got asked by Jordan Shiveley of Grimalkin Press to create a cover illustration for Hive 5: A Somewhat Quarterly Comics Anthology. For the illustration, I stuck to basic concepts. I took some inspiration with the title “Hive 5″ sounding similar to “high five” the hand gesture.  Since I had a nice ink drawing of a arm with a bee gracing the top, I took that as a starting point and progressed to the final draft of the image. Mark Leicht, Hive’s designer propose the possibility of a vellum dust jacket to separate the image layers to mimic the layering in my thesis prints. I’m excited to see the final design.

Started off super minimal and black and white. Placed temporary title design to work around the illustration.

Added some more atmosphere similar to my thesis prints.

Worked with color and nixed the title since that’s a design decision for Mark to handle.

The “final draft,” Mark Leicht will take the image and finish off the rest of the cover design.

I gave up on just using the arm and decided to include the figure that’s attached since it still felt so disembodied. I was stubborn about it since it felt overused in my thesis work, but it translates really nicely for the design.

Hive 5 will be on sale in the next few months, which I’ll be sure to announce along with showing off the final design. You can buy previous issues through their Etsy shop and see more of Hive/Grimalkin Press at their blog. They’re nice people, say hi.

Having a website with a site tracker, I keep record of what pages, posts and images people visit. Despite the push and pull graduate school gave me, the two pieces that continually receive the most attention are The Wound and The Swarm:

vs.

I’m not sure how I feel in response. They’re my first pieces done at MCAD and yet I was more or less bashed for the illustrative qualities of the work. But this is the work that has been the most successful outside of school for reasons other than the “Lowbrow” or “Juxtapoz” connection (always a slight cringe now whenever I hear that comparison). One the prevalent comments I receive about the newer work is that, while the new series is great, people have a hard time “remembering” the art, or perhaps specifics about the work fail to stick on the forefront of their minds. This feedback is somewhat frustrating and not easily resolved.

Revisiting the subject of the summer job, one of my former critique teachers visited and inquired about my post-graduation life. When I told her of my lack of motivation on art-making, she replied that it’s my “recovery period.” It’s normal… I suppose. I remembered this recovery period previously mentioned by other MCAD MFA alumni and younger art professors. The recovery period estimates taking half to equal the time spent in school. If the theory is right, I hit back into my studio stride within the 1-2 year mark. That’s reasonable…if it’s a guarantee… but I get anxious, fearing that time’s passing creates more difficulty for the eventual return to the studio.

I’ve started to map out plans for research and lists of what I want to incorporate visually. Sometimes when I feel stuck in my studio, I backtrack my steps in order to explore alternative routes. I contemplate previous prints/drawings in relation to current studies.

What elements in The Wound/Swarm need to be reexamined in future works? What technical/narrative aspects succeeded in those images that I neglected to include in recent series?  I sense that the new series needs to merge the strengths of the earlier works with current strengths in an attempt to pare the re-occuring weaknesses. Time to reflect and research for future visual study.

Sage Dawson has a blog that updates her printmaking process and inspiration. I went to undergraduate school with her and her mixed media prints have improved beyond my comprehension from graduate school.

Emmy-Ray‘s blog showcases her jewelry making, inspiration and creativity that bleeds into her home life. Lately, I have been enjoying her home projects and making mental notes for future decorating ideas.

I graduated with my MFA! It’s good to be finished. Now I get to spend the next six months to a year to adjust and manage an art life outside of school. Whoohoo?

The art page is updated with the Thesis work. It’s going to be awhile before new work will be seen. I have no studio or printshop access. Have a good summer everybody!

My wall for the Thesis Show. It’s about 25 feet of space, so I’ll be able to fit 5-6 pieces of the 20 prints I finished this semester. It was possible to acquire more space but I just want to show my strongest work and not break my back during the installation. I’ll show more of the series later in the summer. Starting August, I’ll have work up for 6 weeks at the Spyhouse Coffee shop. This semester was weird, I wasn’t nearly as stressed about the work as I was in my undergraduate days. I think a lot of it has to do with how anti-climatic my BFA show turned out. I stressed out so much and got mono on top of it. That show was so IMPORTANT at the time… looking back, I realized it wasn’t that big of a deal. It was just a group show, so is this one. It’s not the last one and it certainly doesn’t culminate the work as being “perfect” and final. The work will always be unresolved in some sense and that’s fine by me. It just means I will always have something to continue my exploration. I’m just happy I’m leaving graduate school with a grasp on what I want to do with my work. That’s what I wanted: change in my approach and solidification in the art. I came to MCAD with such an identity crisis, both in my work and myself. I think I’m starting to resolve those issues.

2010 MFA Thesis Exhibition @ The Soap Factory

MCAD MFA Show
Friday, May 14, 6 – 9 PM // Exhibition Runs: Apr 30 – May 16, 2010

“Thesis show featuring work by candidates for the MFA from the Minneapolis College of Art and Design.

Participating artists: Tim Baias, Thomas Boyer, John Bell, Garrett Bergemann, Adam Caillier, Mary Davis, Aaron DeYoe, Megan Frauenhoffer, Sara Green, Chris Held, Amanda Lovelee, Ginny Maki, Branden Martz, Lu Mulder, Amy Pleticha, Nick Tews, Leo Winstead”

Summer 08 (before MCAD):

Fall 08 (First semester at MCAD):

Spring 09 (Second Semester):

Summer 09 (Summer Break):

Fall 09 (third semester back at MCAD):

Spring Semester ’10 (Fourth and final semester, although work-in-progress):

My friend Emmy-Ray/ Emily Walters wrote a nice blog post about me. People like me!

I met Emily through Sage Dawson while I was technically subletting Emily’s room one summer. They were both in the printmaking program in undergraduate and I guess I followed their path. Emily has lately focused on her other studio emphasis, metals and jewelry making, and has been quite successful in that venture. Fun times on memory lane.

Read Emmy’s glowing post here.

“In general, the works of women associated with the Surrealists display an affinity for the structures of fabulist narrative rather than shocking rupture,  a self-consciousness about social construction of femininity as surface and image, a tendency toward the phantasmic and oneiric, a preoccupation with psychic powers assigned with the feminine, and an embrace of doubling, masking, and/or masquerade as defenses against fears of non-identity.” (Chadwick 6)

A quote from one of the books I’m using for my thesis (pictured above) on women artists involved or inspired by the Surrealist movement. I’ve been enjoying the research, but I’m officially over this thesis writing. Too bad it’s nowhere near completion.

Okay, this makes me feel a little better. I’m finished (maybe) with another character for the prints. I’m calling it wolfdogghost. It’s like the wolf from Red Riding Hood or Three Little Pigs, but a more pathetic version. It kind of reminds me of my dog a little, only she gets pity because she’s beastly fat.

I’m seeing some similarities.