Studio Update

I opened the studio up for First Friday in December, it was really good to reorganize it from a strictly working space to a quasi-exhibition space if just for the night and I'm planning on having an open studio every three months so watch out for March. Currently I am working on a series of mixed media prints that will eventually inform the large silk print and embroidery pieces I have hanging on my wall. They are inspired by Victorian era Spiritualism' s idea of the Summerland, a paradise in the afterlife created by the thoughts of the souls that live there. Apparently striving for betterment of the soul is really important there so all the ladies in my prints are busy reading, dancing, and mending up animals. Eventually I hope to use these as inspiration for an installation depicting an army of specterly women assembling a dead zoo (Victorian speak for a natural history museum's taxidermy collection). It's in the infancy stages current;y but we'll see where it goes...

New Watercolor Monotypes

I have been working on some watercolor monotypes for the class I am teaching at Red Delicious Press. The monotype class I will teach starts on June 18 and meets every Thursday from 6 - 9 pm for five weeks. If you have questions or would like to enroll please email me at reddeliciouspress@gmail.com. I really like watercolor but I get annoyed with the paint drying at different intervals and I'm not really a fan of watercolor paper (I love Rives BFK) so I decided to paint my watercolor onto frosted mylar and then transfer them to Rives by running the dry painting with moist paper through my etching press. When the paint and paper are dry I begin drawing in certain areas with oil pencil. 

New Work

I thought I would add some new images I have been working on. This set I have been playing around with for quite a while. I was photographing water reflections while I was living in Arizona thinking I would insert them into the background of the obituary portraits I was working on for my thesis show. They languished in my hard drive but I really like the way they look now, somewhat abstract but recognizable and representative of the fact that  I have always been attracted to patterning in the natural world.

Dream Pillows

These are a few of my dream pillows I make on their way to Gallery Mio in Denver for the March show. These owls are filled with organic herbs that help you sleep and encourage creative artistic dreams. I will be adding them to my shop soon enough. 

Monday Funday

It is a glorious day here in Colorado though a bit nippy. I had a wonderful Saturday at Red Delicious Press as I was accepting work from the students of UC Boulder's print club for their show there. I must say I really admire how engaged and interested all of them were towards the architecture of our space and also the mission of the press, which is to maintain a place for artists working in traditional print media to have a place to practice and develop their techniques beyond their school printshop. There is a lot of work with diverse methods and it should be a very exciting show for us Red Delicious members to spend a couple months with. The opening is this Friday March 13 from 6-9 pm and I am almost always at the shop from 10 - 2 pm on Saturdays working so feel free to pop by and see it. Incidentally, after the opening the Easy Star All stars are playing at Cervantes in Denver so I know where I will be later that night.

My Hood

I have always been a practitioner of walking meditation. I put on those headphones and I'm gone! When I first got to Arizona for grad school I started wandering around my neighborhood with my camera and I would take pictures of random things to try to find beauty in my unfamiliar surroundings. Now that I've moved again to a really cool neighborhood that has something interesting around every corner, I've decided to continue this practice and post some of the images here

caling all Denver printers in need of an art making home!

I am a member of a co-op press in Aurora, CO called Red Delicious Press. As a member I get to work in a building designed by Victor Hornbein who worked in the Usonian style (think typical Frank Lloyd Wright- clerestory windows, passive solar, gorgeous wooden beams, large overhangs for protected outdoor spaces, etc) so not only do I get to work in a cool space I also get to work on three etching presses, one of which is massive and I can do my silkscreening (once our washout booth is complete). Big things are happening over there and I am super excited. If you are in the Denver area and are wondering where this heavenly place exists it is about a thirty minute drive from the Highlands straight East on Colfax till you get to downtown Aurora; the press is one block north on 16th Ave. We have exhibitions every month and our receptions take place on second Friday from 6 - 9 pm. Currently membership runs at $50 per month which gives you 24 hour access and use of all the machinery. We are looking for fine art printmakers that are interested in making their own work while also fostering a community of artists. For more information and to join email Elaine Scheffler at Elaine@reddeliciouspress.com.

My show at Gallery Mio in Denver

Join me tonight for a viewing of my prints and an artist reception at Gallery Mio!

6 - 9 pm

821 8th Ave in Denver just off the corner of 8th Ave and Santa Fe