The Motor is Alive!

A big thanks to Brent's Electric as we now know that the Vandercook Universal 1 motor works. Onward we go, they will be getting the cables, connections, and switches all repaired and replaced in the near future. With many other correspondences from today, we are in business for completing many of the purchasing orders for supplies. This includes a new gear, as shown in the previous post, as the old one is missing several teeth. With a new one on its way, the cylinder revolving problem may very well be resolved. Busy, busy day!

Progress and more to come

The restoration process is slowing plugging along. I have taken apart the Vandercook Universal and am still stumped as to what the main problem is in regards to the cylinder not revolving all the way back past the ink drum. I know there is a piece broken on this gear that assists with the trip but I am not convinced that is what's causing all of the problems. Tomorrow morning I will be meeting with a few electricians who are going to look over the motor to see what they can do!

I have found some neat "accidental" art within the skeleton of the Vandercook Universal after many years of use. Quite pleasant surprises!

The Potter is coming together nicely, I recently removed a lot of the deep rust. This one just needs a clear rust prevention coat, some oil, and packing and it will be ready to go!

I am gradually getting parts ordered for the presses, after the electrician meeting tomorrow, I feel that there will be a better understanding as how the rest of the restorations will proceed.

The Eagles Have Landed!

This marks my final semester at Pittsburg State University and I will be concluding my college career in a rewarding way! For a little background, in the spring of 2014 I managed to restore a Vandercook No. 2 Proof Press and more recently found two more unused letterpresses on campus. My advisor applied for grants to fund the restoration of these two "new" presses in which we were fully funded. With the help of these intuitive and gracious individuals, our "eagles" landed this week!

  

Alongside the Vandercook No. 2 Proof Press, we now have a Potter Proof Press and a Vandercook Universal. I hope to have these fully restored by the beginning of November as I will be teaching a two week workshop in the current printmaking course.

Stay tuned for updates on the restoration! To read more about the first restoration that I completed, click on the "Letterpress" tab to view all of the blog posts. Enjoy! 

PSU Studio Critique: Crit 4

In critique 3, with Emi Gennis and Rhona McBain, I presented several sections of fabric in color, which is new for me! Overall, the conversation between the three of us was focused on my career, beyond college. The most important thing for me to do is to create, and the logical way of doing so initially means having a job, hopefully in a creative area, and having a studio space to produce work. They have greatly encouraged me to continue to keep my ideas big and broad, the less limits I give myself, the more possibilities there are. Rhona also suggested alternative processes such as cyanotype. 

These images are a few of what I presented to them last time. 1. Layering of color, 2. My screen print on fabric, & 3. Four sections of the same patterns in different colors to see the qualities each color lends best. Side note about screen printing, I will be meeting with Chris Huitt in GIT to get some tips on screen printing as he teaches the course over in the Tech Center. 

As for critique 4, I will be bringing the elements from the previous 3 critiques and some work that I have been creating recently. I have been inspired by artists who have taken stumps of trees, sanding them down, and creating a relief print of it. I have two stumps in my yard so I decided to give it a try. My attempt was not nearly as successful as those who have spent quality time sanding the surface, as I printed my stumps as is. I would love to find a perfect stump to sand down and print on fabric to make pillows or a tote bag with.

This site shows and example of this type of printing. http://www.ashesandmilk.com/blog/paper/bryan-nash-gill/

Here is my attempt at this... Again, not as successful as it could have been. I was also able to get a few prints with my usual technique of picking the image up with my brayer. 

Lastly, from this trial, I discovered a different way of picking up the image of an object rather than running the ink-coated brayer over the object. Instead, I ran the brayer across the paper with the object under the paper. Here is a comparison image of the two techniques with a fern.

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As for the artist post section, I would like to introduce you to ceramicist, Sylvia Schultze. She has been on a journey to capture feminine body parts within fruit and sculpting them with clay. These beautiful sculptures are functional pieces of pottery that challenge the user in how they want to approach the vessel. I love the whimsical approach she has taken not only with creating these pieces but the overall idea. She wants to create something that will be lighthearted for her audience and certainly eye catching and conversation starters. Keep up with her blog as she is constantly producing more pieces to this collection of works. http://sschultze3.wix.com/sylviaschultze

PSU Studio Critique: Crit 3

Last critique, with Portico Bowman, I presented my first screen prints and new textile work with my "transition" into color. My first step was to use white ink on black fabric, rather than the reverse that I have primarily focused on. A funny way of starting this transition; however, the results were shocking! Portico mentioned that all of my textile work, but this white ink on black was even more evident of looking X-ray like. This presents all of the essentials within the image. She also stated that my work is "ugly," as in viewers are responding to a person behind that work who is investigating and searching. The audience is responding to that person as it gives them a safe zone to view the investigation. The work isn't focusing on perfection and taking the artists hand out of the work; it's the very opposite and apparently very relatable and tantalizing. Quite a compliment to my work. 

For this third critique, I will be displaying my further investigation of different colors within my textile printing. The purpose of this is for me to have an understanding of which color lends its best qualities as well as where it lacks. Having this inventory will help the future of my printing. 

As for my shadowbox series, as time dedicated to my studies is extensive, the series will not be completed by the end of the semester. I will gradually be developing the elements for the seven shadow boxes. This is not a project that I want to rush, which is why I have decided to focus on several crucial elements of the series this semester. 

The following two images are the first two screen prints that I have ever done (I brought to the 2nd critique). Definitely new to the process, but now I have a little experience under my belt!

This third image is of the third screen that I made (again had difficulty with the emulsion, but learning!). I will bring a print of it to this next critique. 

 Here are the colors of textiles that I will be bringing to the critique.

This is a little preview of the new natural objects used in my textiles for this next critique. I have never used most of the items before, especially lichen. 

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As for a fellow artist, I would love to introduce you to Rudi Rodebush. Her sense of humor is evident through conversation and her work. Last year she worked on a book of hand-cut paper images that correlated with a quote. With raving reviews from her peers, she was hesitant about sharing this book as it was almost like sharing a diary as the stories portrayed were personal and more negative. This semester she wanted to continue with her passion for cut paper but with a happier, positive direction. She has been creating comical pieces that capture her humor and general positive attitude that she carries. Check out her blog to see what I mean! She has a real gift and I wish her the best in her artistic career!

http://rudirodebushart.blogspot.com

PSU Studio Critique: Artist Lecture

Teresa Harris is currently a featured artist in Pittsburg State University's Museum of Art in the Harry Krug Gallery in Porter Hall. Her lecture was on January 23rd in which she spoke about how art was introduced into her life and her processes. I found that there are many parallels in our lives and interests in the arts, it was a very rewarding lecture to listen to and individual to meet. She was very professional in how she presented her work and herself as an artist and was a very sincere person to talk with. 

The following is her artist statement: 

Symbolism saturates my work. I am moved and influenced by what has come before me: the symbol-laden art of the Middle Ages, the purposeful and impeccable craftsmanship of ancient handmade books, and my own rich familial history. These connections to the past guide the iconography of my work. I deliberately choose to use objects over imagery, symbolism over realism, and suggestion over definition.

Teresa has been sharing her work in exhibitions since 1982, since 2009 she has been in over 40 national shows, commissioned work AT&T, and even part of a selected corporation collection at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York City. She is currently a working artist and associate professor of art at Missouri Western in St. Joseph, Missouri where she teaches typography and graphic design. 


She grew up on a farm with her many siblings and parents where problem solving and improvising was a must. These skills have artistically been useful throughout her career. She loves art history and has been inspired by Jim Dine, Jasper Johns, Joseph Cornell, and Timothy Barrett. She obtained her undergrad in studio art where she focused on all media but was especially interested in paper art her senior year. This was a very new time for paper art and she ended up making it to print on. 


Her first works were of course paper but much more sculptural. They were very fine and perfected papers then after a few years she began to create more narrative pieces and boxy shapes. She researched and created many types of Japanese paper. In graduate school, she began using new materials such as metal which gave dimension to her work. Beeswax was another addition to her work as well as writing stories that were incorporated into the work. 


The Storytellers series in the PSU gallery, she mentioned that there are three common themes that connect every piece. 1. Language: text, print, written. 2. Containers: book, envelopes, house form with window-to contain story. 3. Portraits: autobiography of family and pure fiction from found images. With all three of these elements evident in her work, you are able to get a sense of a story she is telling. She even has bit of letterpress pieces such as leading and furniture. 


Her work is inspiring to me as I too have great interests in letterpress, printmaking, paper arts, mixed media, containers/boxes, and telling stories of my own. I also have a big family that grew up on a large plot of land in the country. Seeing her success and joy for her artistry is a breath of fresh air as I am embarking on my own journey along a similar path in media. I feel that I will refer to her work often in my own career. Another connecting point is that my dad, a former potter actually knew Teresa and her husband in the early 1970's. I even own, and use very often, a piece of his from 1974!



If you are interested in learning more about Teresa, here is the about page for her on the Missouri Western website and her personal website.

https://www.missouriwestern.edu/art/about-us/faculty/teresa-harris/ 

http://teresajharris.com

PSU Studio Critique: Crit 2

CRITIQUE -
The first critique with Josie Mai went really well. I got a lot of positive feedback on my concept. She made a suggestion that I should hang the series on a calm horizontal line, any other way would distract from the pieces. She asked about when I envision completing this series. Originally my response was to complete it by the end of the semester; as this series has become quite complex, it is very important that I don't rush through it. I also feel that through working on this project, I will be coming up with a lot of other projects as I am incorporating a large variety of techniques.

As my group did not meet with Jamie Oliver during the critique, I met with him one-on-one for his input. He responded well and with a lot of great things to consider. He recommended researching other shadow box artists such as Joseph Cornell. With Cornell in mind, he brought up how I could go about adding the items within the shadow boxes. Cornell compartmentalized them and had things in boxes and other enclosures, as I have used containers in previous work, this could be incorporated nicely into my series.

Jamie also mentioned altering the natural forms used in my works; for example writing or printing onto them, like drawing on bark. He even suggested (with very little pressure to not break it) using glass through a letterpress as that would extend the "traditional" usage of a letterpress.

As for what I have accomplished since the last critique, I recently met with Portico and explained my project to her. A huge take away from that conversation was how to approach words within the piece as traditional letterpress printing is completed with type. Her take on words in art is that they need a very specific purpose and should not tell the story; they need to be visually appealing as well as create questions from the viewer as any other element in a work of art. I have chosen to use one word only in each of the seven pieces in the series, that word will be descriptive in regards to that work within the entire story of the series. The words I have chosen are from words my siblings used to describe the different parts of the series. Those words are: bittersweet, camaraderie, yearning, savior, enclosure, transition, and assimilation.

I have also decided on the exact dimensions of the 5 shadow boxes and the two mounted pieces. They will all be different except the two mounted ones. I have created my screens for the screen printing element of the series and have begun developing the textile elements. As I am very new to using color in prints, I warmed up with with black as I am comfortable with it and then transitioned into using white on black fabric. This was really exciting and created very dramatic imagery. The plan is to continue to work with one primary color at a time to get an idea of what color works best for what before combining layers of different colors.

ARTIST POST -
I would like to introduce a fellow artist Mattie Parrigon! She is currently visiting nursing homes to listen to the stories of the residents. Through those stories she has been creating a series of drawings with a quote from the person she has interviewed. The simplistic pencil images are quite touching and work very well as a cohesive story. I am extremely excited to learn about the other residents that she has been conversing with. I feel that this project is so meaningful and so kind to give elders a chance to share stories of their lives with someone. Check out her blog to learn more about what she is up to... http://mattieparrigon.blogspot.com/Â