New Etsy listing and Facebook page

Well, I finally got around to making The Jag available on Etsy (at least the british racing green edition). And I'm already working on a new print series, which I'm very excited about. I just took some early proofs of the first plate yesterday - will share soon!

Speaking of sharing, I've also set up a Facebook page for my printmaking activities, under Green Balloon Press - check it out and "like" it to get updates like live shots from the studio (see below), links to Etsy treasuries featuring my work, and other news. I'm exploring how to run sales and promotions on the Etsy shop, so another reason to tune in :)

Annual Print Sale and Show at Fort Mason

It's that time of year again! The annual Fort Mason Holiday Art Show and Sale is coming up on December 2-4, and the Printmaking department will once again have hundreds of prints available to view and purchase from students and faculty of CCSF. 

The opening reception is Friday night, from 6pm to 9pm, and the show and sale continues through Saturday and Sunday, from 11am to 5pm.

I will have several prints available, including:

• Edition prints and proofs of the Alpha Son poster print
• Edition prints and proofs of The Lobster Pot
• Edition prints and proofs of the Handyman
• Edition prints and proofs of Mont Saint-Michel
• Edition prints and proofs of the newest print, The Jag
• Edition prints and a proof of Alkmaar Cheese Girl
• A couple miscellaneous proofs from the functional building series

As always, I'm really looking forward to the show. It's a great way to pick up original art for reasonable prices, and with the holidays just around the corner there's the chance to find a really unique gift or two.


Hope you can make it!

New Work In Progress: The Jag

So, it's been a while since I had something new to post - partly due to summer break from CCSF and partly due to working on the edition of the Alpha Son print, now available in my Etsy shop (!)

Now that that is wrapped up, I'm on to the next project. This one will add a third plate to the layered linocut technique. An early proof that was created as part of the offset transfer to the third plate is here:

It shows two of the plates, not fully inked and also not fully cut, but it gives the idea. Colors are yet to be tweaked. Here's a close-up:

And here's the source: a beautiful 1955 Jaguar XK. Challenging to do it justice...

In the studio: Alpha Son color plate

After proofing the key black plate for "Alpha Son", I transferred the image to another plat and cut away the second colored plate. I remembered to bring my camera into the studio today to capture the work in process in a studio environment.

Both plate on an inking surface, with colors rolled out

I had visions of using the bold colors of some of the original cars I drew from in my second colored plate. Given the  bold outlines for each car, I had the option of inking individual cars with unique colors, almost like an a la poupee inking in etching.

After printing the colored plat with selective areas printed; inked black plate in place, ready to print

As I proofed in red with transparent blue and orange with transparent green. there were parts that I liked, but wasn't satisfied by the composition as a whole.

After printing the black plate over the multi-colored printed colored plate

Finally, I tried proofing with an opaque cream on the second plate. 

After printing the colored plate inked in opaque cream

I liked bringing the unity of a single color across all the subjects, but keeping the color impact subtle, to enjoy the strong black and white composition of the key black plate.

Cream printed proof on the drying rack

It's always a journey, but I think we are now approaching the edition proof!

Fun, at home print project

I really wanted to put my printing skills to work for the wedding and besides our little logo, my big project was making the Thank You cards. I decided to try carving rubber instead of linoleum, which I'd heard was easier. Um, it's like carving room temperature butter... which is a little too easy when you're used to linoleum.

I used some grocery bags to ensure a non-oily surface and protect my kitchen table. Tools include rollers, ink, burin, glass slab surface, paper towels, and palette knives

 I bought some water based inks to use at home, since I'd prefer to keep things non-toxic if it's close to where I cook (okay, exactly where I cook). I found that the water-based inks dry fairly quickly, so I needed to ad fresh ink after ever couple cards.

Inking two colors took some careful application...

To keep things simple, I inked a single plate with two colors, since I two-plate registration was going to be a problem at home (actually, it's quite possible, but this was also faster when printing in the volumes I needed).

I found that using a paper towel allowed the burin to slide easily and not catch on the paper 

The obvious barrier to printing at home is having (or, rather, not having) a press. However, a classmate of mine informed me that traditional Japanese woodblock printing was never done with a press, but rather rubbing a burin. Although I never bothered to verify this factoid, the thought nonetheless encouraged me to try the burin method.

Ta-da!

The end result was not a totally even print, but given the, ahem, rustic looking print, the textured inking seemed fitting.

And so, many cards were made. Now that my forearm has recovered, I'd like to try a new project...

Working Title: Alpha Son

So, it's been a while since I last posted - I was working on printing full editions of the Mont Saint Michel print and then went back to do an edition of the much enjoyed Lobster Pot print (will be working to get those on the Etsy store soon!). Then I started a couple new linocuts, one of which is quite large, so that took a while. The dimensions are the same as the Zero Sum Game, but I'm planning to develop it into a two-plate linocut that could be made into a book, but would also look nice as a poster.

As for content, I am continuing to explore automotive muses, thanks to my husband. I took several photos at a vintage car driving event and assembled a collage to use as a reference source:

Here's an early proof of the key plate, working title, Alpha Son:

Shout out: Anna Denise of The Yellow Umbrella

Some of you may have noticed a small links section on the right-hand side of this here blog, including a link to The Yellow Umbrella. The woman behind the blog is the talented and uplifting Anna Denise, who I met years ago when visiting friends studying in the Netherlands. She's always been super supportive of my work, using her internet savvy to track down my earliest forays into showing my art online*.

Barcelona "Wallpaper" by Anna Denise

Well, this month, Anna's work is getting some spotlight as the featured artist on Etsy's Twitter page! With that cause for celebration, I thought I'd give her a well-deserved shout out :) (I didn't want to spoil the surprise of what her featured design is so click through!)

*Appropriately, in an interview on the Etsy blog as part of this project, Anna expounds beautifully on the challenge to balance seeking exposure and finding your "voice" as a young artist.

Shows!

Shame on me for not getting a post up in time for the opening of "RED" at Bar Basic, where I have two prints on display. Fortunately, the show will be up through April and bar has a great happy hour and frequent visits from food trucks, like TaKorea, so stopping by to check out the show should fit easily into your social calendar :)

But now I just found out that I have a piece showing at MKSF Gallery this Saturday, March 5 from 7pm to 10pm! MKSF Gallery operates in the studio of Mike Kimball, so it will not be open to the public outside of the opening. The event also coincides with two photography exhibits at Arc Studios: "FOTO: Pushing Boundaries" and "BAPC: Cultivating Photography"

1246 Folsom St., Studio 202
San Francisco, CA 94103

"Zero Sum Game" Book, final

This book project started a couple years ago now and required me to delve into some new topics, like bookbinding, in order to complete my vision. Of course, other projects came up and I'm only now finishing the first set of books (a prototype was completed in September).


See earlier coverage of printing and assembling the core parts of the book here and here.


For the final stages, I carved and printed a cover with a title (inspired by learning about game theory in my micro-economics class taken in my semester off from print making) and solid black back. Unlike the soft cover on the Belize book, this cover and backing were separate and would leave the binding area exposed. 

First, gluing inside the front cover...

Once the cover (image side) is affixed, gluing the inside flap...

Once the front and back covers were glued on and dried under a heavy book, I bound the books with black thread, much like standard signature binding, or decorative longstitch (minus the soft cover to stitch through).

Treating each inside page fold as a signature, using a template and heavy duty paper awl to create six holes...

Leaving a tail to tie off in the first signature...

One of the reasons I wanted to leave the binding exposed was to show off the rhythmic stitching...

And repeat... and repeat...

Once I finish the set, I'll take some nicer photos and post one for sale on my Etsy shop!

Experimenting with Mont St Michel print

This is why I love printmaking: you can start with a core image, or component of an image, and experiment  in dozens of ways to find the complete look.


In November, I proofed the first plate of another two-plate linocut of Mont St. Michel. In December, I trialed a number of combinations with a second color, using a plexiglass monoprint plate to ink, etc.

Starting with a simple, solid roll-up..

Printing the ghost of the roll-up achieved a subtler color. In some ways, closer to what I envisioned...

While trying to find the right shade, I pulled out the color in the middle-ground...

Also tried printing color in only the sky...

Finally pulled out the carving tools and cut the second plate

New Work in Progress: Mont Saint Michel

I rarely work outside the studio, but for various reasons I took home my latest plate last week to get a bit more work done. Unlike etching or aquatint, linocuts are relatively easy to do from home, particularly a small one. The piece I am working on is a 4" x 6" two-plate lino based on a photo I took in Mont Saint-Michel last summer. The photo offered a unique and challenging composition and I may have been subtly influenced by Frans Masereel after Mike Kimball's comment on my lino book post. Since I was able to take a few photos of the plate in progress, I thought  would share them now that I have an early proof of the first plate.

Mont Saint-Michel source photo

Plate in process

Plate in process detail

Early proof

Ruffled DIY Contest!

While this isn't a printmaking project, I wanted to share that the pinwheel boutonnieres I made for our wedding were accepted into Ruffled's DIY Contest. 

The judges will be voting soon on 50 different projects, so please help raise my projects' profile by commenting on the entry in ruffledblog.com and sharing with your friends! If you're planning a wedding or event and enjoy crafty projects, I highly recommend Amanda's blog as a resource for great DIY ideas.

New edition - "Handyman"

As promised, I have proofs of my new edition print. In fact, I've delayed posting so long that I've completed the entire edition - all that's left to do is sign them. The subject is a 1957 Chevy "Handyman" Wagon, which I snapped on a day trip to Bolinas:

Unlike the "Lobster Pot" print, I began this plate with the two-plate lino method in mind:

After some deliberation, I decided on a cyan blue for the base hue:

I haven't done an edition for some time - not since my multiple place aquatint, in fact. While printing an edition can be tiresome, having a sizable stack of prints in hand was very pleasing. Pending final review, the edition set will be up to 35 prints.

I haven't made any final decisions, but I'll have some available edition prints and proofs of the "Handyman" print for sale at the annual Fort Mason Holiday Print Sale, set for December 3-5!

Who's that creature?

So, it's been quiet around here, but I have my reasons! I took spring semester off printmaking to take that microeconomics class (as well as a couple book binding workshops - woohoo!), and then Anthony proposed in June! So, I've been applying lots of creative energy in that direction, which is not all printing-oriented. Of course, I HAD to create a small lino-cut as the "logo" for the wedding. The big question seems to be what that creature is between our names. Take a guess!

Meanwhile, the printmaking semester started up a couple weeks ago and I am already working on edition prints of a new two-plate lino. I look forward to sharing images of the proofs soon!

New Numbered Notepads and Another Etsy Treasury

I made another batch of numbered notepads last week and posted them to my etsy shop over the weekend. Sure enough, one of them has already found their way into an etsy treasury!

The treasury will expire, but the curator has included the set on her blog for posterity

Check it out!

Printsy Interview

 Some time ago I made contact with Printsy, a group on Etsy.com focused on printmakers selling their work on Etsy. The group maintains a blog that features a weekly structured interview with different Etsy printmakers, as well as new item listings. It's a great resource (you know I love an organized approach to learning about artists), both for artists looking for insight and inspiration, as well as print lovers and art buyers looking for new works.

Anyway, my interview is featured on the blog this week! Check it out here.
(http://printsy.blogspot.com/2010/07/printsy-interview-dormain-geyer.html)

Blogged!

My little number prints found their way into the blogosphere!! Well, beyond this here blog, that is...

A fellow Etsy seller created an awesome number-themed collection of various Etsy items. Check it out:

http://mags7575.blogspot.com/2010/05/etsy-poster-sketch-super-fun.html

Decorative Longstitch

I finally made it back to the San Francisco Center for the Book for another bookbinding workshop. This time, I took a one-day workshop on decorative longstitch with Jody Alexander.

I recreated the class project, using an old aquatint of mine on Rives BFK for a cover. I'm not 100% sure that Rives BFK is sturdy enough, but it's pretty thick. After cutting the cover paper and folding the spine, use a template to mark the holes for both the binding and any decorative stitching in the center.

It's important to do any decorative stitching before proceeding as the center of the binding will not be accessible after the signatures are bound.

Depending on how the spine template has been designed, one or more signature templates will need to be created. My design for 8 signatures was symmetrical, so I needed 4 signature templates. Align the templates to the interior of the signatures and use an awl to puncture at the fold.

As you can see, the signatures should line up to the original binding template when they've all been punctured.

Starting from the inside of the bottom signature, begin sewing it to the spine, leaving a placeholder in the as you double back into the first hole. Similarly, at the end of the first signature, leave a placeholder.

At each end of every signature, which should be outside the spine (above), loop under the stitch immediately below. The second signature will loop where the placeholders were at each end (above).

After looping the stitch (or placeholder) below, re-enter the spine, but without re-entering the signature (below). Then exit through the hole above, in preparation for the next signature.

Once again, loop back under the previous stitch.

Re-enter the puncture just exited, but this time stitch through the next signature again. Continue stitching each signature, repeating the double looping process at each end. At the end of the last signature, tie-off and trim!

After all signatures are attached, fold up the flap for a tight seal. Voila!