Unfinished business

What would you do?

This print began with some of my grandmother's yellowed lace, a block of wood, rubber bands, safety pins, and a towel. I placed the items on the bed of my copier/printer, rearranging them several times, and printed a number of transparencies with the black (only) laser ink. 

That night I exposed and etched a photopolymer plate from one of the transparencies. Then I made prints with sepia, black and red etching ink.

My concept was a composition that could be just a composition or a fuzzy reference to a left-handed fist. One of the other printmakers in the studio saw a racist caricature of a face and I could no longer look at this print. I have been thinking about this print for a couple of years. 

Originally I called this print "Resist!" The print shown is now titled "What held her back?" (That could be a bit of self-chatter)

I have quite a number of these prints, some with chine colle' -  a collage technique. Would you superimpose a translucent self-portrait over the "face" and "neck," or superimpose a drawing of a fist over the image, or place a foggy full-body image over the whole thing? Would you try all three? Leave it alone?

I think I know what I'll do, but I am VERY interested in your opinion.   

"Strange Times" a virtual exhibit

"I have always depended on the kindness of strangers" 
- Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Desire

Last June I took a deep breath and answered a call for entry on the CaFe website, submitting four images to the recently opened R Gallery in Boulder, Colorado. I didn't expect to be selected for the "Lines" exhibit since there wasn't even a category for works on paper. I accepted two rejections with good humor. The acceptance of work was unsettling.

When I visited to check out the gallery before taking in my art, I received a friendly greeting when I walked in. R Gallery is excellently located. The owner, an artist himself, is interested in regional art and friendly toward emerging artists. I was accepted for two more exhibits in 2019.

Shortly after Coloradoans were asked to shelter at home in March, R Gallery sent out a call for a virtual exhibit, "Strange Times." My print, "Beautiful Morning," is now on display in that exhibit. Visit R Gallery and the exhibit at https://rgallery.art/. 

Beautiful Morning - Monotype made with Charbonnel inks and printed on Arches Cover archival paper on a hand-cranked press

Neighbors

What is the nicest thing you have done for a neighbor? Please tell me in a comment. 

Last night my brother-in-law noticed something not quite right in the doorway of a neighbor. He could have just gone to bed but he investigated. By morning, the elderly neighbor, who had fallen, was resting comfortably after a good night's sleep in new pajamas that fit him. He had slippers that fit him and a walker, with the promise that his neighbors would help him learn to use it. His brother arrived around 7 a.m. and thanked my family for all their help. 

I am comforted that the pandemic has helped us as a people to find our human compassion. When pestilence comes to visit, we all remember instinctively that we need our neighbors and we are needed by them. The exhortations about the evil of our neighbors to the South, North and across the oceans are fewer in our news broadcasts.  We appreciate the kindness of our neighbors. 

“Something there is that doesn’t love a wall, 

That wants it down.”  -- Robert Frost  

I believe that we can maintain our new-found spirit of neighborliness when today’s troubles are past. As members of the human family, we will all be better for it. 

“Rio after the wall” 6 inches H X 10 inches W   

Woodblock print on screen-printed background, printed on archival paper 

Will the 1101 exhibit reopen online?

1/1   Shelter  bjyost

All ten printmakers exhibiting work at the 1101 Event Center at 1101 West Mineral Avenue, Littleton, Colorado gathered March 7, 2020, to meet, greet, and celebrate our inclusion in the "1101 Print" exhibit, which was a part of  "Mo'Print (month of printmaking) 2020,"  the biennial extravaganza of hand-made prints - usually created with the assistance of a hand-cranked press. I believe this was the last of the public events allowed before COVID-19 caused us to confine ourselves to our homes.

Hundreds of exhibits, demonstrations and studio tours were canceled. But artists will create. I hope soon to announce the reopening of the "1101 Print " exhibit, this time online. You won't be able to experience the wonderful, quirky atrium where the works currently hang. You will get to look at a variety of prints made in a variety of ways by some well-known as well as some undiscovered artists.

The printmakers in this exhibit include Judith Bennett, Theresa Davis, Margaret DeKoven,  Cara Luneau, Cindy Marshall, Amy Martin, Yee Tseng, BJ Yost, D. Leighton Yost, and Bruce Zander.