Back Again

I’m still out here. I’ve been ill off and on but now I want to show you what I’ve been doing over the last month.

First of all I received the catalogue for the international miniature print exhibits that I was in. It was fabulous to see one of my prints among so many excellent works.

Next, here’s a lino block I am in the process of carving right now. Soon I’ll be printing it.

Recent Happenings and Prints

I had a great time at The Heart Show that four of my prints were in during February. I was happy that two of the four prints I submitted sold. Since then, I’ve been making more prints and adding finishing touches to others.

This first block print is one I’ve posted before. I returned to work on the hands and one arm of the creature and now feel the print is complete.

This next print arose from an old painting that I recently cut into sections. I had thought of making a card deck from the painting but later changed my mind. The painting is an apocalyptic scene of great suffering. I chose one of the faces I’d cut out and added a rescue dog to give her comfort. The first photo shows the rough proof on my bulletin board with the woman’s face from the painting above the print. The final photo shows the completed print. I call it Mercy in Dire Times.

Kevork Mourad

For the past 2 weekends, I’ve gone to the Aga Khan Museum in Toronto to see the work of Kevork Mourad, who was artist in residence at the Museum. I wasn’t familiar with his work, but was drawn to watch him work because he was combining painting and printmaking. I loved seeing him work last weekend–he combined painting on flexible plastic sheets with mono printing on large pieces of cotton fabric. Some of his work that he’d done earlier in the week was spread out on the floor and I knew I wanted to see the finished work. It is now, through February 24th, hung in 2 large arcs of 3 layers each. He has created a beautiful city. Parts are broken, parts are whole. They conveyed a haunting atmosphere.

Kevork was born in Syria. I heard him telling another visitor last week that he was creating a city where all 3 major religious groups live in peace–harkening back to Spain in, I believe, the 9th and 10th centuries. His work combines spontaneity with musical collaboration. I didn’t get a chance to see the musician who collaborates with him live, but saw them together in the video that was playing near the installation. His work is tremendously inspiring to me. Here’s a few photos I took each week.

Another Heart and A Show

This is another block print I recently made but did not enter in The Heart Show that the other four will be in. I felt this one–another version of a heart of fire–stood outside the series I had made and stood on its own. So, another time and place…

The Heart Show–January 30 – February 17

Gerrard Art Space, 1475 Gerrard St. East, Toronto

Open Wednesdays to Sundays 2 – 7

Opening Reception–Saturday Feb. 2,  3-6.

Aspects of the Heart

Here are the 4 block prints I’ve made for the upcoming heart show at Gerrard Art Space in Toronto. The gallery has called for submissions of up to four pieces which got me thinking about the four chambers of the heart. This led me to the four elements: earth, air, fire and water. Though I made these prints as a series with the birds, mammals, trees and clouds making different appearances, it wasn’t until I completed all 4 that I saw they could be characters in a story. The Hearts of Fire print in particular brings to mind children’s books.

I enjoyed the process of making these prints. Only the Hearts of Air turned out to my liking after the first proof and I made no corrections to what I had already carved. With Hearts of Earth, I made a few changes after taking a rough proof. But with the other two–water and fire–I carved three renditions of each until I was happy with them. In each case, they ended up with very different designs than those I began with.

Hearts of Earth:

Hearts of Air:

Hearts of Fire:

Hearts of Water:

This and That

In December, I saw a tree near the Allan Gardens Conservatory in Toronto in full sun. I believe the tree is a sycamore or plane tree. With the sun full on it, the tree appeared to give off light. Here’s one of the photos I took of it.

In December, I also received a surprise nomination for the Real Neat Blog Award.  Though I ended up not taking the steps to actually receive the award, it was great to be nominated. Thank you petrel41 at Dear Kitty. Some blog!

This week, I finished carving the series of 4 block prints I’m going to enter in The Heart Show later this month. I’ve printed them and they’re now drying. Below is the inked block of Hearts of Air. Yes, the block has a pink surface!

The Sun The Sun

I’ve been carving 4 block prints that I’ll be entering into a show in Toronto. When they’re done, I’ll post them here. But, in the meantime, here’s a photo I took on December 28th while on the streetcar. There was an unusual occurrence–the sun came out after a generally very grey autumn and early winter! Happy New Year one and all.

And, the sun was out today as well….