Trillium

I've been reading Cool Green Science, the Conservation Blog of The Nature Conservancy, which makes me think of this linocut of Trillium that I did for a show a few years ago. With the input and participation of The Nature Conservancy, a friend organized an art show and this was one of my pieces in the show. It reminds me of spring! The greens!

http://blog.nature.org/

6 1/2" x 8 1/2"

Zea Mays Printmaking Studio

Last weekend I went to Florence, Massachusetts for a print workshop. The studio is in this neat old warehouse building. It's a perfect place to work and they offer lots of great classes which would be so difficult to resist if I lived close by!!

Zea Mays Print Studio

This is what the studio looks like. A printmaker's dream!

Zea May's Print - My Work Station

I have papers, old plates and various other miscellaneous tools to do the job. What to do? As you can see in the background, I did work on a few prints. I was busy but found a little time to gaze out the window at the river across the street!

Oh, it was a workshop on chine colle, attaching special papers on thicker backing sheets while printing etchings or linocuts or other plates. The results were surprising, as are most results in printmaking!

Chocolate!

With all of the dreary weather in Massachusetts that weekend I had to forego most of my picture taking of surrounding towns but I couldn't resist this little place in the center of Northampton, Mass. I wonder why!

Rembrandt

It's Rembrant, looking very proud (he should be!), in the Statuary Vista garden at Norfolk Botanical Gardens. There are eleven statues of artists and sculptors there. They were made by a sculptor in Rome between 1879 and 1884 from Cararra marble. They were made to go in the Corcoran Gallery in Washington, D.C. but that didn't happen and they were later given to the garden. Thank you! I love walking among them, day dreaming about great works of art.....

Bacterial Confections #2

One of four gouache paintings I'm exhibiting at the Courthouse Galleries in Portsmouth, Virginia, as part of an annual juried show of the Tidewater Art Alliance. The show is called "Illuminations: Tidewater Artists Explore the New".

9"x 9"

As a set, they received an Honorable Mention award!

Etched Plate

Yesterday I was in the studio working on this etched copper plate for a new print. An etched plate can be very beautiful. I love the texture! Keep reading and you will see how it looks after inking!

Inking the Etched Plate

I used a square of mat board to spread ink on the plate. It's a good use for some of the spare board that comes from matting previous prints. Ah, the challenges of matting! I'm getting off topic.....!

Wiping an Etched Plate

Next I wiped the plate with a material called tarleton. The excess ink is gently removed from the surface and ink remains in the bitten lines. Yes, it's messy and I wear gloves! Right before printing you have to be especially careful not to get stray ink on unwanted places....like clean paper!

Inked Plate

The plate - all ready for printing on paper. I know it will need a little more work - the nature of etchings! But sometimes you never know until you print it. Anyway, I'll show the final print later but first I must finish all of the stages!

6"x 8"