Homecoming

Just returned from teaching a multi-pass monotype workshop at University of North Texas'  P.R.I.N.T. Press. I was proud and honored to be back, as it was there, fifteen years ago, that I fell in love with printmaking. 

A Like Note

New Print

For a long time I've been interested in dimensional/sculptural prints. Matter of fact, that's what I focused on in graduate school-where I made a series of printed paper garments
On a little lighter but similar note, I'm starting a series of foldable relief prints.
Here is the first one:
This reduction woodblock print is titled is Outbound Plane.
Here are a couple of images of print itself, and further down is stop animation video of the print being folded.





Give me a shout if you would like one, or make similar work.

Art of the Book Exhibition

I'm proud to have co-curated the Art of the Book Exhibition, that will open on October 30 at the Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington. From Pyramid Atlantic's archive, Anna Spelman and I chose 40 works of art that include books, prints, and portfolios-that we felt exemplified a strong sense of concept, was visually engaging, and related to the book as an art form.
Please come to the reception: October 30, 2-4pm
Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington DC, Goldman Art Gallery
6125 Montrose Road, Rockville MD 20852

Paper, Rock and a Mother of a Thousand

Fascination: plants growing out of cracks in rocks. When I'm hiking and see this phenomena, it makes me wonder how long (years, decades?) it took for that to happen, and it makes me consider how all of those necessary elements-dirt, water, sun, had to be present. What timing!
So, I've been making some paper 'rocks' of my own. I pigmented the pulp, strained it, and formed it into the shapes, sort of similar to pinch pots. After they dried a bit, I put a little soil in the faults, then planted a Mother of a Thousand seed.

I'm curious to see what will happen to the paper rocks as the plants grow. Will they crack? Will they decompose? Or will the plant just only get so big....I'm thinking that is what will happen.
Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

Photos by Franc Rosario

On the same wave(length)

Last week to see the Wavelengths Exhibition-hope you can make it! Honfluer Gallery presents Wavelengths, an exhibition of four installation artists, curated by microwave project. The four artists (including yours truly) were invited to created installations throughout the gallery, based on their interpretation of the concept of wavelength. Other artists in the exhibition: Yasim Spiro, Jessica Braiterman, and Alexandra Zealand.

Honfluer Gallery
1241 Good Hope Road, SE
Washington, DC 20020
202-536-8994

Food/Hunger Portfolio Exchange and Exhibition

I'm excited to be participating in a very unique portfolio exchange called Food/Hunger. Other participants include: Adriane Herman, Ashton Ludden, Damir Porobic, Gregory Daiker, Jeff Badger, Jonathan Stewart, Justin Richel, Lis Janes, Sara E Worden, Sarah McNeil and Tyson Jaques.

Portfolios are currently on display at the June Fitzpatrick Gallery on High Street in Portland, Maine. Seven portfolios will be sold by silent auction and one will be sold by raffle. There is a reception Friday June 24th from 4-7pm. All proceeds from the project will go to benefit Cultivating Community.

Go to the Food/Hunger Portfolio Exchange blog to see images of the show and learn more about the project.

Thanks so much to Lis Janes, for organizing the project and inviting me to participate.

The beautiful math of coral

I finally got over to see the Hyperbolic Crochet Coral Reef exhibition at the National Museum of Natural History.



I was especially excited to see it because my dear friend, Inga Hamiliton, is a contributor in the exhibition. Not only was it a captivating show, but it was fun to hear delighted children point out upcycled and unusual 'art materials' such as such as plastic bags and pop bottles.
Margaret and Christine Werthiem, created this exhibition that combines the mathematics of hyperbolic geometry with the delicateness of what is traditionally women’s handicraft. It not only displays these artworks, but incorporates an ever-growing social project—teaching others around the world how to crochet hyperbolically and make their own reefs. By working through this process and viewing the art, one can see the correlation between the crocheted reefs and living corals, such as the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

Margaret Wertheim recently gave this very cool talk about the project.

Fast Forward-Stop-Rewind

Two of my girls, Kieu Lam and Kelly O'Brien, will be leaving to live abroad soon. Kieu will be heading up a very cool book art program called Bound in Japan, and Kelly will be moving to Germany to continue working on books and prints, and soak up the amazing art community that Heidelberg offers.
As two of the dearest friends I've made during my time out here on the east coast, I'm sad to see them go, but I'm so excited to know that they are continuing their creative endeavors-growing as artists & inspiring others.

Catching up on what I've been up to...
Last month I was in Lumina Studio Theatre's production of Canterbury Tales.



What creatives can do on a tiny budget never ceases to amaze me.
Photographs by Linda Parker





And finished my book for The Love Library project. It will be on display during the Southern Graphics Council Conference at the Craft Alliance Gallery in St. Louis.

Calendar for a cause

The Mesa Contemporary Arts Center (across the railroad from my grad school, Arizona State University) has once again put together a fundraising calendar with original, limited edition prints. I was honored to be selected by Kathryn Maxwell, as one of the 29 artists from across the country to create a print for the benefit calendar. Each calendar has 12 prints, each by a different artist. This limited edition calendar, with only 65 available for purchase, is a great way to begin your own art collection or give as a unique holiday gift.(The calendars are available at MCA for the bargain price of $200 with all proceeds helping the MCA continue its excellent programming in the visual arts. ) Here are some of my favs. picked from the calendar:
Jana Harper, Cloud Grammer
John Armstrong, Bikini Mtn.
Kathryn Maxwell, No More Salt

Book (R)evolution

I feel like I'm still reeling from the Pyramid Atlantic Book Arts Fair last weekend. It's hard to believe that it's over, after spending the last 9 months working on it. I'm very lucky to have had the opportunity to work with such a creative and organized committee.
Highlights:

Beth Schaible, our former Letterpress Associate, joined us as an exhibitor.
Tate Foley put together a site-specific interactive installation in the Pyramid Vault, and Annie Albagli and Joshua Goode's Paradise Lost was an impressive installation in the Atrium of the Civic Building.

Out in front of the fair, Drive-By-Press was doing their thing. And at Pyramid, we held demonstrations including flip book making with Carla Nicolas.
We also showed some great films including Typeface, Proceed and Be Bold, and Who Does She think She is?
Here are more images of the event. Stay tuned for more information on the next Pyramid Book Arts Fair, scheduled for the fall of 2012.

Chuck Close shares his magic tricks

So, I have been hearing from everyone how fantastic, how (f**king, to quote a friend) amazing, how surprising, etc. the Chuck Close exhibition at the Corcoran Gallery of Art is, and so yesterday I finally went to go see what all the who-ha was about.
My colleagues weren't gushing or exaggerating one bit-it really is pretty amazing. The title of the exhibtion, Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration, is a fitting title. I can't tell you how many times I've stared at the pulp stenciled piece of his daughter, Georgia, 1984, (above left) and tried to figure out how it was made.
In addition to seeing the large metal stencil that was used in its creation, I got to see all of 13 of the stencils used in the layered pulp portait he made of Roy Lichtenstein, the etched plates used in the Phillip Glass prints, and the carved blocks used for printing Emma. I appreciated how the blocks, stencils and plates were hung right alongside the prints. Chuck Close describes this exhibition as 'breaking the cardinal rule that was learned in magician school, that is, showing your audience how you did the trick'.
No tricks about it, go see this show. It has been extended until September 26th!

Chuck Close Prints: Process and Collaboration from Corcoran Gallery of Art on Vimeo.

From Paper to Print

I just returned from teaching a 5 day workshop called 'Paper to Print' at Women's Studio Workshop. Like the name of it implies, it was a hybrid papermaking and printmaking class. The first couple of days we pulp painted on rag, abaca, and flax papers. Later on in the week, we used those pulp painted papers for backgrounds for pronto plate lithographs and xerox transfers. My students were great and brought so much to the class! Some highlights:

The blender bike that Barb brought

Sumptuous food

and our amazing tech Terez, who is pictured here washing some freshly cooked iris.

Here are some more pictures of the workshop.

Artist of the week

Due to working at Pyramid Atlantic Art Center, I'm lucky to have gotten to know and forged friendships with some amazing artists over the past four years.
Irene Chan is one of these people. We actually met for the first time over two years ago when we were both in an exhibition at Montpelier Art Center, and we carpooled to the opening. Time past, and we lost touch, but have recently reconnected. We try to meet up once a month and talk about art, go see plays, or just hang out and drink tea. Irene's pieces are smart, sometimes humorous, well crafted, and very provocative.
One of her particularly powerful pieces to me is a piece called YELLOWSKIN BRACELET.

It is a sculptural artist book to be worn on arm, and it tells the story of someone seeing a bright yellow bracelet and thinking it was the exact same color as her skin. Check out the video

Here is another in-progress piece that I'm particularly fond of:

LOOKJUSTLIKE BOOK
she will flip a flexagon book of Asian portraits that people say she “looks just like …”

To see more of Irene's work, go here

With a little help from my friends...

Lynette Spencer (new friend, papermaker/bookbinder) and I road-tripped up to Rosendale, NY last week to install my exhibition. We hammered it out in record time, leaving time to play around in New Paltz, have dinner with Ann and Tanya, and snoop around Hudson Valley Materials Exchange, before we had to head back to hot Washington, DC.
Thanks Lynette, you're the best!

Above--Lynette is hanging my paper branches over the stairwell. Just looking at this picture makes me uneasy.

Transmutations in Paper by Gretchen Schermerhorn
Women's Studio Workshop, Rosendale, NY
July 2-August 2, 2010


Here are some more pictures of the installation

Below are some pictures from the summer session class, Explorations in Eastern and Western Papermaking, I recently taught at the Corcoran College of Art + Design.
All of my students are a part of the new Masters program there in the Art of the Book. It's a pretty intense and impressive curriculum that includes a combination of Letterpress Printing, Binding, Paper Making, Typography, Graphic Design, Digital Media, Drawing, Painting, Printmaking, Sculpture, Writing, and Photography.
Great students and a fun class.

Transmutation

I'm really interested in materials that are composed of one thing, but when manipulated, read or look like something else.
On that note, I've been working on a series of paper pillows for an exhibition at Women's Studio Workshop in July and August.
Here are some images of the pillows drying and shrinking in the sun.

Friend and paper artist, Lynette, taking a nap.

More Paper Bling

A couple of posts back, I mentioned my big crush I currently have on paper jewelry/adornment.
Well, I made this brooch especially for my good friend Kieu.
She is a book artist, so I thought she might appreciate the accordion fold in this piece.

On the back I attached a couple of magnets, so that she can wear it without it piercing her clothes.
As you can see from this not so good picture (hey, it's harder to do than it looks), it can be worn horizontally or vertically.
Happy Birthday Kieu!

Movers and Makers

Got back last night, but I'm still reeling from an exciting short trip to Richmond, VA. On Saturday, I taught a printmaking workshop at the Visual Art Center of Richmond, which was lots of fun,
but the highlight of the trip was staying the night at Alain and Aimee Joyaux's place in Petersburg, VA. I say 'place' because it is not exactly your typical house.
The couple bought a pre-Civil War warehouse that was on the verge of collapse in the downtown Petersburg area. With lots of love, sweat equity, and artistic vision, it has been transformed into an amazing space.
Here are some photos that I took, but you can also read a nice article about their home in Richmond Magazine

Their place is the second one down

What a living room! Aimee told me that the big square cut out of the ceiling was originally used to haul heavy items upstairs. They used it to pull the bathtub up.

A view of Aimee's amazing studio. I could see why she would never want to leave.

Aimee with her latest work-will be on display at Quirk Gallery soon.

Ruby, the art dog, and my one night bed mate.