Meteorological Spring

After a few weeks of minor slowdown, things are picking up again in the studio. This week I finished four prints which is some sort of world record. I was in there for about seven hours today. I really wanted to go home early, but I forced myself to finish the print I started and get everything ready for my next session. I'm feeling the possibility of a back pain issue tomorrow. Speaking of tomorrow: It is supposed to be the first day of spring, but right now it is snowing. I keep saying winter is almost over and it keeps proving me wrong. Maybe I should just start saying that this winter is never going to end. Reverse psychology.

Tonight there is a new show at Captive Werewolf, a nice personal, experimental photography project from my friend Mike Smith.

In Case You Aren't Bored Enough Right Now

Since my last post I finished a print which I haven't scanned yet and then totally ran out of materials in the studio. This weekend we went into the city where I was able to get some emulsion and stuff from Dick Blick. Today I was worn out and really wanted to go home after my shift in the gallery ended, but I forced myself to stay and get some printing done. Five minutes after I mixed my emulsion, the studio assistant came in with a new bucket. I wish she could have been a few minutes earlier. Later I couldn't find the printing board and hinges that I always use. I looked everywhere and couldn't find anything. Using a different one felt weird and I couldn't adapt. Then, two of my screens washed away completely while I was rinsing them out after exposure. Who knows what that was about? Despite all that, I did manage to get four colors printed.

Today in the gallery, I was working on details of an upcoming juried show featuring artwork from Illinois community college students. I spent most of the day informing artists of their acceptance status and designing a show program.

Sudden Lack

The drastic increase in gallery responsibilities sorting through submissions for a juried show have slowed down my printing a little bit over the last week or two. Diminishing screenprinting supplies haven't helped either. I did manage to finish a print today but haven't scanned it yet. Earlier this week I hung an exhibit of the 2009 Littlest Print Exchange at GSU's gallery. One participant in the exchange is planning to show the portfolio in New York and another in California. I wish one of the overseas participants would organize a show so we could all get some international exposure. On the 15th I also opened a new show at Captive Werewolf. I'm going to run out of art for that site soon, so if anyone wants to get a show there, send me a proposal. For real.

72 Girls

This has been making me nuts. I was really happy with the original photo and wanted this print to come out really good. I separated it into 13 colors, 3 more than the maximum number I really want to print, but I thought it would be worth the extra work. Unfortunately, the colors were not cooperating. I'm blaming it on this Versatex ink that I'm not used to using. My process relies on opaque inks, but this Verastex stuff is way too transparent. In the end, I had to print several colors twice and even had to print a underlayer of light blue to make the dark blue turn out right. As a final insult, the second to darkest color, changed from a grayish brown to a bluish gray as it dried. The moral I've learned is to keep the colors at ten or fewer making the process simpler and that Speedball inks are pretty good.

Friday and Monday

I exposed twelve screens today then printed ten of them. Later, I cleaned off those ten and put emulsion on five of them. I'm no mathematician, but I'm pretty sure that adds up to a lot of work. Yesterday I opened a new show at Captive Werewolf from a dude called Dustin Price.