Yesterday I decided I wanted to do something with the quail eggs I bought last year at Hurd Orchards. My first thought was to take them outside and line them up on an old board to photograph them....hence, the above photo.
My second thought was a bit more ambitious. I thought if I had enough
time I would make a wreath of the spring flowers in the yard and include
the eggs. I started by making a circle with some greens and then
placed flowers around the circle. The wreath ended up a little wonky
and I wasn't very happy with the photos. I could feel myself getting
frustrated that my project wasn't turning out.
There was the moment where I had to decide to be done with it or to keep going . I took a deep breath and decided to just let myself play with it.
If I took a good photo...great. If not, that was fine too. Somehow
the idea that it was just "play" took the pressure off of trying to make things
"just so" and I sat there and had a wonderful time arranging flowers
and eggs.
I also realized that an important part of allowing myself to play is giving myself the proper time to relax enough so that I can get in play mode. Last night as I was trying to write this blog entry I was feeling rushed and tired but I wanted to finish. When I woke up this morning and read the entry I could feel the haste in the words. So I opened a new document and decided to give myself time to "play" a little more.
Besides encouraging everyone to allow yourself the time to play this
weekend, I also wanted to wish everyone a joyous spring and a Happy
Easter!
If you follow this blog you know that I take a lot of photos on my walks and I love to get up close to my subjects...to really see and know them. This past week I ended up in my backyard photographing the lenten roses that recently sprang to life. Usually in the evening I snuggle up to the computer to take a look at what I "collected" on my outings.
One of my absolute favorite things to do when I first look at the photos I have taken is to simply view them in Windows photo viewer. In this program I can double click on the image and it will zoom in as far as the image allows. It also lets me use the scroll wheel on my mouse to zoom in and out. I LOVE zooming in and what I find never ceases to amaze me! Above you can see the entire photo and below you can see what it looks like when I zoom in.
I have both creamy white and pink varieties of lenten roses. When I looked closer at the middle of the pink flower below it took my breath away.
I love how each "layer" is made of totally outlandish shapes...one piled
right on top of the other until it culminates in an explosion right in
the center. When you see it like this it is really quite stunning.
For
you botanists out there I learned something interesting about the
structure of this flower from Wikipedia. "The flowers have five
petal-like sepals surrounding a ring of small, cup-like nectaries which
are actually "petals" modified to hold nectar." You can see these
nectaries quite well in the photo above. They are the odd-shaped
tubular structures surrounding the burst of white stamens.
As I zoomed in and out of my photos I kept wondering what a bee might
see when they pass by. In addition to seeing these incredibly enticing
dotted sepals and stunning array of reproductive parts, they also see
colors in the UV spectrum. Even though I can't see that, I am still
mesmerized and drawn in by the zig zag pattern created by the anthers and filaments
in the flower above.
These final three photos are not "zoomed" photos but I included them because, let's face it, I just thought they were pretty.
I thought the soft greens and pinks of the petals below were particularly nice.
After viewing all of these flower close-up I realize
these amazing fireworks are happening daily in my backyard! It's as though the flowers are outbursts of ridiculous joy singing the most visually stunning song our eyes have ever heard. So I urge you next time you are out for a stroll, let yourself go and explore.... get up close to things...smell the spring earth waking up...lay down in the grass...be intimate with this world.
“If you will stay close to nature, to its simplicity, to the smallthings hardly noticeable, those things can unexpectedly become great andimmeasurable.”
― Rainer Maria Rilke, Letters to a Young Poet
"The exterior spectacle helps intimate grandeur unfold.” ― Gaston Bachelard
On Monday my friend Christina Wald was going to be filmed for the TV show Artsbridge and she asked a bunch of her sketching friends to come along for fun. We met at Washington Park in downtown Cincinnati to sketch Music Hall.
The building was built in 1878 and is beautiful and quite grand. I just learned from Wikipedia that it was built over a pauper's cemetery and that has given it the reputation of being one of the most haunted places in America. I didn't see any ghosts but I did catch a chill sitting out there sketching.
So far only Christina has posted her sketch. You can see it here. I will post more links when they are done.
Almost exactly one year ago I photographed the Chinese lantern plants in my yard and ever since then I knew I had to make a print of them. The scientific name of this plant is Physalis alkekengi and I learned from Wikipedia that it is also called Chinese lantern, Japanese lantern, bladder cherry, strawberry groundcherry, winter cherry, and hōzuki in Japan. (The name hōzuki was so cute I couldn't resist using it for the title of this post.) The plant is mainly known for its bright red lantern that slowly wear away to expose a beautiful orange berry inside. The plant is apparently quite invasive (probably why it is in my yard) but I fell in love with it.
When I start working on a print the first thing I do is print my photo and then make a large sketch to the size I want my print. At this point I had to decide how many colors I wanted to use to depict my subject and I chose three...orange for the berry, gold for the orb, and black for the background and orb details. Below you can see the basic sketch and then a velum overlay for the black color.
The first step after sketching and transferring the drawing to the plate was to print the orange circle that would be the seed inside the orb. I cut a circle out of safety-kut and printed that first so it could dry. I then began what I consider the funnest part...the carving! I made a short time-lapse video of the carving process.
After carving I was ready to print the gold layer. I experimented with printing the background two different ways. I liked the idea of a little gold showing through some of the branches but I wasn't sure about my ability to line everything up perfectly. I printed nine with and nine without the background. As it turns out only one or two of the prints with the background registered properly (next time I am going to use these clips to help me!).
This print was a reduction cut so after printing the gold I had to go back to my plate and carve away wherever I wanted the gold to show through the final black color. This was mainly in the orb.
I was nervous to carve the details on the orb because I was trying a new technique. I essentially used my carving tool like a gouge to form small dots, sort of like stippling but more crude.
After the final carving everything remaining would be printed black. Below is a short video George took of me pulling the final color. The video makes it look so easy, but don't be fooled. You have to press really hard and George helped me burnish every one.
The photo below shows the plate inked with the final black color. You can also see at the top my trusty wooden spoon and baren I use to burnish the plate.
You can see in this image the three colors of my prints. I am learning that I probably apply my ink too thick because my prints take forever to dry and I have to let each color dry thoroughly before I proceed to the next color.
After printing the final color and letting everything completely dry I decided to add a watercolor background. My sketch had a green background and I think I got used to seeing it like that. In the end I really like way the green, gold and orange work together.
This print was not without its difficulties but I have been slowly learning to roll with the punches. Registration was a huge issue for me and I lost almost half my prints to this problem. But two really good things came out of it. First, I did tons of research and have now come up with a solution I think will work (the Ternes-Burton clips). And second, I joined Tiger Lily Press. It just so happened that their annual meeting was the day after my frustrating day of printing and I decided that I needed some help. I attended their meeting and within one day had learned tons of ideas about how to make my process easier. I am super excited to have this great community of local printmakers and can't wait to try out their press. So in hindsight I guess my registration problems were a blessing in disguise.
If you would like to purchase this print visit NessyPress.com.
"...and what might seem to be a series of unfortunate events may in fact be the first steps of a journey." -Lemony Snicket
