In the Studio: Why This, Why Now?
[In the Studio, April 16, 2011 /Image & Artwork: designslinger_studio]
So why printmaking, and why at this time of life? Well, after 20 successful years in the film industry, working as an art director had reached its personal peak. It was time to move on, either to production design or to try something new and exciting. After some hemming and hawing, we decided it was time for some real change. So we packed up our stuff, left LA, and moved to Chicago for the architecture and a taste of "real" city life. Plus, silly as it may sound to many of you - we got tired of the weather. I know, how could that be? But, after years of almost daily sunshine and temps hardly ever falling below 60 degrees, well, to be honest, it was kinda boring. Things needed shaking up.
[In the Studio /Image & Artwork: designslinger_studio]
After settling in to our new home and new city, we began looking for something to keep those creative juices flowing. While wandering around the beautiful streets of Chicago and taking hundreds and hundreds of pictures of the amazing architecture and blogging about it, I started hunting around for a class to take. I've always had this weird affinity for big bold graphic imagery, paper, and the interaction between the surface of paper and the ink that lays on top of it. I love the way type once pushed itself into the paper fiber as it pressed black ink on to the page, and the thicker the paper the better. There's nothing like turning the pages of a book printed a hundred years ago and feeling the weight of that old paper with its indented lettering. So I decided to take a survey class in printmaking. I'd already done the oil painting route, taken drawing classes, and even a pottery class ages ago, but printwork was something totally new. After all these years being involved in one form of art or another, I knew the basic printmaking terms like lithography and intaglio and had even done some screen printing in high school, and thought taking the survey class would be kinda interesting.
With 3 session increments in 12 classes over 12 weeks, we covered 4 basic styles of fine art printmaking, finishing up with the relief process. After 3 classes designing for, carving, and then printing with linoleum blocks, I was hooked. I knew I'd found something that I wanted to explore further. The hunt for more class time instruction in learning more about the ins and outs of working with linoleum, and how to print in multiple colors, proved to be a big, frustrating bust. But once I decided to just push forward on my own, it's been worth every stumbling, invigorating, exciting self-educating minute.
As another designer, I'm finding your creative journey quite fascinating. I know how personal this is to you, and I appreciate your sharing. Right about now, however, I could deal with the boredom of 60 degrees sunny days. Honestly though, LA is a nice place to visit, but I sure wouldn't want to live there, sunny days or no.
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I'm glad you're following along, and that you can appreciate this journey all the more as a fellow artist. The LA experience was interesting, and we'd never be where we are today without it.
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How fun it is to follow you in your adventures and read the details.
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It's nice to have you following along. I'm in good company!
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