Imitating Fabric

My house has been under construction for a number of weeks and, since I work in a home-based studio, my art making has been pretty severely disrupted. Today I waded back in a little bit and made some trompe l'oeil pink fabric with moku hanga and Nishinouchi washi.

The trick is to use lots of rice paste so the brush strokes show.

Secret Codewords of the NSA: A Book on Blurb

As I often do when I finish a print series, I've made Secret Codewords of the NSA into a print-on-demand book available for purchase on Blurb.

Click here to see a full online preview of the book.

Click here to order the book ($27.95 plus shipping).

And click here to see all of the books I've published with Blurb.

Portfolios for Secret Codewords

Shortly after my workshop at Anderson Ranch I was feeling anxious to use my newly acquired bookmaking skills, so I made portfolio cases for five full sets of Secret Codewords of the NSA. I used manila file folders for that special touch of authenticity and created string tie closures like those used on inter-office envelopes.

I printed out a label for each folder and stamped them 'classified' for a finishing touch. These full sets will sell for $2000.

Sometimes I'm Married 2014

Every August (or thereabouts) on the anniversary of my legal Massachusetts marriage to my longtime partner Lynn, I update this slow reduction print series called Sometimes I'm Married (see the series here). I'm a few weeks late this year, but here's the 2014 installment. Four states have been added to the 'I am married' column: Oregon, New Mexico and Pennsylvania by court decision, Illinois by legislative vote. There are twelve states where marriage bans have been overturned but appeals are in progress, a situation which almost guarantees that higher courts will take up the issue. Supreme Court watchers believe that the court will accept a gay marriage case sooner rather than later. I could have labeled these state 'I might be married,' but with the situation so fluid right now I've decided to ignore that category, which I used in the past for states where there was no legal policy at all (neither a ban nor a legalization, and no policy on reciprocity with other states).

When I started this series in 2008 I wrote, "I plan to revisit this very gradual reduction print every year around our wedding anniversary until all the states are one color. Then we can frame the series and hang it on our nursing home wall." How wrong I was! This map will likely be all one color well before Lynn and I reach the nursing home, perhaps as soon as next year! Stay tuned.

20th Century Japanese Prints in Denver, CO

A Spring by Koshiro Onchi

September 21, 2014, is the closing date for an exhibition of seventy 20th century Japanese prints called At the Mirror at Denver Art Museum. This article by Ronald Otsuka, curator of Asian art, points out the split that still somewhat persists between the shin hanga (new prints in the old style) and sosaku hanga ('creative' prints) movements in 20th century Japanese woodblock printing. The article also discusses the technical perfection of traditional style Japanese woodblock prints, suggesting that this perfection is a drawback in Japanese art.

I don't know if it's a drawback in Japanese art, but the technical perfection of the Japanese woodblock masters can certainly be a stumbling block for contemporary artists who are trying to work with the Japanese method. Unfortunately, that type of perfection is what many people think of when you say "Japanese woodblock," so it's often the silent standard in a viewer's mind. And in an artist's mind, how can one do a bokashi and not think of (and compare oneself to) the Ukiyo-e masters? Making a bokashi connects you to Japanese art; using washi connects you to Japanese art. The carving tools, the brushes, the process itself connect you to Japanese art. There's a challenge, and a bit of humor, in making contemporary American art using a traditional Japanese art form. For myself, I try to take the support of the beauty and elegance and history of the method without letting go of my own voice and identity, which places me firmly in the tradition of the 20th century sosaku hanga artists.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to see this show, but if you go and would like to share your reaction I'd love to hear about it (or publish it on this blog).