Linoleum Block Relief Printmaking Workshop: Forest Park, Birmingham

Bluff Park Permanent Collection Purchase Award

"the birds of gideon roam the sky"

I AM AN ARTIST !

Kentuck 2011 Award of Distinction

Jan Pruitt, Executive Director of the Kentuck Museum Association and Festival of the Arts, presents me with an Award of Distinction.

This year the Kentuck Festival located in Northport, Alabama celebrated it's 40th year anniversary. I was one of 250+ artists who participated in the art festival. Successfully juried three years in a row, I am an invited artist to the annual event. Last year, I received a Merit Award. yaaaay!

2011 festival judges were Susan Mitchell, curator of folk art at the High Museum in Atlanta, and Carol Sauvion, creator, executive director, and executive producer of Craft in America the award-wining PBS series on craft.

2011 KENTUCK Festival of the Arts

Bluff Part Art Festival 2011

FIRST IMPRESSIONS: An Introduction to Alabama Printmaking

The postcard invite reads:
More than 30 Alabama artists illustrate the power and possibilities of printmaking, from woodcuts to screenprints to digital creations. Get into print with a new workshop or demonstration each week.

Visit liteboxgallery.wordpress.com for details.

The opening reception is: Friday, January 14th from 5:00pm-10:00pm and on Saturday, January 29th, I'll conduct a linoleum block print workshop.

See you there!

2011 - YEAR OF THE RABBIT

The Oxford American Music Issue

The 2010 December issue of the OXFORD AMERICAN magazine has just hit the book stores. It's the annual southern music issue and this year Alabama music is featured. A free CD is included. My contribution to this issue is a linoleum block relief print of Sister Gertrude Morgan.

When asked if I'd be interested in tackling the job of creating a block print to accompany an article on Sista', my first thought was to say no. My plate was already full and I was just a few days away from driving to DC to participate in a Book Arts fair. I honestly didn't think that I could give the subject enough time and attention, to achieve a successful outcome. Thankfully, the design and production manager at OA forwarded an image of Sister Gertrude as a reference. That was a huge jump start for me and it shortened my time, significantly, in researching Sista'. The challenge was on!


At the end of my 9 to 5 work week, I drove directly home, pulled the shutters, locked the doors and flew into overdrive. I designed, cut and printed the block in two days. INSANE! By noon, the following Monday, the digital files were in the hands of the magazine. I made two impressions of the block. One image was printed on a bright white BFK Rives paper and a second printing was pressed onto chip board. The most difficult task was hand cutting the letters. Ouch!

Thanks to my friend and fellow printmaker Charles Buchanan for the referral.

**Note to all of the magazine editors out there. If you're looking for a lino block artist AND IF you can match the professionalism and flexibility of the design and production manager at OA . . . I'm available.

Happy Birthday Colonel Stone Johnson

Yesterday the Birmingham City Council celebrated Colonel Stone Johnson, civil rights activist and foot soldier, during their regularly scheduled Tuesday council meeting. Flowers, cake and greetings were shared by all. I blogged about Colonel, a few weeks ago, so you already know how special he is to me and to many, many others. I completed the linoleum block portrait of Colonel. He's 92 years young! How wonderful is that?!

January 3, 2010

Which is correct?
Two thousand and ten or twenty ten?
I suppose that in the grand scheme of things it doesn't matter, does it?

New year. New decade.
No resolutions for me. Too easily made; too easily broken.

Next month I'll teach a lino block relief printing class at Samford after Sundown. Hope to see you there.

Live. Work. Play.
Let's see what the new year brings!

November Recap

I made a decision last month to take some time off. I didn't realize how tired I was until mid-October, at the conclusion of KENTUCK. While most artists gear up for holiday sales right after Halloween, I found myself looking for a quiet place to exhale. The calls and emails starting coming in weekly from various organizations and individuals requesting a donation of art for various holiday fundraising venues. As flattered as I was at being asked to participate, I realized that I had to simply say "no." I needed to stop the roller coaster ride. This self-imposed non-committal phase will continue thru the end of January 2010. It the best decision that I've made, in a long time. For the next couple of months I'll adhere to my personal art/production schedule and mine alone.

Two months before I began my hiatus I made a commitment, to visit a group of 3rd grade students at Advent Episcopal Day School in Birmingham. I'd promise to come to the school before Thanksgiving. The students had written to me (29 letters!!) inquiring about the project which I had developed with a grant awarded by the Cultural Alliance. I kept my commitment. I planned my "speech", packed my samples and supplies and arrived on time ready to go. I had thirty minutes to talk about a project that had taken more than a year to develop. I honestly can't remember if I spoke about my project "WALK IN THE DIRECTION YOU' GOIN IN." I recall pulling out a pre-cut lino block, ink and paper and asked each of the students to come to the desk so that they could make an impression by rubbing the back of the paper with a baren. As they stood in front of me, I inked the block and assisted each student, individually, as they positioned their paper and prepared to put a little muscle behind the baren. I wanted them to feel the block, smell the ink and to engage them in the physicality of making a relief impression. The rest is a blur. They were sooooooo enthusiastic. Smiles and giggles. Oooh's and aaah's as they compared their prints with each other. Thirty minutes passed so quickly. I'm sure they don't remember anything about my Cultural Alliance project but their bright eyes and smiles made me realize that kids are VERY interested in learning about art and curious about new forms of creating art. It was a won-der-ful session!

Look for updates here as the new year approaches. Tentative plans include teaching linoleum block relief printing at Samford University through the SAMFORD AFTER SUNDOWN program. Also, my website -D RIFFE DESIGN-will finally get a much needed redesign. Keep checking!

Blue Ribbon

This is my second 1st Place Blue Ribbon Award this year.

The award was presented last Thursday night, September 3rd, in Columbiana, Alabama at the 1st Annual Shelby County Arts Council Juried Art Exhibition. These awards always catch me completely off guard and this one was totally unexpected.

I entered two block prints.
The linoleum block relief print entitled "Peaches" was selected as the blue ribbon winner in the Printmaking category. This print and several selected works of art will be shown in a traveling exhibition, over the next two months, throughout Greater Birmingham. The juror of the SCAC Art Exhibition was Scott Stephens, a printmaker and Professor of Art at the University of Montevallo.

My CAGB grant year is coming to an end. My final report will be presented by September 30th. I hope to post the images and my narrative: "WALK IN THE DIRECTION YOU' GOIN' IN." In recent months, I've had the good fortune of learning how to create a DVD using iMovie and GuitarBand on my Mac. Two applications that have been at my fingertips for as long as I've owned a Mac (which has been forever). However, I've never explored these apps until this year, so you can imagine how excited I am in putting my original art and original music together to create a DVD showcasing my CAGB images.

Before I forget, mark your calendar for the Annual Bluff Park Art Show, Saturday, October 3, 2009.

Southern Living Magazine: People & Places

The August issue of Southern Living Magazine is available. I'm delighted to see that I've been included in the Alabama People & Places section.

Last week I traveled to Ann Arbor, Michigan and had a wonderful visit with my daughter and her boyfriend. The Ann Arbor Art Festival was in full swing and it took every bit of two days to walk the entire venue! I recognized a few artists from juried shows I've participated in, locally. My favorite artist and friend, Kreg Yingst, was there and I was happy to see him, again. He is the first artist who shared information with me about the juried art festival circuit and he's the only full time linoleum block relief print artist who I know. I love his style, themes and technique.

My CAGB grant year ends September 30th. Although I have been cutting lino blocks every week, I still feel like I have so much to do!

Last month I accepted an invitation to participate in the Bluff Park Preview Show at Hoover Public Library's Friends Gallery during the month of August 2009. The gallery is on the library's lower level.

Aldridge Botanical Gardens (2009) 7th Annual Art in the Gardens

I've just received my notification and exhibition space assignment for the 7th Annual Art in the Gardens show.

I hope that you'll make plans to attend. Stop by and say hello.

I'll be looking for you!

Panoply Arts Festival

Comparing Two Styles of Lino Block Cuts

We're three months into the new year. I've said it before and I'll say it again: So much to do; so little time!

The linoleum block illustrations that I'm developing for my CAGB grant are coming along nicely. I'm encouraged that I'll have a complete portfolio of work by the end of the grant year-September 09. In recent weeks, I've noticed that my "style" of cutting the blocks is changing. My signature style includes lots of organic swirls and movement in the negative space. Lately, tho, I seem to want to eliminate all of the linoleum material that is not directly related to the main subject. It's a very minimalist approach. I'm not prepared, yet, to completely embrace and adapt this style. I think that my graphic narrative of relief prints WALK IN THE DIRECTION YOU' GOIN' IN, needs to show consistency in my final presentation. However, I believe that I'll be able to find a way to incorporate this minimalist look. The two styles are posted. Which do you prefer?

Cultural Alliance (GIA): 2nd Update

I am a 2008 GIA Award Winner and acknowledge the support provided by the Grants to Individual Artists Program administered by the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham.


Thanksgiving 2008!

I've finally decided to take some real vacation time away from my job. It has been an adjustment, to say the least. Two days has always been my self-imposed limit. I didn't realize how mentally exhausted I was until the fourth day! Although I had been wrestling with a terrible cold for a week, it took that long for me to feel completely rested and at peace.



I've been working on my CAGB project and I'm excited about the progress that I've made this week. A couple of weeks ago, CAGB held an evening workshop for the 2008 GIA Award Winners led by Bradford Kachelhofer and Michael Bell of The Modern Brand Company, LLC. The workshop focused on when, where and how to successfully promote yourself and your project. In other words, how to leverage your GIA Grant. It dawned on me that at some point, probably in the not too distant future, I may be asked by the media to provide an image to accompany the summary of my narrative/proposal.


My CAGB proposal: To create a series of linoleum block relief prints documenting the 1930s migration of an African-American sharecropper family from Alabama’s Black Belt region to industrial Birmingham.

The image has a WPA feel which is exactly what I was striving for. Once this block is finished I'll print, scan and then save it as a digital file. The final size of this block will be 12" x 18".

These pictures show: a) the original sketch on tracing paper and the image drawn in reverse on the surface of the lino block; b) the inked block and c) the 1st proof on newsprint.

I'll post the final print in a few days with the title.

Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham 2008 GIA Award Winner

I'm pleased to announce that I am one (of eight) individuals who has been selected to receive a 2008 Grants to Individual Artists (GIA) funding award. There were two teams. My $5000 grant is awarded in the name of a GIA donor Mrs. Gloria Narramore Moody. 61 proposals were presented to the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham team; 60 proposals were reviewed.

A summary of all of the Grants to Individual Artists Awards can be read here. My project is to "create a series of linoleum block relief prints documenting the migration of an African-American sharecropper family from Alabama's Black Belt region to the industrial city of Birmingham and settling in the company town of Sloss Furnaces."

My proposal has a number of components. In addition to creating the lino block prints, I will document my one year process digitally, publish the prints, exhibit the prints, take a caste iron class at Sloss Furnaces, collaborate with Sloss Furnaces to create a caste iron panel of one of the blocks, teach the linoleum block printing process to a select group of children (possibly students in the Birmingham City Schools) and finally to exhibit the entire series of prints. If you would like to read my entire proposal email me at: debra.riffe@gmail.com make your request and I'll mail a hard copy via USPS to your mailing address.

Kudos to all of the talented artists who participated in the process and congratulations to the 2008 GIA Grantees.

Setting the Bar (for myself) a Bit Higher

You've seen this image before.
I created this design as a needlepoint about four years ago and then recreated it as a linoleum block relief print. It's one of the first images that I printed on my press.

A few months ago, a friend of mine (we'll call him S.R.) implied that he was slightly disappointed with my prints that he had seen in the Southern Roots exhibition. He said that he had expected to see something slightly different. I was a bit shocked by his comment but realized that he had a good point. I entered the juried art festival circuit in October 2006. It's now 2008 and although I am not lacking in technical proficiency or new imagery, I haven't pushed myself. I've become a bit comfortable. Maybe too comfortable. My prints are basically all the same: 5 x 7 or 9 x 12, double matted and framed in black.

Okay, so S.R. challenged me. . . and I've accepted the challenge. This print -shown- is one of three blocks that I cut and printed this month. And they're large!! I hand-printed (meaning that I had to use a baren to apply pressure to create the impression) the images. Printing 12 x 18 has taken me out of my comfort zone. But believe it or not I like the larger size. . . a lot! Rubbing the baren over the back of the paper transfers the pigment from the inked block to the paper. I'm acting as a human printing press! The energy to produce the perfect print has to come from me! Imagine that. It's very physical and I've discovered that I really don't mind that the finished prints are not stark, opaque black. I printed on paper with a lot of tooth, initially, and the paper did not take the ink as smoothly, but left some interesting textures.

I'm very pleased with my large prints. I've also stepped outside the box and I've selected a different type of frame. Silver. Lovely.