"Holding the Line" coming together

                                                       Geez.
Every time I step away from blogging or sending a tweet or two the dang interface changes!! Why can't things just remain as they are? I don't care that much for blogging or tweeting. It's time consuming and I'd much rather cut blocks. However, I've learned that I have to (at least) have a working knowledge of both. If not, I'm going to be left behind. Hey, that's the name of a movie, isn't it? Left behind. Anyway, here I sit looking at the new (to me) BLOGGER Post page. Mumble. Mumble.

Today I've just completed the last of 31 images; portraits of civil rights activists and foot soldiers of 1963 Birmingham. I began cutting the blocks in October 2011. I'd planned to cut fifty blocks to commemorate the 50th year anniversary of the Civil Rights Movement. But it turned out to be a pipe dream. I work everyday . . . 9 to 5 . . . and by the time I make it home, I'm simply exhausted. Mentally exhausted. And just plain pissed off that the best part of my day has been spent sitting in front of a computer creating mundane (dare I say it?) boring design assignments. medical. dental. medical. dental. This is why I report to work everyday. medical. dental. medical. dental. medical. dental. medical. dental.

Anyway, I've assembled a few of the cut linoleum blocks on the floor and I've taken photos. Do you recognize any of the civil rights activists? If I count the 16th Street Baptist Church marquee I have a total of 32 blocks. Here it is -the iconic 16th Street Baptist Church sign. The newsprint proof is positioned on top of the lino block.

The entire body of work is entitled HOLDING THE LINE.  www.holding-the-line.com

"Art in the Gardens" , June 5-6, 2010

Another Successful Art Festival

Thank you, to all who stopped by my booth and chatted or purchased last weekend at the 7th Annual Art in the Garden juried art show at Aldridge Gardens, Hoover.

I hope that you took a minute to stop and smell the roses. And weren't the hydrangeas beautiful?! Hydrangeas were blooming everywhere! Sales were brisk and the weather was beautiful. I received a First Place Award in the Printmaking category.

Look for my lino prints at the Bluff Park Art Preview Show at Hoover Library (August), however Aldridge closes out the spring/summer exhibitions for me, until the Bluff Park Art Show . . . always the first Saturday of October. The summer months will be dedicated to the completion of the linoleum blocks for my CAGB grant narrative: WALK, IN THE DIRECTION YOU GOIN' IN. September 30th will be here before I know it.

2009. New Year. New Art.

I managed to cut two linoleum blocks over the holiday season.
Neither image will be used for the CAGB project. The first cut shows an African American sharecropper plowing a field. After cutting the block for three days, I decided that it was just too generic and boring.

I've redone the drawing . . . but changed the perspective. It's stronger and more dynamic. I'm not in the habit of drawing animals but the plow mule is important to my story line and I can't get around it. Whatever. I'm constantly resetting the bar for myself so if it means rethinking, redrawing and recutting a block then that's what I'll do. That's that.


This second lino block cut is my interpretation of an image by photographer Lewis Hine. I was actually quite pleased with my attempt to carve several very tight circular forms into the linoleum surface without the gouge sliding under the pressure. Okay, here's where I pat myself on the back. (pat-pat)

On another note . . . I used to jog three days a week. I haven't done so in over 18 months. I've turned into a slug. And I know it. Well, it's back to the track. I actually joined a group to keep me motivated. I don't expect to run the Boston marathon next year (not because I can't work up to that level; I'm just not interested) but I do have high expectations to return to running and to run stronger. No, this is not a resolution for the New Year; it's a goal. Big difference.

Join Me! Camp McDowell July 18-20, 2008

44th Annual Bluff Park Art Festival

I really need to bring 'yall up to date on my work and my most recent art venue which took place last Saturday, October 6th . . .but I'm still too tired to think thru what I need to post. I sit at a computer all day at my "9-to-5-job-with benefits" and it's VERY difficult to come home and look at another monitor for an extended time. I'd rather sit on my den floor and cut a lino block or sketch a design. But . . .having said that, I can see that I need to make the commitment and just do it! And so I will. . .this weekend.

I'm Back in Business!

My sanity has slowly returned.

After fighting with my Mac OS off and on for the past five weeks, I'm finally back in the driver's seat. I've learned more technical stuff than I care about. Turns out that all of my glitches and false starts led back to the new RAM which I had my service technician install. My goal was to max out the RAM on my computer. When I brought my Mac home, I immediately had a problem starting up. As you all now know, it went downhill from there. My son (who is smarter than I'll ever be) suggested that I take the new RAM out. I could have done that, on day two, but I just knew that that solution was too easy. So I struggled along until last Friday, and got so frustrated that I finally opened the back of the computer and jerked out the RAM. Guess what??!! As soon as I put my old RAM back in my computer all problems ceased. Unreal. Five weeks. FIVE WEEKS of pure agony. And to think that I even had the hard drive erased. Replacing and rebuilding old files has not been fun. Geez. I'm a bit smarter now.

Last week, I took a leisurely drive to Camp McDowell located outside of Nauvoo, Alabama. It's located in the northwest quadrant of the state, in an area which I have not explored very much. I met with a lovely young woman who is the Director of the newest branch of the facility THE ALABAMA FOLK SCHOOL at CAMP MCDOWELL. She loved my portfolio of lino block prints. I'm signed on to teach Linoleum Block Relief Printing the weekend of December 7th -9th. This is exciting! It's a wonderful opportunity and I'm looking forward to meeting lots of interesting people. The Folk School at Camp McDowell is modeled on the John C. Campbell Folk School in North Carolina.

And speaking of lino prints, here's my latest cut. The title of it is "Like a Marlin To Its Gourd." In June, when I participated in the art festival at Aldridge Gardens (Hoover, AL) a couple came over to my booth to chat. The guy, who had grown up in the South, seemed to identify with all of the block prints that had gourds. He said that the imagery of the gourds and the birds reminded him of a saying that he had heard his father utter many times, while working the farm. I loved his story. Many times, the images in my block prints are based on stories or sayings or some recollection that has jarred someone's memory. Patrons love to share memories (of days gone by) with me as they view my work and reflect on their formative years growing up in the south. Friends and family have shared stories of their youth, also, and it has afforded me an opportunity to record some of those memories through my interpretation via block prints...and needlepoint, too. I love the south . . .and all things southern!

My next art venue will take place in October. Don't forget to mark your calendar for Saturday, October 6, 2007 the 44th Annual Bluff Park Art Festival.

Countdown to the Magic City Art Connection

Okay. We're now at five days and counting. I've done everything that I know to do, to prepare for the festival. This will be my second juried art festival. I'm a bit punch drunk from printing and packaging and pulling all of my inventory information together. I still have a lot of questions about set up and prep, but I suppose that it's now come down to learning by doing. I received my packet with multiple pages of rules and regulations and, oh yes, instructions on how to pay my county, city and state taxes. (groan) Right now my concern is about the weather and like Zora Neale Hurston "My Eyes are Watching God" (okay, so I tweeked the title a bit). Anyway, Zora was a novelist and author during the Harlem Renaissance. For those who want a bit more info just go to Wikipedia, the free on-line encyclopedia and read an overview on her background and career. Better yet, read her book "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and let me know what you think about it.

I've become very anxious about the weather and I've been in overdrive watching the Weather Channel; trying to catch every local tv weather broadcast (as tho staring at the television set will change an upper level high! ha!) Of course, this weekend has been absolutely perfect...slightly breezy, sunny and low humidity. Rain is predicted for Wednesday night thru Thursday, with a varying percentage of rain from Friday thru Sunday depending on which news broadcast you're watching. How can three different local stations have three different predictions??! I'm confused. For those of you who don't get it . . .my art display is comprised of lino prints - which means that all of my inventory is on P-A-P-E-R. PAPER! MOISTURE! Now do you understand? The thought of my prints being exposed to mist or moisture or morning dew is the ultimate death. And, it ain't a merciful death either. I had already decided that I would pack up my inventory at the close of each day and take it home with me. It would mean getting up a lot earlier in the morning to rehang and regroup but that's no big deal. However, if a shower and or storm passes over during the middle of the day . . .canopy tent or not . . .I've got to have a contingency plan in place so that I can get the prints and framed pieces under cover. Geez. My head hurts just thinking about this.

I had hoped to have my painted tiles ready for display but I ran out of steam. Maybe, by the time the next art festival rolls around I'll have them ready. I'm posting a sample of the tiles. I've taken four of them, laid them on the table and I've taken a group shot. Each has a design painted on it with black glaze. I wanted the image to be as black as my oil based lino block prints, so the glaze (which is actually transparent) was painted with about 5 or 6 coats to create the design.

Painting on tiles is a bit tricky. The key is to have a good brush. An expensive brush; one that will hold it's point. Because my work is detailed, I could not have gotten some of the angles to appear crisp had I used a brush from one of the general market stores. These four tiles have been fired. I loved the way they turned out. As I continue to experiment, I may try to create a "mock wall" with the 6 x 6 inch tiles along with smaller mosaic tiles just to see what it'll look like. Okay, there I go again. . .another project. I need to stay focused on this week. Hopefully, I'll have another post tomorrow night along with the weather report. No need for me to agonize over this by myself, right? (smile)

Gettin' Ready for my Second Art Festival!

I am stoked! Last week I received a call from the owner of the 4 Seasons Antiques and Art Gallery in Bluff Park informing me that all four of my linoleum blocks prints had sold. Thank you! Thank you! I'm in need of additional funds to frame nine more lino block prints for the Magic City Art Festival which will be held at the end of this month. There's a lot of truth in the statement that "it takes money, to make money." Framing is sooooooo expensive. I'm still new with the art festival circuit thingy and it always seems as tho I'm rolling pennies to apply towards framing. Why is that?

Hey, I'm posting the front side of my post card announcement that I'll mail out next week. It's simple but it serves the purpose.

I'm in overdrive these days carving and printing lino blocks. A friend of mine has cautioned me to not become too ambitious with cutting large blocks and to keep most of my prints smaller than my usual 8 x 10 size. So this go 'round I'm focusing more on 5 x7 block prints. I trust his judgement. He has a pretty good feel for art festivals. Just that little bit of information has saved me a lot of time and angst.



For some reason I'm in a raven/pumpkin/gourd mode. Ravens are really difficult to cut. One teeny slip of the cutting tool and your raven has turned into a duck! or a sparrow! It's hard to 'splain (Lucy), but ravens are a challenge. Here's the first print of many that I've already printed. What do you think?

My lawn needs to be cut. Once upon a time I was the homeowner, on my block, who set the bar in keeping the yard mowed and trimmed. Neighbors followed suit within a day or two. However, I've had to REALLY prioritize my time lately. And most weekends and evenings, after work, have not included yard work. Geez, it shows. I feel like I need to "keep up with the Jones'." Where are the teens who used to come around and cut your grass for pocket change? Times have changed.

The ONB/Magic City Art Festival web site should be up. If I was as smart as my kids I could add a link here so that all you'd have to do is "click." Obvioulsy, I don't know how to do it so you'll just have to go to: www.magiccityart.com and check it out. I'm in the printmaking catagory.

Catching up!

I didn't think that managing a blog would be soooooo time consuming. It seemed simple enough. Write a narrative or two about something (in my case) art related, post an image; maybe two or three and then sign off until the next time. Problem is. . .life gets in the way.

I'm employed with the city and I spend eight hours a day sitting in front of a computer. The last thing on my list of things to do, when I get home, is to sit in front of another computer! However, once I get my second wind I have to admit that this blog thingy is addictive.

Since my last entry, I've given a Brown Bag art talk on my needlepoint canvases. The turnout was great and I hope to find other venues to talk about my needlepoint art and to display the work. I'm working hard these days to cut new lino blocks. The ONB/Magic City Art Festival is six weeks away and I intend to be ready. Thank goodness for income tax refunds. I need to have several prints professionally framed and now I have a cushion to work with. The image that I've posted is one of a young boy playing with string. The title is "Cat's Cradle." I've cut six linoleum blocks with young boys playing as the main focus. Last year, I didn't have one image of a boy in my portfolio. Now I have too many! I admit, I've gone a little overboard.

My favorite local slide processing shop has closed. I hate it. A number of juried art competitions still request slides to preview. Not having a local shop to process slide film puts a lot of us at a disadvantage. Luckily, I took fourteen of my prints in several weeks ago to have slides and dupes made. I think that I have enough to hold me for a while. But, where will I go? what will I do for the new prints that I'll create? Bummer. Digital pics are a curse and a blessing, I suppose.

I have a terrible cold. Or, maybe it's a sinus infection. I don't know, I just want it to be over. The sun is out, the weather is great and all I want to do is lock my door, pull the blinds and curl up on the couch in the den and sleep (with the remote in my hand, of course). I'm really tired of coughing and sneezing. My nose is sore. Until next time. . .