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February 26, 2007
a studio day in pictures
I don't really possess the self control required to leave the spinning wheel alone for a day and do my other work instead, so I've begun writing in my day book how many hours each day I need to work on my printing and drawing projects, and only the time left over is allowed to be spinning time. I think perhaps what I need to do instead is bring the wheel home so that it can cut into my knitting and internet time instead of my studio time. Since I ran out of Naruto episodes to watch (Peter is bringing me the final 20), I've been watching way too many Nine Inch Nails videos on YouTube instead (I tend to binge on music and other things the same way I binge on food: all I want to eat, every day, is edamame. All I listen to at studio right now is Sarah Harmer, all I listen to at the house is Nine Inch Nails. It's sad, really).
Last week's print is not quite finished because it's got more than one layer of intaglio, and I hate printing intaglio wet on wet. Since they're almost done, there will be no cake: Jessica is also only almost-done, having made eight pairs of small trace monotypes that she still wants to wax and sew together. The cake is only a treat if you have it rarely, and neither of us is all that fond of sweets, actually. So nearly-done is done enough for this week, as this exercise is only meant to boost our productivity, not boost our girth.
how to fix a boring image
I started with a digital printout of the same image I've been using a lot lately, a photo of the back side of an applique in which you can see the floral pattern of the original (bedsheet) fabric, a silkscreen image seeping through from the right side of the piece (that would be the circle pattern, printed in white) and meandering lines of stitching. The plate I printed on top of it isn't finished but I want to squeeze as many editions out of this batch of plates as possible (partly just because I can't afford more copper right now), so I went ahead with it. This is how it looked on Saturday night when I left it to dry: boring.
On Sunday morning I began by doing a bit of drawing on the prints: I'd gotten into the habit of putting down the same pattern of linework in sumi ink every time I draw on prints, and this is really the first time I realized that I can use other materials, things I more often use in my drawings. So I started by rubbing some graphite into the open rectangles inside the form:
Then I rubbed iron oxide powder into the space around the form to give it a bit of depth:
Finally, I threw the paper in water to soak (an excuse to spin on the wheel for forty minutes!) and printed another copper plate on top, this one with a portion of the Mariah sleeve cable chart etched into it:
This is the stage at which they had to be left alone to dry. Next I think I'll rub in some gesso, then I don't know. Probably print a few more times.
like a record, baby
I also did some plying, some of it pretty and some not.
I started by plying some of the orange merino and red mohair together, but it just wasn't coming together as well as I'd hoped. About halfway through I realized that if I wasn't happy with the yarn there was no rule stating that I had to continue to ply it thus, so I stopped. And because monogamy is for boring people, I'm plying them with each other, with themselves and with other things as well. Here is the orange merino in a straight up two-ply:
I had about 20 yards of singles left over from this, so I plied that up with the nearest thing on hand, some olive green recycled cotton that was sitting on the desk waiting to be turned into litho rags. I think it's sort of ugly, but according to my flickr buddies that's an unpopular opinion. I don't know; I'm just glad I only have 20 yards of it.
And now, I fear if I don't leave the house this very instant I shall be late to teach my class. I hate Fridays. Oh, wait, this is Monday. Well, I hate Mondays then. Wait, but Peter's coming today! I love Mondays!
Posted by jodi at 12:43 PM | Comments (1) | categories: an edition a week : in the studio : projects
February 18, 2007
week five: fifth print
Woodcut, digital print, sumi ink drawing, polyester lithography, more polyester lithography, more woodcut, then more sumi ink drawing.
Self portraits (woodcut and linocut) on Japanese paper, cut into strips and spun: this will be plied with wool roving (see yesterday's post) for a knitted installation piece.
Posted by jodi at 08:47 PM | Comments (5) | categories: an edition a week
February 11, 2007
week four: fourth print
Polyester lithography, digital output and embroidery on rag paper, approximately 10 by 19 inches.
Posted by jodi at 10:18 PM | Comments (4) | categories: an edition a week
Week three: I don't have anything to show, so why don't I just tell you about the stuff I bought?
Let's start with the cake, shall we?
Neither Jessica nor I completed an edition in the third week of our contract. I did actually finish something, but it was absolute garbage and there were only four of them, and while the contract doesn't say that all of the prints have to be good, it does say that there must be at least five. So we're going to pretend that print never happened, and we split both the cost and the eating of the cake (rough punishment, I know). I figure a little failure early on will kick us into gear to succeed later. Perhaps the sugar rush will help.
We took a trip out to Watkinsville on Thursday afternoon and our favourite place to shop around here, Reed's Odds and Ends. This is the place where I got ten fiesta ware mugs for a dollar last summer. Here's part of Thursday's haul:
A box of mahjongg tiles, not a complete set but older and prettier than the set we have; they're bone mounted on a bamboo backing. I'm thinking about making bracelets with them, unless I can think of something better.
Of course I had to have this ugly souvenir plate of Windsor, just because it makes me laugh that I came all the way to Athens Georgia to find it. And because I can see my beloved's office (and the place where the skateboarders play outside his old office window) in one of the pictures. I think it's pretty funny that the nondescript Jackson Park gate is on here, as well as the Royal Canadian Mounted Police front and centre even though to the best of my knowledge they're never actually seen in Windsor, but Willistead Manor, the architectural monstrosity everyone in town seems so enamoured with and proud of, is missing. Also there's nothing on there about Hiram Walker or Canadian Club whiskey or the Big Three. Hmmph. This gem set me back one dollar.
I don't know why nobody told us before that there is a bead store tucked in right behind the yarn store. I used to be a real sucker for buying beads, but years and years of never doing anything with them has cured me of that and now I'm pretty much immune to (and even bored by) the lure of beads. Buttons, however, are quite another thing, and nothing would make me happier than to trade my gigantic hoard of beads for buttons. These lovely vintage glass buttons were forty cents each. I'm not sure what I'll ever do with that tiny one in the centre, but I couldn't leave it behind. I guess I'll use that one as the seed to start my collection of buttons I never use.
Posted by jodi at 09:01 AM | Comments (11) | categories: an edition a week : one man's garbage. . .
February 03, 2007
Week two edition: whoops.
I forgot to show you all last week's edition. Here it is:
Digital print, polyester lithography and cotton thread on Rives BFK, 13 by 20 inches.
This week's print isn't done yet, but will be tomorrow.
Posted by jodi at 06:42 PM | Comments (5) | categories: an edition a week
January 23, 2007
week one editions
Woodcut, sumi ink drawing, chine colle and drypoint.
These were finished up on Sunday afternoon; I don't really have much to say about them right now, but I'm messing around with imagery ideas for a book I'll begin working on soon, and using the editioning challenge as an opportunity to try out some of those ideas. By necessity, many of the prints for this challenge will be small, in order that the constant need to make editions not overshadow my other work (which is all larger and more labour-intensive). These two prints are approximately six by nine inches.
And, psst. . . the spring Interweave preview is up. You can't see my project (or some of the others) very well, but it looks like a good issue overall. First in the queue, I think, will be Eunny's socks, because only Eunny can make frumpy old entrelac look so freaking HOT.
Posted by jodi at 07:28 PM | Comments (10) | categories: an edition a week : in the studio : knit design : projects
January 11, 2007
an edition a week
CONTRACT No. 00000000001
AGREEMENT BETWEEN JODI LEE GREEN and JESSICA ANN MILLS
THIS AGREEMENT, made on the 11th day of January 2007 between Jodi Lee Green [hereafter referred to as “Affiliate #1”] and Jessica Ann Mills [hereafter referred to as “Affiliate #2”] covers the period from January 11th, 2007 to May 7th, 2007 [hereafter referred to as “Spring Semester 2007”].
WHEREAS Affiliate #1 and Affiliate #2 agree to complete one edition of prints each calendar week for the duration of Spring Semester 2007.
WHEREAS each calendar week is defined for the purposes of this agreement as beginning on Monday and concluding on Sunday.
WHEREAS the first calendar week for the purposes of this agreement begins on January 15th 2007.
WHEREAS the week of March 19th to March 26th is not to be considered a “week” for the terms of this agreement due to expected attendance of Affiliate #1 and Affiliate #2 at Southern Graphics Council 2007 Conference [hereafter referred to as “SGC”].
WHEREAS Affiliates #1 and #2 agree, in lieu of completing one edition between March 19th and March 26th, to take part in Open Portfolio at SGC and to otherwise avail themselves of any and all marketing and networking opportunities offered therewithin.
WHEREAS “edition” is defined for the purposes of this document as consisting of no fewer than five [5] prints of any acceptable print medium.
WHEREAS “print” is defined for the purposes of this document as being a reproducible work on paper of any size.
WHEREAS “acceptable print media” include intaglio, lithography, relief, digital output printing, silkscreen, trace monotype, xerography and collagraph. Drawing will be accepted for the purposes of this agreement if used in combination with any one or more of the above media and every attempt is made to maintain consistency throughout the edition.
WHEREAS if either Affiliate fails to meet the terms of this agreement for any given week that person will be mocked mercilessly and be forced to listen to the other Affiliate’s music without complaint for the calendar week immediately following the transgression being punished, and further must purchase for the other Affiliate one [1] slice of Vegan Chocolate Death Cake [hereafter referred to as “the Cake”] or a suitable substitute if the Cake is not available that week. Acceptable Substitutes will be agreed to by the parties concerned at the time of the payment. If the Affiliate receiving the Cake prefers to have pudding instead even if the Cake is available this is at the discretion of said Affiliate.
Signed on this day, the 11th day of January 2007, in the presence of witnesses.
Posted by jodi at 06:25 PM | Comments (8) | categories: an edition a week : in the studio : projects : school